[LemonCurry] Public Channel Late-Night TV

[LemonCurry]

George (HAM) walks into a shop and buys a box of condoms. He looks around, takes a walk to a park, and throws the condoms in the trash. Why?

[Doriana]

When he entered the shop, was he planning to buy condoms? to buy something else?
Does he buy anything else?

Was he at any point planning to use the condoms for their... intended purpose?

Relevant what kind of shop it is? If so, a supermarket? drugstore? pharmacy? night shop?

Does he make the decision to throw the condoms away before buying them? before looking around? after looking around?

Time of day relevant?

[LemonCurry]

When he entered the shop, was he planning to buy condoms? assume yes to buy something else? no
Does he buy anything else? no

Was he at any point planning to use the condoms for their... intended purpose? no!

Relevant what kind of shop it is? mildly If so, a supermarket? drugstore? pharmacy? night shop? the latter is more likely than the others

Does he make the decision to throw the condoms away before buying them? yes!
before looking around? after looking around?

Time of day relevant? not really

[GalFisk]

Did he ever intended for them to be used for anything? By anyone? Did he want to be seen buying them? Not be seen buying them? Did he want the purchase to be seen in dome sydtem or on some paper? Relevant how many he bought? Are his motivations selfish? Helpful? Hurtful?

[LemonCurry]

Did he ever intended for them to be used for anything? no By anyone? no
Did he want to be seen buying them? no Not be seen buying them? yes
Did he want the purchase to be seen in dome sydtem or on some paper? no
Relevant how many he bought? assume a normal-sized box
Are his motivations selfish? yes Helpful? no Hurtful? not directly

[Doriana]

Is the specific brand of the condoms relevant? their size? colour?

Does he do anything with the condoms before throwing them away? If so, does he take them out of the box? Does he take them out of the individual wrappers?

Does he throw the whole box including all contents away?

Does he throw them away at the park? Would it also work if he threw them away at a bus stop? at his home?

[LemonCurry]

Is the specific brand of the condoms relevant? no their size? no colour? no

Does he do anything with the condoms before throwing them away? assume no If so, does he take them out of the box? Does he take them out of the individual wrappers?

Does he throw the whole box including all contents away? yes

Does he throw them away at the park? yes Would it also work if he threw them away at a bus stop? yes
at his home? no

[kalira]

Does he retain his receipt? Is he trying to establish an alibi?

[LemonCurry]

Does he retain his receipt? irrel, assume no
Is he trying to establish an alibi? not in the legal sense, maybe explore

[GalFisk]

Is he trying to prove something? Disprove something? Is anyone relevantly tracking or observing him? Could he have bought and thrown away anything other than condoms? Does he intend for the condoms to be found by anyone? Seen by anyone?

[LemonCurry]

Is he trying to prove something? no Disprove something? no
Is anyone relevantly tracking or observing him? no
Could he have bought and thrown away anything other than condoms? not anything
Does he intend for the condoms to be found by anyone? no Seen by anyone? noish

[GalFisk]

Any other people relevant besides him and the store clerk? Would it work if he had bought them in a vending machine? Is his profession relevant? Has he done this before? Has someone else? Will he do this again? Would it work if the condoms were free?

[LemonCurry]

Any other people relevant besides him and the store clerk? very remotely
Would it work if he had bought them in a vending machine? no
Is his profession relevant? yes Has he done this before? assume no Has someone else? no Will he do this again? yes! Would it work if the condoms were free? No!

Excellent questions!

[Doriana]

Is he an undercover police agent? a decoy?
Are age limits relevant?

[GalFisk]

Will he do this: once more? Twice? More? Regularly? Daily? Is the clerk A? M? Relevant? Does George work in law enforcement? Healthcare? Is his personal life relevant? Are there age restrictions for buying condoms? Any other relevant restrictions? Will he do this in the same shop each time? Different shops every time? A mix? If the same shop, will it be from the same clerk? Relevant?

[LemonCurry]

Doriana
Is he an undercover police agent? a decoy? no
Are age limits relevant? no

GalFisk
Will he do this: once more? Twice? More? Regularly? Daily? The exact same thing - maybe some 5 times
Is the clerk A? M? Relevant? Probably A, but rest irrelevant
Does George work in law enforcement? no Healthcare? no Is his personal life relevant? yope
Are there age restrictions for buying condoms? irrel Any other relevant restrictions? no
Will he do this in the same shop each time? no Different shops every time? yes A mix? If the same shop, will it be from the same clerk? Relevant?

[Doriana]

Does he do this as part of his job? Or is his job relevant in a more lateral way?

[kalira]

Could he have bought and thrown away anything other than condoms? not anything

Does this mean he could have bought something other than condoms and it would have achieved the same purpose? Or that he could not have bought anything else and have achieved the same thing?

If the former, would it have to be something related to sex? Could it have been a food product? Drink? Something found in a pharmacy (not sure if there are any differences btwn USican and German pharmacies which might affect your answer here)?

[kalira]

Some quick Googling seems to tell me that what I'm thinking of is more drugstore, less pharmacy/apothecary -- I was thinking of toiletries and self-care, not medications.

