Customer Reviews

Cunning Lateral Thinking Puzzles

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have been an avid fan of lateral thinking puzzles from youth upwards. There are a number of "classics" that you come across over and over. If I were to mention the albatross, midget and countless dead bodies, you might know what I mean! However, here we have a compilation of brand new puzzles to satisfy our appetites. These are bright and fresh from novel ideas but they remain faithful to the classical formula. They have the vital lateral twist and retain the ability to leave you either clapping one hand to your forehead in dismay or brimming over with triumph when you succeed.

The variety is of puzzles is worth a mention. There is a wide range of scenarios, including a good number taken from real life. Some are relatively easy whilst an equal number are very difficult. There is something for everyone here - it should suit most tastes.

This book is ideal for entertaining your family or friends for an evening indoors or on a long journey. It will grip their attention, stimulate their imagination and test their lateral thinking skills, in search of the cunning solution!

I have so enjoyed learning to think outside the box with this book. When I attempted the first several scenarios, I couldn't even figure out what to ask. Now? As soon as my son read the problem to me, my little brain is just buzzing, coming up with questions! Quite addicting!

If you are into "thinking outside the box", these puzzles will occupy your mind for hours.

I'm a little disappointed in the difficulty level; much simpler than expected. This seems more suited to a young teen than an adult.

...clearly I am not.

I won't give this book a poor rating, because maybe it's my own fault for not understanding what a lateral puzzle is. This is more just feedback so someone can make an informed decision when purchasing, rather than a testament to the quality of the book.

In the past, I had been exposed to lateral thinking puzzles where an answer could actually be deduced. The "melted ice" or "the surgeon was his mother" puzzles are some of the simpler, more popular ones I easily recall. Puzzles where, even if I didn't discover the solution myself, I could read the answer, smile a little, and rhetorically ask myself "why didn't I think of that?!"

However, I found that most of the puzzles in this book provided solutions that, in my opinion, are so far out of left field that I have a hard time imagining anyone could get correct. Puzzles I would personally be embarassed to read to someone else for fear of receiving eye-rolls in response to the answers. Heck, I feel like I even came up with more viable solutions to some of the puzzles myself than the ones provided in the book.

I suspect maybe that's the point of the lateral thinking puzzle, though: the process of making yourself "think outside the box." In that case, this book may do that very well. Perhaps I am too driven by wanting to be correct and by the accomplishment of solving the puzzle to enjoy these types of excercises.

Or maybe I just ain't as smart as I thought I was...

Just so you know: Fun but I was looking for puzzles I could do alone and this book is for groups.