[IrishElk] 12 Angry Persons

[irishelk]

13 strangers sit together. Without any of them speaking, 12 of them suddenly become furious at the 13th. She makes a comment about a different stranger's medical issue, and then they are no longer angry.

[WiZ]

Have the 13 been assembled for the same reason? Are they together by chance? Is some sort of formalised event happeneing? Do they all have the same role in proceedings?

Did the 13th do something that incurred the fury of the other 12? Did the other 12 come to a realisation? Were they all permitted to speak normally? Do they all know of the 14th stranger? Is there a connection between this stranger and all of them? Are they in a context in which medical issues would be a topic of discussion or an underlying theme? Does the 14th stranger's medical issue somehow absolve the 13th stranger of something, or provide an excuse?

Are they all adults and humans?

[wunderland]

Is it relevant that there are exactly 13 of them?
Are the 12 angry persons indeed of irrelevant gender as stated in the title?
She = the 13th? Is her gender relevant? May we name her? If so, I propose "Maria".
If she does something to anger the other 12: does she do it intentionally? does she know that it will cause them to become angry?
Is the different stranger that she comments about one of the 13? May we name this person "Sam"? Is Sam present? Were the others previously unaware of Sam's medical issue? does Maria have the same medical issue? or another relevant medical issue? did Sam's medical issue somehow cause Maria to make the others angry?
Is anyone else present besides the 13 and Sam?
Are they indoors? outdoors? in one or more vehicles? on horseback?
Does anyone relevantly stand up (or otherwise stop sitting) at any point?

[JenBurdoo]

WAG: Is the medical issue to do with gender? Such as trans or intersex? Is the conversation about one of these? Is the woman thought to be politically/religiously against such an issue? And her comment about someone else (perhaps a relative) indicates that she is actually on the same side of the issue as the other twelve?

[irishelk]

WiZ

Have the 13 been assembled for the same reason? Yope. Are they together by chance? More or less. Is some sort of formalised event happeneing? No. Do they all have the same role in proceedings? No.

Did the 13th do something that incurred the fury of the other 12? Yesish. Did the other 12 come to a realisation? At some point, yes. Were they all permitted to speak normally? Yes. Do they all know of the 14th stranger? Yes.
Is there a connection between this stranger and all of them? Not really. Are they in a context in which medical issues would be a topic of discussion or an underlying theme? No. Does the 14th stranger's medical issue somehow absolve the 13th stranger of something, or provide an excuse? Yes.

Are they all adults and humans? Yes.


wunderland

Is it relevant that there are exactly 13 of them? No.
Are the 12 angry persons indeed of irrelevant gender as stated in the title? Yes.
She = the 13th? Yes. Is her gender relevant? No. May we name her? If so, I propose "Maria". Sounds good.
If she does something to anger the other 12: does she do it intentionally? Yes--not intentionally to anger, but on purpose. does she know that it will cause them to become angry? Probably.
Is the different stranger that she comments about one of the 13? No. May we name this person "Sam"? Yes. Is Sam present? Noish. Were the others previously unaware of Sam's medical issue? Yes. does Maria have the same medical issue? No. or another relevant medical issue? No. did Sam's medical issue somehow cause Maria to make the others angry? You could say so, indirectly.
Is anyone else present besides the 13 and Sam? No.
Are they indoors? outdoors? in one or more vehicles? In a vehicle, good question. on horseback?
Does anyone relevantly stand up (or otherwise stop sitting) at any point? Yes, most likely.


JenBurdoo

WAG: Is the medical issue to do with gender? No. Such as trans or intersex? Is the conversation about one of these? Is the woman thought to be politically/religiously against such an issue? And her comment about someone else (perhaps a relative) indicates that she is actually on the same side of the issue as the other twelve? No to all.

[wunderland]

Are they on a bus? train? plane? boat? some other form of public transport?
Is the vehicle in motion when the 12 become angry?
Is Maria operating the vehicle? Sam? one of the other 12? is Sam elsewhere in the vehicle (e.g. in a different train carriage)? is Sam trying to board the vehicle?
Are the others expecting / hoping for Maria to do something which she does not do?
To confirm, are Sam and Maria strangers to each other?

