🕵️ Lateral Thinking Mysteries
Strange stories with simple answers. Ask yes-or-no questions and work out what really happened.
How to play
- Pick a set. Odd Situations comes first, and stars open Think Sideways.
- Read the story. It seems impossible, but there's always a simple answer.
- Tap a question to find out if the answer is yes or no. Each one costs 30 points.
- When you think you know, pick what really happened from the four answers.
- In Group mode, read it out loud, let your friends ask, then reveal the answer.
- Win up to 3 stars for each set and mode.
Lateral thinking puzzles for all ages
Lateral Thinking Mysteries is a free puzzle game of strange little stories. A man walks in the rain for an hour without getting a single hair wet. A girl reads a whole book in a pitch-dark room. Each one seems impossible until you spot what you assumed, and then it's obvious. Ask yes-or-no questions to narrow it down, and try to solve it with as few questions as you can. It's all clean and family-friendly, so there are no grim stories here. Everything is listed below if you'd like to use it at home or in class.
What is lateral thinking?
The phrase lateral thinking was coined by the writer Edward de Bono in 1967. It means solving problems by coming at them from an unexpected direction, and not just going step by step along the obvious path. A lateral thinking puzzle gives you a situation and leaves out one key fact. To find that fact, you have to question things you took for granted. Who said it was raining? Who said the ball was thrown forward? Traditionally, one person knows the answer and the others ask yes-or-no questions, and that's the way this game works too.
How to play with friends
These puzzles are great with a group, and they need no equipment at all. Pick Group mode. One person reads the story out loud and keeps the answer secret. Everyone else takes turns to ask questions that can be answered yes or no, and the question list in the game gives the host some answers to work with. If you get stuck, try the more general questions first: is it about the weather? Is someone not what they seem? The first person to explain what really happened becomes the next host. They're perfect for long car journeys, sleepovers and rainy lunchtimes.
How to get better at lateral thinking
Question each word. Stories are written to make you assume things, like who's in a vehicle, what time of year it is or how many people there are. Think about what isn't there. The story tells you the truth, but not all of it. Try the simple answer first. In these puzzles, the answer is nearly always simpler than you expected. Ask broad questions. It's better to ask whether it's about the weather than whether it's raining in France. Each yes or no should cut the possibilities in half.
Lateral thinking puzzles with answers
A girl sat reading a whole book in a completely dark room, with no lamp, no torch and no phone. How could she read?
Answer: She was reading Braille. Braille is a system of raised dots that people read with their fingertips, so it needs no light.
Ben walked for an hour in the pouring rain with no umbrella, no hat and no hood. His clothes were soaked, but not a single hair on his head got wet. How?
Answer: Ben is bald. You can't wet hair that isn't there.
A woman lives on the tenth floor. On rainy days she takes the lift straight to her door. On sunny days she gets out at the sixth floor and walks up. Why?
Answer: She is too short to reach the 10 button without her umbrella. She can only reach the button for floor 6, unless she has an umbrella to press with.
Two sisters were born to the same mother, on the same day, in the same year, at the same hospital, but they aren't twins. How can that be?
Answer: They are two of a set of triplets. Two of three is not twins.
A man rushes into a cafe and asks for a glass of water. The waiter suddenly jumps out and shouts "BOO!" The man says thank you and leaves without drinking. Why?
Answer: The man had hiccups. A glass of water is one cure for hiccups, and a good scare is another.
In the middle of a field there's a carrot, some pieces of coal and a scarf. No one put them there on purpose this morning. Why are they there?
Answer: A snowman melted. When the snowman melted, only the carrot nose, the coal eyes and the scarf were left.
Nina just had her fifth birthday party, but she's twenty years old. How is that possible?
Answer: She was born on February 29. That date only comes once every four years.
Three friends walk along under one tiny umbrella, and not one of them gets wet. How?
Answer: It isn't raining. Nobody said it was raining.
Every swimmer in the pool has dry hair, and they've been there for an hour. There are no swimming caps. How?
Answer: The pool is empty. You don't get wet in an empty pool.
A boy throws a ball as hard as he can. It stops, comes straight back to him and lands in his hands. Nothing touches it, and it doesn't bounce. How?
Answer: He threw it straight up. What goes up must come down.
A man leaves home, turns left three times and comes back home, where a man in a mask is waiting. Why isn't he frightened?
Answer: He's playing baseball. He ran around the bases, and the masked man is the catcher.
A police officer sees a bus driver going the wrong way down a one-way street, and does nothing. Why not?
Answer: The driver was walking. Bus drivers walk too, and there's no problem with walking the wrong way.
A dog is on one side of a river, and its bowl is on the other. There's no bridge and no boat, and the dog crosses without getting wet. How?
Answer: The river was frozen. The dog simply walked across the ice.
Two friends played five games of chess. Each of them won three games, and none were draws. How?
Answer: They weren't playing each other. Each friend played a different opponent.
Lola drops an egg three feet onto a hard stone floor, and the egg doesn't crack during those three feet. How?
Answer: She dropped it from higher than three feet. It falls the first three feet with no problem. It's the landing that breaks it.
A girl gets a lollipop from the same sweet shop every single day, and she never pays or asks. Nobody minds at all. Why?
Answer: Her mother owns the shop. It's the family shop, and her mother gives her one each day.
A ship in a bottle has masts far wider than the bottle's neck, and the bottle's never been cut. How did it get in?
