Brain Teasers
Cat in the Back
Situation
Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.Situation
This is a true story. Three animals were walking in single file. The rabbit was in front. It was followed by the dog. The cat followed behind them both.
The rabbit said "I'm in front." The dog said "I'm in the middle." The cat said "I'm in front."
They were all walking forwards. They were not looking backwards. How can you explain this?
The rabbit said "I'm in front." The dog said "I'm in the middle." The cat said "I'm in front."
They were all walking forwards. They were not looking backwards. How can you explain this?
Hint
Remember, I said I was telling you a true story.Answer
Remember, I said I was telling a true story, so the facts in the first paragraph are true. Therefore it follows that the cat must be lying.Hide Hint Show Hint Hide Answer Show Answer
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Comments
I agree, and if you say this is a true story its the whole teaser not just the first paragraph.
Aug 05, 2002
This problem would work better if you took out the part about the story being true, and made the answer "they were walking in a circle".
Hmmm. This was my first teaser. You are a hard bunch to please.
Next time you make a hint, make sure it's not in your answer.
If it's a true story, how come the animals can talk?
It seems like the answer should be that the narrator is lying.
It seems like the answer should be that the narrator is lying.
I admit, this is pretty bad...
You should stay in the Group teasers Flynn haha
You should stay in the Group teasers Flynn haha
That was pretty stupid. Maybe you should try again
i didnt think it was that bad flynn...i think the whole problem would have been eliminated if you'd started the second paragraph with the word "IF" lighten up guys!!!!
If you forget for a minute that animals can't talk, then it is still a true story. It's just that in the story the cat is a liar. What has been written in the question is all correct, it is a quote from the lying cat. I think this is a good puzzle.
Why does the cat have to ly???...couldn't he be walking in a single file line backward??? That way he is in the back but no one is in front of him so he would also be in the front???....That would work wouldn't it??
If lies can be included, then you could have lied about telling the truth. Actually, I like this puzzle, but it's more of a trick than a situation.
Feb 06, 2003
I really don't get it! Well confused by yuh! Sowwy!
jucifer, what it is is that they're walking in a normal line and the cat is lying. So easy it's hard. I personally do not agree with what everyone else is saying. It's a clever puzzle. Normally you try and make the situation work with everyone telling the truth, and all the stuff there. This teaser takes you out of that. My only suggestion is that it should be in the Trick category.
the animals could talk therefore u were lying and also then wouldn't the rabbit and dog be lying 2 cause they were in the "lyonh" paragraph (the same 1 as the cat) so eveybody in the story is lying EVEN U
i like dewtell's solution!!
i was thrown off by that the animals were talking... you shouldn't have said "a true story"; it changes everything.
your answer should never be that the information you gave is simply not true. that would make any teaser really easy cuz the answer could just be, "it didn't really happen!". this is worse than when the answer is that they were acting or in a movie.
IF it's a true story how are the animals talking. You should make the characters people. If you changed that and put this teaser under trick instead of situation it would be great.
People, this is JUST a teaser. BUT you might as well stop TEASING the pubisher's mind. Great job. well done.
BrainyRox, talking animals in a teaser would not normally be a problem, but this one relies on the assertion that the story - including the talking animals - is true. I agree with a previous poster that if the second paragraph began with "If..." then there would be no issue.
I'm the author of this puzzle, and I agree..it is somewhat flawed. Sorry about that.
My favorite puzzle (which I created) is the ATM. It's been Puzzle of the Day twice. Hope you enjoy it.
My favorite puzzle (which I created) is the ATM. It's been Puzzle of the Day twice. Hope you enjoy it.
My son immediately said " They were walking in a circle ".
If the puzzle began "Assume that this is a true story" then no problem arises. In logic you can say what follows from an assumption whether or not the assumption is true. If we assume the story is true, then the cat is lying (or possibly deluded or hallucinating).
However opening with the flat statement that it is true makes the puzzle more interesting. If we believe it to be impossible for the animals to talk, it seems to be a paradox, though the impossibility is only empirical, not logical. In that case the simplest solution would be that the narrator is lying, or deluded. This is in fact probably the case in reality, as I do not believe that there were talking animals.
So it's a rather interesting paradox. I like it.
However opening with the flat statement that it is true makes the puzzle more interesting. If we believe it to be impossible for the animals to talk, it seems to be a paradox, though the impossibility is only empirical, not logical. In that case the simplest solution would be that the narrator is lying, or deluded. This is in fact probably the case in reality, as I do not believe that there were talking animals.
So it's a rather interesting paradox. I like it.
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