NationStates Jolt Archive

Greetings forum goers!

Welcome to Higher Thinking's thinking puzzle #1!

Every week I will post a different puzzle - all YOU have to do is reply with your answer.

The best and most imaginative answers will go on to the Higher Thinking hall of fame!

Today's puzzle:

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?

If you think you may know the answer, or you have a funny idea as to what it might be, please post it in a reply! (If you know the answer because you've seen it before, please keep it to yourself so that other people can have a go)

The answer will be posted this time next week. Good luck!

The increase in entropy from walking out of the house killed all those people.

It's not a one to one puzzle.

The man was a light-house keeper, and he turned off the light at the Lighthouse, causing a ship to crash and kill 90 people onboard.

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?

The man was the sole operator of a coal-burning power plant. When he stopped the fires, the nearby village ceased to have electrical power. Soon after, twenty-nine people on life support at the nearby hospital died due to lack of power.

Maintainence workers went to the power plant in an attempt to restore power production, but eight of them tripped and were impaled on protruding nails on the walls and floor because the lights were off. The remaining five men were slain by various booby traps that the operator had left behind due to his deranged state.

Another forty-seven deaths were the result of a subsequent riot in the streets, which also caused severe property damage, multiple instances of arson, and lynching of the village's Power and Electric board. The final death was of a 32-year-old Chicago man who choked to death on a tater tot when he heard the news on national television.

Alternatively, the house could have been a lighthouse.

Oh no! It's the lighthouse keeper!

Um, he didn't get elected President so he couldn't negociate and free 90 hostages? Or maybe he never had kids to do that? Or perhaps there was this huge plane that couldn't see so it crashed due to there being no fire or lighting?

The man was a light-house keeper, and he turned off the light at the Lighthouse, causing a ship to crash and kill 90 people onboard.

I like my answer better. It's more believeable; who dies from a ship running aground? The ground is right there, just swim to shore you pussies.

The man was a train engineer.

I like my answer better. It's more believeable; who dies from a ship running aground? The ground is right there, just swim to shore you pussies.

I still blame entropy....that bastard...

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?
I think you've already answered the question. Solitude of that scale is completely overwhelming; it should be no surprise that a man without any sort of human contact for 90 days will become somewhat divorced from any shared sense of reality.

I still blame entropy....that bastard...

I think that a single butterfly ... flapping its wings ... stabbed each person to death with a tiny switchblade, driven mad by being overused in examples of Chaos Theory.

It was connected to the man in that .... umm .... he let the butterfly out of the house when he left.

Durong the month in the house, he never washed and therefore killed the 90 persons with his BO. :p

He was never seen or heard of again.

'Never heard of again'? You mean 'heard from', no?

I still blame entropy....that bastard...

The man was a train engineer, god damnit.

Durong the month in the house, he never washed and therefore killed the 90 persons with his BO. :p

Good point, the OP never said that he was never smelled again.

Smelled? Smelt?

Because he turned off the light, a bat was enticed to make the house as his new home.
The bat then flew off on night to search for food.
That bat flew in front of a car that was traversing the road in front of the house.
The driver saw the bat, was startled, abruptly turned, and went off the road.
As a result, the driver was five minutes late in arriving to his home, where he found out that a killer killed his wife and three sons. If he had gotten sooner, he would have caught the killer.
He called the police, and at that ungodly hour were barreling down the streets.
The sirens woke up a woman, who, not feeling sleepy anymore, goes downstairs to watch reality TV.
She calls in to send her vote for her favorite contestant, who wins by just one vote - hers.
Meanwhile, across town, an old man, also watching the same show is very dismayed by the results. He gets a heart attack. Family rushes him to the hospital.
As the dying man is rushed to the hospital, the car squishes a humongous rat scurrying across the road.
The scent of dead vermin immediately attract vultures from above, and they swoop to devour the carcass.
Another car passes by and is temporarily slowed down for a few moments due to the vultures. That car did not arrive in time before the stoplight in the center of the town turned to red. The car sat there, losing a few minutes. That car stopped by a gas station by the side of the road. But because of static electricity, the gas ignites when he held the metal pump, causing a fire to spread. The driver and his passenger was burned to death.
The gas station attendant sounded the alarm, but the gas tanks suddenly exploded, roasting the attendant and the driver and 20 passengers of a passing bus.
The firefighters came and sealed off the area. Another car who was about to use the same route had to take a different one. The reverend in the car arrived 30 minutes late at his destination - a funeral. The services were 30 minutes late, and so will be the scheduled funeral procession. And just as the services was finished, an earthquake shook the area, and the church collapsed. The pastor and 60 of the churchgoers died due to falling debris. Had the pastor arrived on time, they would have been out of the church when it collapsed.
(That's 90 all in all, if you want to make the casualties bigger, I can extend the story.)

