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Cover by Left Coast Design, Portland, OregonCover illustration Sandy SilverthorneBack cover author photo Milo J. SkinnerONE-MINUTE MYSTERIES AND BRAIN TEASERSCopyright 2007 by Sandy Silverthorne and John WarnerPublished by Harvest House PublishersEugene, Oregon 97402www.harvesthousepublishers.comLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataSilverthorne, SandyOne-minute mysteries and brain teasers / Sandy Silverthorne and John Warner.p. cm.Includes index.ISBN 978-0-7369-5472-3 (pbk.)ISBN 978-0-7369-5473-0 (eBook)1. Puzzles. 2. Detective and mystery stories. I. Warner, John., 1980- II Title.GV1493.S585 2007793.73—dc222007002500All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording,or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of thepublisher.Printed in the United States of America13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 / BP-SK / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Copyrighted material
To Katie and Ty—thank you for getting meaddicted to lateral thinking puzzles.And to Kristin—thank you for yourencouragement and inspiration.JohnTo Vicki and Christy—you constantly helpme figure out the mysteries of life.SandyThanks to Kristin Warner for“Choosing Sides,” “The Long WayHome,” “The New Girl,” and“Teacher’s Pet.” Thanks to KatieTrimble for “What Is YourEmergency?” and “”Underpaid?”Copyrighted material
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stnetConIntroduction7Time to Think1 When Time Stands Still2 Lunch Time3 Egg Timer4 Timeless5 Got the Time?9On the Case6 Primary Evidence7 The Hotel Guest8 Women’s Intuition9 T-Shirt Trouble10 The Missing Socks11 The Deductive Neighbor12 Lost and Found13 The Hotel Thief14 Filthy Rich17Sleep on It15 The Early Bird16 The Failed Prank17 Siesta and Fiesta18 Unfamiliar Surroundings19 New Year’s News20 Sheepless in Seattle21 Rise and Shine or Not29Call Me with the Answer 3922 First Date23 Unknown Caller24 Seven Digits25 What Is Your Emergency?26 Whom Shall I SayIs Calling?Criminal Puzzlement27 A Dog’s Life28 The Intruder29 In for Questioning30 The Tidy Crook31 The Witty Cop32 Robbed Again?33 Sixth Sense34 The Unsafe Safe35 The Cheap Fix36 Joy Ride37 Quick Thinking38 Above the Law?39 Autograph Snatcher40 Not So Safe47For the Road41 Homeward Bound42 Running on Empty43 Stuck in Traffic44 Choosing Sides63Copyrighted material
45 Weather to Forget46 Seeing Is Believing47 Pulled Over for NoReason?48 The New Sound System49 Fast-Food Freakishness50 Windshield WipersWon’t Work?51 Green Light, Red Light52 Locked Road53 The Long Way HomeFor a Price54 The Inheritance55 The Costly Item56 Two of a Kind57 Buyer’s Remorse58 The Right Bank59 The Rare Book60 One Person’s Junk 61 Underpaid?79Puzzling Behavior62 Is It a Miracle?63 Always Be Prepared64 Scared Silly65 If the Shoe Fits66 Trouble at Work67 That’s Unheard Of68 A Passing Failure69 No Mulligan?70 For Sale Fib71 Sudden Outburst72 What Not to Do73 The Forgotten Gift89Clever Thinkers74 A Needle in a Haystack75 A Key Solution76 Who’s There?77 It’s Not Polite to Stare78 All in a Name103Puzzling Situations79 The New Girl80 Teacher’s Pet81 Special Delivery82 Playing Hooky83 All Trick and No Treat84 Blind Date85 The Invisible Girl86 More or Less?87 Fleeting Interest88 Art for the Ages89 Losing with Style90 Mirror, Mirror91 Puzzle Puzzle92 Artistic License93 The House Painter94 Water Rules95 Lucky Bug96 Power Outage97 A Case of Amnesia?98 Good Advice99 Bad Hair Day100 When It Rains, It Pours111Clues 135Solutions 157Copyrighted material
INTRODUCTIONWhat Are One-Minute Mysteries?These short mysteries, also known as lateral thinking puzzles, areoften used in groups as an interactive game. Each puzzle describesan unusual scenario, and it is up to you and your friends to figureout what is going on. Although it is possible to come up with manyanswers that seem to solve the puzzle, the challenge is to find thesolution that matches the one in the back of the book. Each mysterytakes less than a minute to read, and then you can take your timeand enjoy the sleuthing process.How Do I Solve Them?These puzzles do not provide you with enough information tofind the solution, but you can fill in the gaps by asking yes-or-noquestions. The process is similar to the game