[irishelk]

wunderland

Are they on a bus? This. train? plane? boat? some other form of public transport?
Is the vehicle in motion when the 12 become angry? Yes.
Is Maria operating the vehicle? Yes! Sam? one of the other 12? is Sam elsewhere in the vehicle (e.g. in a different train carriage)? No. is Sam trying to board the vehicle? Yes.
Are the others expecting / hoping for Maria to do something which she does not do? Yes, expecting would be accurate.
To confirm, are Sam and Maria strangers to each other? Well, depends on your exact definition, but they do not know each other well.

[wunderland]

Are the 12 people just random members of the public who happen to be passengers on the bus?
Is Sam waiting at a bus stop?
The thing they are expecting her to do, but she does not: stop the bus? open the door? allow Sam to board? require Sam to pay a fare?
Does Sam's medical issue pose a danger to the passengers? is it an infectious disease? COVID-19?
Does Maria know about the medical issue because of a previous encounter with Sam? or because she notices something that the 12 do not?

[trebor]

Is Sam in a wheelchair? Or pregnant? And needing to use the designated seating? Does Maria somehow signal to the 12 that they need to vacate that space or back up or whatever, and they’re angry until she says something about Sam needing it?

[Mimino]

Does Sam need to get to the hospital quite soon? so Maria is driving very fast? not stopping at intermediate stops?

[irishelk]

wunderland

Are the 12 people just random members of the public who happen to be passengers on the bus? Yes.
Is Sam waiting at a bus stop? Yes.
The thing they are expecting her to do, but she does not: stop the bus? This. open the door? allow Sam to board? require Sam to pay a fare?
Does Sam's medical issue pose a danger to the passengers? is it an infectious disease? COVID-19? No to all.
Does Maria know about the medical issue because of a previous encounter with Sam? Yope. or because she notices something that the 12 do not? No.


trebor

Is Sam in a wheelchair? Or pregnant? And needing to use the designated seating? No to all.
Does Maria somehow signal to the 12 that they need to vacate that space or back up or whatever, and they’re angry until she says something about Sam needing it? No.


Mimino

Does Sam need to get to the hospital quite soon? so Maria is driving very fast? not stopping at intermediate stops? No, good thought.

[Doriana]

Is Sam waiting for a different bus? If so, does Maria know this? E.g. because she knows he always has [treatment] on [day of the week]?

[trebor]

Has Maria driven Sam before? Stopped for Sam before, but without Sam getting on the bus? Is it relevant what other routes Maria drives? Have Maria and Sam met in a context other than bus driver and passenger?

Is Sam's medical issue physical? Mental? Do they have a disease? A contagious illness? Visual impairment? Aural impairment? Missing limb? Other physical disability? A neurological condition? Is it something that most people who have die from? Recover from? If so, quickly?

[irishelk]

Doriana

Is Sam waiting for a different bus? If so, does Maria know this? E.g. because she knows he always has [treatment] on [day of the week]? No to all.


trebor

Has Maria driven Sam before? No or not relevantly. Stopped for Sam before, but without Sam getting on the bus? Possibly. Is it relevant what other routes Maria drives? No. Have Maria and Sam met in a context other than bus driver and passenger? No.

Is Sam's medical issue physical? Mental? This. Do they have a disease? Of a sort. A contagious illness? Visual impairment? Aural impairment? Missing limb? Other physical disability? A neurological condition? This. Is it something that most people who have die from? Not directly, but... Recover from? ...not usually. If so, quickly? No to rest.

[Doriana]

Does Sam have dementia? Has Maria been instructed not to stop for Sam by a doctor/carer/relative?

[irishelk]

Doriana

Does Sam have dementia? Has Maria been instructed not to stop for Sam by a doctor/carer/relative? That's it!


**************************SPOILER

Twelve strangers are riding on a bus, with the driver making 13. When they pass by a bus stop, an elderly man stands up and waves, but the bus does not stop. Immediately, all the passengers are angry with the driver on behalf of their fellow commuter.

She feels the rage directed at her back, and quickly explains, "That man likes to sit at the bus stop, but I've spoken to his relatives--he has dementia and would get lost if he were to take the bus by himself." This suffices to diffuse the tense situation.

[JenBurdoo]

Ooh, I like this one - it's akin to one of my old ones, about a fake bus stop set up to keep dementia patients from wandering away from their care home.

[Doriana]

Great puzzle! Was thinking about those fake bus stops as well

[irishelk]

Oh yeah, it is! Kind of the reverse!

Thank you,