[LemonCurry]

Doriana
Does he do this as part of his job? yope, DOYD of his "job" Or is his job relevant in a more lateral way? definitely this too

kalira

Could he have bought and thrown away anything other than condoms? not anything

Does this mean he could have bought something other than condoms and it would have achieved the same purpose? this one Or that he could not have bought anything else and have achieved the same thing?

If the former, would it have to be something related to sex? some items in this category would work well it have been a food product? Drink? Something found in a pharmacy (not sure if there are any differences btwn USican and German pharmacies which might affect your answer here)?
items in the other categories could work as well, but less likely

[Doriana]

Does his job involve illegal activities?
Is he a journalist? A researcher?

[GalFisk]

Would it work if he bought cigarettes? Booze? Does he have a normal everyday job? Is he trying to find something out? Is he buying condoms at all places where they are available in a certain area? Is his experience of the purchases relevant? The service given? Relevant why he looks around? Does he do this before leaving the store?

[LemonCurry]

Does his job involve illegal activities? not per se, but he is definitely doing somthing illegal in the context of his job
Is he a journalist? A researcher? not these

[kalira]

Is the point of buying the item so the clerk will remember him? Ergo the more "risqué" the product, the more memorable it might be that someone is buying it?

"Walks to a park" -- is it relevant that he goes to this park? a park in general? He throws the box in the trash at the park, yes? Could the same thing have been accomplished if he had thrown the box in the trash at the same location if there were not a park there? If the park were closer? farther away? Could he have thrown the box away right outside the store and accomplished the same thing? Within eyeshot of the clerk? Did he have to be outside the eyeshot of the clerk?

[LemonCurry]

Is the point of buying the item so the clerk will remember him? Ergo the more "risqué" the product, the more memorable it might be that someone is buying it? clever idea, but no

"Walks to a park" -- is it relevant that he goes to this park? a park in general? not strictly He throws the box in the trash at the park, yes? Could the same thing have been accomplished if he had thrown the box in the trash at the same location if there were not a park there? yes If the park were closer? yes farther away? yes Could he have thrown the box away right outside the store and accomplished the same thing? unlikely? Within eyeshot of the clerk? no Did he have to be outside the eyeshot of the clerk? yes

[GalFisk]

You missed my questions above.
Some more to go with them: relevant what the clerk does after he leaves? Does he say anything relevant to the clerk? Does he pretend to be someone he's not? That he's about to do something he's not? If the illegal thing he does is discovered, is he likely to be executed? Go to prison? Be fined? Get a warning? Get probation? Does the illegl thing hurt anyone? Is he buying the condoms for his own money? His employer's money? Counterfeit money? Stolen money?

[LemonCurry]

Would it work if he bought cigarettes? unlikely Booze? possibly
Does he have a normal everyday job? yes, but... Is he trying to find something out? no Is he buying condoms at all places where they are available in a certain area? no Is his experience of the purchases relevant? no The service given? no Relevant why he looks around? yesish Does he do this before leaving the store? probably

relevant what the clerk does after he leaves? no Does he say anything relevant to the clerk? no Does he pretend to be someone he's not? no That he's about to do something he's not? noish

If the illegal thing he does is discovered, is he likely to be executed? Go to prison? this Be fined? Get a warning? Get probation? Does the illegl thing hurt anyone? not physically Is he buying the condoms for his own money? His employer's money? Counterfeit money? THIS Stolen money?

[GalFisk]

Has he counterfeited the money himself? Does he want to pin the crime of counterfeiting on someone? To direct suspicion away from someone? Has he used the counterfeit money before this? Will he use it after this? Is someone suspecting him of something criminal? Does he have to do anything relevant in order to get the clerk to think the money is genuine?

[LemonCurry]

Has he counterfeited the money himself? yes Does he want to pin the crime of counterfeiting on someone? no To direct suspicion away from someone? only from himself Has he used the counterfeit money before this? no Will he use it after this? yes Is someone suspecting him of something criminal? possibly Does he have to do anything relevant in order to get the clerk to think the money is genuine? yesish, or at least he thinks so

[kalira]

Does he feel uncomfortable using the counterfeit money? Does he think that the clerk will sense something off about their interaction? Does he buy something people might seem uncomfortable buying in order to make the clerk think his discomfort is over that? Rather than over using counterfeit money?

[LemonCurry]

Does he feel uncomfortable using the counterfeit money? Does he think that the clerk will sense something off about their interaction? Does he buy something people might seem uncomfortable buying in order to make the clerk think his discomfort is over that? Rather than over using counterfeit money?

YES to all!

SPOILER

George is the owner of a printing press and is about to go bankrupt. Too embarrassed to apply for insolvency, he rather turns criminal. He prints a load of (rather professional) fake money with his machinery and starts converting it by buying inexpensive items in various shops and paying with a large fake bill.

On the first day he is very nervous, so he buys risqué items such as condoms to explain away his nervous and uncomfortable appearance.

This puzzle is adopted from the (slightly altered) beginning of a German TV miniseries, which was apparently inspired by Breaking Bad. I'm happy to have finally managed a puzzle that got solved quickly. Congratulations to kalira, Doriana and GalFisk for a really good job.

[Hobbsicle]

Good puzzle. Solved so quickly, I missed it!

[Balin]

Clearly I need to log on more. This was a really good one!

[peter365]

Wow lateral overload. That's was a great puzzle. Sorry i missed it.