Lateral Puzzles • View topic - [WiZ] Madman downtown causing complete chaos!

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:38 pm

Waaaaaaaaaaay back when, there was a puzzle with this title. I never learned what the statement was, because, due to a Discus error, the first post was an authentication error message. Confused puzzlers responded by asking if we were supposed to guess the host's password. Those were the days. *reminisces*

On his first day on the job, a man is instructed by a colleague to enter a room. He does, and finds himself face-to-face with a blood-stained, knife-wielding maniac. He faints, but luckily suffers no further misfortune. Nothing like this happens again.

What was going on?

by **Grip** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:41 pm

Was this a prank?

Maniac = HAM/F?

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:43 pm

Was this a prank? no

Maniac = HAM/F? yes/yes/irrel

by **Doriana** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:45 pm

colleague = H/A/M? F?

Is the blood on the maniac fake? real? If the latter, is it human blood? If so, from the maniac him/herself? If not human, is it animal blood?

Does the man work in law enforcement? health care?

Is the room part of the man's workplace?

Relevant what else is in the room? If so, other people (apart from the maniac)? animals? relevant objects?

by **Grip** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:46 pm

Was the maniac an actual maniac, or someone pretending to be a actual maniac? (If that makes sense.)

Was the blood real? the knife?

Was the maniac physically in the room, or was it a image on TV or the like?

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:48 pm

colleague = H/A/M? F? yes/yes/irrel

Is the blood on the maniac fake? real? this If the latter, is it human blood? yes If so, from the maniac him/herself? yes If not human, is it animal blood? no

Does the man work in law enforcement? health care? this

Is the room part of the man's workplace? yes

Relevant what else is in the room? yesish; mainly for context If so, other people (apart from the maniac)? yes animals? relevant objects? no to these

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 9:48 pm

Was the maniac an actual maniac yes, or someone pretending to be a actual maniac? no (If that makes sense.)

Was the blood real? yes the knife? yes

Was the maniac physically in the room yes, or was it a image on TV or the like? no

by **Balin** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:19 pm

Does the man work in psychology? Medicine? Law enforcement? Does he work in a prison?

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:20 pm

Does the man work in psychology? Medicine? this Law enforcement? Does he work in a prison?

by **Balin** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:22 pm

Does the man work in a hospital? Is the room a hospital room?
Does the colleague know that the maniac is in the room? Does he expect to see him covered in blood?

by **WiZ** » Mon Mar 27, 2017 11:29 pm

Does the man work in a hospital? yes Is the room a hospital room? yes
Does the colleague know that the maniac is in the room? yes Does he expect to see him covered in blood? He would not be especially surprised

by **Hobbsicle** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 1:20 am

Does the maniac work there? Is he a surgeon? A patient? Is the maniac cutting himself? Intentionally? Is there one other person there? Is that person being operated on? Is the man a psychiatrist or something similar?

Is the maniac suffering from a psychological condition? If so, is it a mental illness? Or caused by something temporary, like a drug? Or reacting to something external?

Is the man a surgeon? A mental health professional? Is he expected to help the maniac? Or the someone else in the room?

Does he faint because of the blood? Because of the maniac's actions? Because of who the maniac is? Something else?

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 1:46 am

Does the maniac work there? no Is he a surgeon? A patient? this Is the maniac cutting himself? potentially Intentionally? yes Is there one other person there? yes Is that person being operated on? no Is the man a psychiatrist or something similar? no

Is the maniac suffering from a psychological condition? yes If so, is it a mental illness? Or caused by something temporary, like a drug? Or reacting to something external? no further details are relevant

Is the man a surgeon? no A mental health professional? no Is he expected to help the maniac? no Or the someone else in the room? no

Does he faint because of the blood? Because of the maniac's actions? most likely this Because of who the maniac is? Something else? no

by **Balin** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:50 pm

Is the other person also a medical professional? A doctor? A surgeon?

by **peter365** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 2:44 pm

is this a test of some sort? Is the man actually in any danger? Is it part of the maniac's treatment? Is this a psychiatric hospital?

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:42 pm

Balin

Is the other person also a medical professional? yes A doctor? A surgeon? irrel

Peter

is this a test of some sort? no Is the man actually in any danger? yes Is it part of the maniac's treatment? no Is this a psychiatric hospital? no

by **Grip** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:20 pm

He's a maniac, a maniac, on the floor...

Is the maniac actually on the floor? is he (can I call him Jason and yes, I know, not very original)? standing up? is he laying on a hospital bed? if so, is he strapped down?

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:38 pm

Is the maniac actually on the floor? see below is he (can I call him Jason yes and yes, I know, not very original yes

)? standing up? most likely yes is he laying on a hospital bed? probably not if so, is he strapped down? no

by **Grip** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 9:45 pm

Is the other person in the room alive?

Is Jason wearing a hockey mask?

Is Jason attached to anything? is he tied up against the wall? strapped up against one of those stand up gurney thingies?