Answer: The masts were folded down and pulled up by strings. The ship goes in with the masts flat, and pulling a string stands them up.
A cat sits on one side of a closed door, and a moment later it's on the other side. Nobody opened the door, and the cat can't open doors. How?
Answer: It used a cat flap. A cat flap lets a cat through a closed door.
A man dressed all in black stands in the road. There are no street lights and no moon, and the car coming toward him has its lights off, yet the driver stops in plenty of time. How?
Answer: It's daytime. Nobody said it was night.
How can two people each stand behind the other at the same moment?
Answer: They stand back to back. Each one has the other behind them.
A car turns sharply to the right. Which of its tyres doesn't move at all?
Answer: The spare tyre. The spare just stays in the boot.
How far can you walk into a forest?
Answer: Halfway. After the halfway point, you're walking out of it.
What happens when you drop a red ball into the Blue Sea?
Answer: It gets wet. That's all that happens.
A man jumps out of a plane with no parachute, and he isn't hurt at all. How?
Answer: The plane was on the ground. It was parked, so it was a short hop.
Mary has four daughters, and each daughter has one brother. How many children does Mary have?
Answer: 5. All four daughters share one brother.
An electric train is heading north into a strong south wind. Which way does its smoke blow?
Answer: There isn't any smoke. Electric trains don't make smoke.
A boat is full of people, yet there isn't a single person on board. How?
Answer: They're all married. Single can mean not married.
Classic logic and lateral thinking puzzles
You're outside a closed room with three light switches, and one of them works the bulb inside. You can go in only once. How can you tell which switch works it?
Answer: Turn one on for a while, turn it off, turn on another, then feel the bulb. Bulb lit = second switch. Bulb warm and off = first switch. Bulb cold and off = third.
A farmer must cross a river with a fox, a goose and a sack of grain. The boat holds him and one thing. The fox would eat the goose, and the goose would eat the grain. What should he take first?
Answer: The goose. Take the goose over, come back, take the fox, bring the goose back, take the grain, then come back for the goose.
Two doors: one leads to treasure and one to a swamp. One guard always tells the truth and one always lies, and you don't know which is which. You get one question. What do you ask either guard?
Answer: Which door would the other guard say leads to the treasure, then pick the other door. Either way you are told the wrong door, so you take the other one.
You have 8 identical balls, and one is a little heavier. With a balance scale, what's the fewest weighings that always finds it?
Answer: 2. Weigh 3 against 3. If level, weigh the last 2. If not, weigh 2 of the heavier 3.
When I was 6, my sister was half my age. Now I'm 40. How old is my sister?
Answer: 37. She was 3 when you were 6, so she's always 3 years younger.
You have two coins that add up to 30 cents, and one of them isn't a nickel. What are the coins?
Answer: A quarter and a nickel. One isn't a nickel. It's the quarter. The other is.
You're the captain of a ship that has a crew of 12 and 6 goats, and the ship's cat has 3 kittens. How old is the captain?
Answer: Your own age. You're the captain, so the answer is however old you are.
You have two candles that each take exactly one hour to burn, though not at a steady rate. How can you time 45 minutes?
Answer: Light one at both ends and the other at one end. The first burns out in 30 minutes. The second, now lit at both ends, has 30 minutes' worth left and burns out in 15.
Three boxes are labelled Apples, Oranges and Mixed, and all three labels are wrong. You can take out one fruit from one box. Which box should you choose to work out all three?
Answer: The box labelled Mixed. It can't be mixed, so whichever fruit you get tells you what's in it, and the other two boxes follow.
How can you cut a round cake into 8 equal pieces with only 3 straight cuts?
Answer: Two cuts in a cross, then one sideways through the middle. A cross makes 4 pieces, and a sideways slice through the middle doubles them.
Six friends share six apples from a basket. Each gets one apple, and yet one apple is still left in the basket. How?
Answer: The last friend took the basket too. The last apple is still in the basket, and the last friend has it all.
A father and two sons must cross a river in a canoe that holds only 100 kg. The father weighs 100 kg, and each son weighs 50. Who goes across first?
Answer: Both sons. Both boys cross and one returns. Dad crosses, the other boy comes back, and both boys cross again.
You've got a 7-minute sand timer and an 11-minute one. How can you time exactly 15 minutes?
Answer: Start both. The 11 has 4 minutes left when the 7 ends. 4 + 11 = 15 minutes.
More brain games
If you liked these, try Trick Question Trap, Hard Riddles Challenge or Logic Grid Detective. Every puzzle is on the Brain Games page.
Free and safe
Lateral Thinking Mysteries is free to play, with no download, no sign-up and nothing to buy. There is no chat, and your stars are saved only on your own device. See the Parents & Safety page for more.
Frequently asked questions
What is a lateral thinking puzzle?
It's a story that leaves out one key fact. You ask yes-or-no questions and question your assumptions until you work out what really happened.
Are these puzzles suitable for kids?
Yes. Many lateral thinking puzzles found online are quite dark, but all the mysteries here are clean and family-friendly.
How do you play lateral thinking puzzles in a group?
One person reads the story and knows the answer. Everyone else asks yes-or-no questions until someone explains what happened. Group mode here is designed for that.
Can I print these?
Yes. The print buttons above the list make a sheet with or without the answers.
Is Lateral Thinking Mysteries free?
Yes. It is free to play in the browser with no download, no account and nothing to buy.