of 20 questions, butinstead of finding the identity of a thing, you solve a mystery. You’llneed one other person in order to enjoy these puzzles to the fullest,and the more people, the better! Choose one person to be the casemaster. This person reads a puzzle aloud and privately consults theanswer in the back of the book. All other players are the detectives. They take turns posing questions to the case master, who canrespond by saying yes or no or something like “That doesn’t matter”or “Rephrase your question.” The case master provides clues fromthe back of the book as needed. The game is won when someonefigures out the key to the solution. It isn’t necessary to recite theentire solution, but only to figure out the part that explains whatis puzzling.One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers7Copyrighted material
What Else Do I Need To Know?Start by asking big-picture questions. You will be tempted tojump right in and guess the answer, but you will most likely bewrong. Give yourself something to build on by asking questionslike these: Is the location important? Is anyone else involved? Couldthis happen to me? As you figure out what is going on, you canask more specific questions. Also, ask completely random andoff-the-wall questions. Think laterally—that is, think creatively oroutside the box. If you have exhausted all the obvious possibilitiesand don’t know where else to go, use your imagination and viewthe problem from a new perspective.Eliminate red herrings and always check your assumptions. Lookat each element of the puzzle and ask if it is important, and thenfocus on the details that matter. If a puzzle doesn’t come right outand say something, don’t assume it to be true. If the case master can’tanswer one of your questions with a yes or no but instead tells youto rephrase your question, you are probably assuming something.If you decide to investigate these mysteries on yourown, the clues section will serve as your guide. If youhave a hunch of what the solution is, beforelooking at the answer, first examine theclues to see if you are on the righttrack. Some of the clues will surpriseyou! Once you have read all of theclues, your goal is to come up with a satisfying solution that fits all the constraintsof the mystery and clues.Oh—one last thing. Don’t let theillustrations mislead you. They generallydepict humorous but incorrect assumptions and are purely for your viewingenjoyment. Now put on your sleuthingcaps and get on the case!8 One-Minute Mysteries and Brain TeasersCopyrighted material
TIME TOTHINKCopyrighted material
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1.When Time Stands StillAs a burglar reaches for somethingon the mantel, he accidentally knocksover a clock. It falls to the floor, breaks,and stops. The next morning, however, police aren’t able to determinewhat time the robbery took place.Why not?One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers11Copyrighted material
2.Lunch TimeRobbie goes into a restaurant and orders a deli sandwich and a cola for lunch. Afterward, he pays his bill,tips his waitress, and goes outside. He slowly takesin his surroundings. The sky is black and the citystreets are deserted.What happened?12 One-Minute Mysteries and Brain TeasersCopyrighted material
3.Egg TimerHard-boiling an egg takes approximately ten minutes, but itisn’t always as simple as that.Many factors can alter the timeit takes. For example, in differentparts of the world, hard-boilingan egg can take up to forty minutes. Why?One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers13Copyrighted material
4.TimelessA man is looking at a clockthat displays the correcttime, but he doesn’t knowwhat time it is. Why not?14 One-Minute Mysteries and Brain TeasersCopyrighted material
5.Got the Time?Why does a secret agent check thetime of day every time he finishesa phone call?One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers15Copyrighted material
questions. The process is similar to the game of 20 questions, but instead of finding the identity of a thing, you solve a mystery. You’ll need one other person in order to enjoy these puzzles to the fullest, and the more people, the better! Choose one person to be the case master. This person reads a puzzle aloud and privately consults the
