[Guest]

Beginning a small series of lateral thinking puzzles, gathered from various sources. A lateral thinking puzzle would generally require you to ask various questions before arriving at a solution.

Here is first in the series:

Jack and Jill were on a journey to a far away land. In the middle of their journey, they faced a problem that could prove fatal. There was nothing they could do to alleviate the problem with available resources. Though they worked tirelessly to prevent the problem from aggravating further. After two days, the problem ceased to bother them. Explain.

[Guest]

Did they have a common ailment?

No ailment in picture here.

[Guest]

No, they are fully functional humans.

[Guest]

No, they are fully functional humans.

You said they were "pretty much human" and that's not the same as fully functional humans. Which is it? And babies are fully functional humans.

[Guest]

Nice one, Jk. I was thinking in the biological functions area. Though it's probably more like two sperm travelling to two eggs. Most of the credit goes to you, though.

EDIT: Or maybe it's twin zygotes travelling to the uterus.

My other thought too, is that people don't usually name sperm or zygotes. Since these humans are named, they would have to be babies.

[Guest]

We're they in jeopardy of drowning?

A simple scenario is that the boat had a leak. They had to continuously bail the boat until they reached shallow water or dry land.

[Guest]

Ok, to make it clear, they are not babies. Let's say they are old enough to travel on their own.

[Guest]

We're they in jeopardy of drowning?

A simple scenario is that the boat had a leak. They had to continuously bail the boat until they reached shallow water or dry land.

I like this answer!

[Guest]

We're they in jeopardy of drowning?

A simple scenario is that the boat had a leak. They had to continuously bail the boat until they reached shallow water or dry land.

Yes, they were in that jeopardy. You are right about there; though they were still in water when their troubles ended. Go Figure!

[Guest]

Ok, to make it clear, they are not babies. Let's say they are old enough to travel on their own.

You have to admit though...the scenario with them being babies on their way out does fit all your requirements really well!

We'll keep guessing.

[Guest]

Yes, they were in that jeopardy. You are right about there; though they were still in water when their troubles ended. Go Figure!

Ok, so is this the correct answer or not?

[Guest]

While the OP doesn't explicitly state this: they were on their own. And usually, babies won't be out on their own.

[Guest]

Ok, so is this the correct answer or not?

Not entirely correct. You still have to figure out the second part.

[Guest]

Not entirely correct. You still have to figure out the second part.

They were traveling down a river...then they got to the red/dead (can't remember which) sea where they floated because of the salt content so they didn't have to worry about drowning anymore.

[Guest]

Not entirely correct. You still have to figure out the second part.

Or maybe they swam to an iceburg?

[Guest]

Neither of the above.

[Guest]

Neither of the above.

They remembered the jet packs they had on their backs, so they turned them on and flew to land!

[Guest]

They remembered the jet packs they had on their backs, so they turned them on and flew to land!

They didn't have any. Had there been anything useful, they wouldn't have wasted 2 days.

Moreover, you are going back from how close JLT had reached.

[Guest]

jack and jill were in a desert where they ran out of water

they searched and searched for some water but failed

two days later they died thus the problem did not bother them any more

Beginning a small series of lateral thinking puzzles, gathered from various sources. A lateral thinking puzzle would generally require you to ask various questions before arriving at a solution.

Here is first in the series:

Jack and Jill were on a journey to a far away land. In the middle of their journey, they faced a problem that could prove fatal. There was nothing they could do to alleviate the problem with available resources. Though they worked tirelessly to prevent the problem from aggravating further. After two days, the problem ceased to bother them. Explain.

[Guest]

Were they in danger of drowning in a lake, or in an ocean?

[Guest]

Were they in danger of drowning in a lake, or in an ocean?

Yes, they were.

I'm off to sleep now. Will be back after about 8 hours.

[Guest]

You it wasn't a boat leak. Therefore it had to be something else. How about this...they going up a river, they had to wait 2 days for the water level in the locks to change.

[Guest]

You know, this would be a lot more fun if you would at least suggest what the purpose of this might be. There are a million possibilities, even just using the drowning and boat theory. We could be guessing for the next ten years.

[Guest]

I would like a clarification on if the boat was leaking or not so, was the boat leaking during the two days they faced the problem?

Was it leaking after the 2 days?

Were they in a sailboat?

Was there a lack of wind during the 2 days?

Was there a lack of wind right after the 2 days?

Edited April 30, 2011 by Nana7

[Guest]

They are sailing to their destination. For two days they lost the wind.

[Guest]

I'm not really sure that the lack of wind was the issue. First of all, they'd just be sitting in a boat, not exactly fatal. Secondly, the OP refers to something that was hurting them in some way:

'to prevent the problem from aggravating further. After two days, the problem ceased to bother them'

A lack of wind may be annoying, but certainly not fatal or hurtful or aggravating...the wording in the OP suggests that if they had not been working tirelessly, the problem would have gotten worse. Again, of lack of wind can't really get "worse."