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:19 pm

Is the other person in the room alive? yes

Is Jason wearing a hockey mask? irrelevant

Is Jason attached to anything? most likely not is he tied up against the wall? no strapped up against one of those stand up gurney thingies? no

by **Grip** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:35 pm

Is the other person in danger?

by **WiZ** » Tue Mar 28, 2017 10:37 pm

Is the other person in danger? yes

by **Balin** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 10:58 pm

Is the maniac threatening the other person? With the knife? Is anyone other than the maniac part of the danger? Is the colleague involved in the danger? Is gaslighting involved?

by **WiZ** » Wed Mar 29, 2017 11:47 pm

Is the maniac threatening the other person? yes With the knife? yes Is anyone other than the maniac part of the danger? Is the colleague involved in the danger? Not totally sure I understand; the intrinsic danger is presented by the maniac alone; the intrinsic victims are the man and his colleague in the room Is gaslighting involved? no

by **Grip** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 12:59 am

Ah, so the colleague and the other man in the room are the same person?

Was the "instruction" the man received to go enter the room a call for help?

by **WiZ** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 1:19 am

Ah, so the colleague and the other man in the room are the same person? The other man in the room is a colleague, but not the one who summoned him there.

Was the "instruction" the man received to go enter the room a call for help? yes, explore

by **Balin** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:52 pm

Is the maniac eventually captured? Killed? Does he escape?

by **WiZ** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 10:06 pm

Is the maniac eventually captured? yes, essentially Killed? Does he escape? no to rest

by **Grip** » Thu Mar 30, 2017 11:59 pm

Was the man (how is Burt for a name?) expecting to see his colleague (Greg?) in the room?

by **WiZ** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 1:34 am

Was the man (how is Burt for a name?) sure expecting to see his colleague (Greg?) sure; I assume we're talking about the one who summoned Burt, and not the one in the room with Jason in the room? no

by **Grip** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:39 pm

Well, I actually meant the non summoner colleague in the room to be Greg and the summoner colleague to be someone else and the colleague with Jason to...never mind.

Can we call the colleague in the room with Jason Abe?

Is Burt expecting to see someone else in the room besides his colleague? but not necessarily a bloody maniac?

by **WiZ** » Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:04 pm

Can we call the colleague in the room with Jason Abe? sure

Is Burt expecting to see someone else in the room besides his colleague? yes but not necessarily a bloody maniac? correct

by **Grip** » Sat Apr 01, 2017 1:58 am

Does Abe have any blood on him?

Was Jason brought to the hospital? if so was he unconscious? sedated?

Did Abe alert Greg before Greg spoke to Burt?

by **WiZ** » Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:41 pm

Does Abe have any blood on him? irrelevant

Was Jason brought to the hospital? yes if so was he unconscious? sedated? no to both

Did Abe alert Greg before Greg spoke to Burt? yes

by **Grip** » Sun Apr 02, 2017 9:46 pm

Did Jason have the knife on him when brought to the hospital? or did he get it from there?

Had Jason just killed anyone?

by **WiZ** » Sun Apr 02, 2017 10:04 pm

Did Jason have the knife on him when brought to the hospital? no or did he get it from there? yes

Had Jason just killed anyone? no

by **Grip** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:32 am

When he was brought to the hospital, did the staff know he was a maniac?

Is Jason's age relevant? height? weight?

by **WiZ** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 12:45 am

When he was brought to the hospital, did the staff know he was a maniac? irrelevant

Is Jason's age relevant? height? weight? no to all

by **Grip** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 1:41 am

It's irrelevant whether the staff knew he was a maniac??!! Just kidding, I get it, you mean in terms of solving the puzzle.

Does Jason interact with Burt after Burt fainted?

by **WiZ** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 2:04 am

Does Jason interact with Burt after Burt fainted? no, fortunately

by **Grip** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:44 am

Was Jason killed after Burt fainted? subdued?

Did Jason reach the hospital on his own power? or was he taken there? unwillingly?

by **WiZ** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 8:48 pm

Was Jason killed after Burt fainted? subdued? this

Did Jason reach the hospital on his own power? or was he taken there? unwillingly? irrelevant; assume taken there while not actively resisting

by **Grip** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 9:45 pm

Did Jason call the hospital? did the police pick him up at a crime scene?

by **WiZ** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:12 pm

Did Jason call the hospital? possibly; irrelevant did the police pick him up at a crime scene? no

by **WiZ** » Mon Apr 03, 2017 10:13 pm

Perhaps we can devote some thought to why Greg summoned Burt to the room.

by **Grip** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:09 am

Greg didn't summon Burt to the room merely to help Abe?

by **WiZ** » Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:08 am

Greg didn't summon Burt to the room merely to help Abe? yope/FA lurking

by **Hobbsicle** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:17 am

Was the hospital intending to summon Burt? Or intending to summon security?

by **WiZ** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:35 am

Was the hospital intending to summon Burt? Or intending to summon security? this!

by **Hobbsicle** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 2:39 am

So is this Burt's name something that sounds like or is identical to whatever means the hospital has to call for security? So they say, "Calling CodeRedCrazyPants to Room 209", and his name is Burt CodeRedCrazyPants? Only, you know, more subtle...

by **WiZ** » Wed Apr 05, 2017 3:45 am

So is this Burt's name something that sounds like or is identical to whatever means the hospital has to call for security? yes So they say, "Calling CodeRedCrazyPants to Room 209", and his name is Burt CodeRedCrazyPants? Only, you know, more subtle... and yes

***** SPOILER *****

The hospital's intercom codeword to alert security was 'Dr. Strongman to room ###'. A new Dr, whose name happened to be Strongman, responded to this call on their first day. They were rather surprised to find a patient needing to be restrained, but, fortunately, the actual security team had heeded the call and arrived seconds later!

Good work, Hobbsicle, and well done, Grip, for much tenacity.

[WiZ] Madman downtown causing complete chaos!

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