The Gallery - or Absolute All Time Classics
Lateral Puzzles: The Chat Room: The Gallery - or Absolute All Time Classics
Welcome to the Gallery
This is a special page dedicated to those puzzles that are regarded as "Absolute All Time Classics" or AATCs for those who like acronyms for everything. The puzzles that are listed here are examples of actual puzzles that have been run on this forum. Please do not try to run any of these, you will likely find that you will either get a very quick spoiler - as too many people know them - or just get no response at all. There is nothing wrong with the puzzles themselves (some of them are great puzzles!) - it's just that they are too well known! Many have already appeared several times in the archives - but to preserve your sanity there is only a link to one version here!
N.B. Many of these are archived on a different server and the return links do not work. Therefore they should open in a new window.
- A man is sitting in a room. Another person enters, carrying a closed cardboard box, and sits down nearby. How does the first man know whats in the box?
- A group of anthropologists discover two completely preserved human bodies in a glacier. One is a man and one is a woman. The anthropologists are able to reach the immediate conclusion that the identities of these two specimens are without a doubt, Adam and Eve. How?
- A man lies dead in a telephone box. Outside the box are a basket and a pole. There is broken glass on the floor. How did he die?
- A man lives in a penthouse apartment in New York City. When he goes to work, he takes the elevator down to the lobby. When he comes home, he takes the elevator up to the penthouse, unless he's alone, when he only takes it halfway up. Why?
- The music stopped; The lady died.
- A little girl's parents warn her never to open the cellar door, telling her that if she does, she will see things she was not meant to see. One day, curiosity gets the better of her, and she opens the cellar door. What does she see?
- Two hunters came upon a cabin in the woods, where inside they found two dead. At first glance, it was obvious how they died.
- A man sitting on a park bench reads a newspaper article headlined "Death at Sea" and knows a murder has been committed.
- The police walked into the room and found a dead man next to a stick...
- There is a man lying dead in the middle of a field with straw (or matchstick, or toothpick) next to him.
- A man walks into a bar and orders a glass of water. The bartender points a gun at the man. The man thanks the Bartender and leaves
- A man enters a highway restaurant, eats, comes out and kills himself. Why ? (AKA Albatross Sandwich - and many variations along this theme)
- The man was afraid to go home because the man with the mask was there.
- A man was found dead in the middle of a forrest wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, a snorkle and a mask. How did he die?
- A man lying dying alone in a desert with a rock beside him.
- A man is lying dead in a field. Beside him is a package.
- Anthony and Cleopatra are lying dead on the floor
- Julie died in the Appalachians, while Craig died at sea. Everyone was much happier with Craig's death.
- Two persons are in a car. Then one of them runs out. When he comes back the other one is dead. Then he hugs the first stranger he sees. (Also - A married couple was speeding into town when their sedan ran out of gas. The man went for help after making sure his wife closed the windows and locked the doors of the car. Upon his return, he found his wife dead and a stranger in the car. The windows were still closed, the doors were still locked, and no damage was done to the car. )
- A man pushes a wheelbarrow past a hotel and sighs with relief. Why is the man relieved? (Variations include stops outside the hotel and goes bankrupt)
- The phone rang and the man realized his mistake but it was too late.