Good point, the OP never said that he was never smelled again.

Smelled? Smelt?

I think smelt is another term in metallurgy.

Smelt?

Totally different concept. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelting)

Totally different concept. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smelting)

I know, I just thought there might be the double meaning. I was just too lazy to google to make sure.

Hmm, smelts are also fish. Interesting.

EDIT: According to dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/smelt), 'smelt' is an acceptable past-tense of 'smell' ... maybe it's archaic or something.

Clearly the guy was on NSG. 3 months, no leaving the house, going deranged.

He'd obviously been such a troll that at least 90 people had said they would happily kill themselves as a sacrifice if he'd please just leave.

He did, and they did.

All's well that ends well.

It's probably not funny to act this way,

He loosed his flock of sheep on the local village, and they ran amok, killing 90 locals.

* US Ship: Please divert your course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.
* CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
* US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course.
* CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course!
* US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!!
* CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.


:D

'Never heard of again'? You mean 'heard from', no?

Hmmm...Slight grammatical error on my part there. :headbang:

Hmmm...Slight grammatical error on my part there. :headbang:

Not necessarily, you can be heard of as well as from. If someone's seen him and tells someone else, person #2 has heard of him but not from him.

pedantry ftw


Quote:
Originally Posted by Urban Legend
* US Ship: Please divert your course 0.5 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.
* CND reply: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.
* US Ship: This is the Captain of a US Navy Ship. I say again, divert your course.
* CND reply: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course!
* US Ship: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS CORAL SEA, WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW!!
* CND reply: This is a lighthouse. Your call.


True or not that is hilarious.

hmmm well given that the "correct" answer has been posted and i cant possibly outdo brutland's scenario....


our hero is involved in human trafficking along the arizona/mexico border. due to the increase border patrols with the "minutemen" and national guard, he has been wating for his shipment for far too long.

his supplies have run out. he is crazed with lonliness. he lets his woodstove go out, burns the last of the kerosene for the lights and starts walking towards tombstone. he is bitten by a rattlesnake and dies for lack of medical attention.

the next day a stolen mexican army truck pulls up to his cabin. the driver sees that the place is empty. he forces 90 men women and children out of the back of the truck and drives back to mexico, leaving them to die in the desert.

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?

He was the subject of a reality tv programme. As a result of his leaving, 90 sad people decided that there was no meaning to their lives and commited suicide in strange and interesting ways.

Alteratively: he shot 90 people through the window as he was walking out of the house.

The house is a lighthouse. A boat crashed into the rocks as a result of him switching off the light, and 90 people were killed.

By the way, I didn't look at any other posts, if someone's already put that.

Hmm, smelts are also fish. Interesting.


Really tasty fish, too. Mmm, beer-battered smelts...

True or not that is hilarious.

It isn't... but it is the sort of thing an American carrier Captain would do so...

:D

Or, you know, they could hav done a Cape Hatteras Lighthouse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Lighthouse). :p

The man lived as the sole caretaker of 91 people in an insane asylum. When he left, he shut off the furnace, making them cold. The cold caused them to run amok, and they decided to resort to cannibalism. They selected one of their brethren to eat, and built a spit to roast him on. As they were lighting the fire, it got out of control, and burned the asylum down.
Ironically, the only one of them to survive was the man on the spit, who fell out of the window, having his fall mostly broken by the spit itself.

(This is so much better than the real answer.)

Greetings forum goers!

Welcome to Higher Thinking's thinking puzzle #1!

Every week I will post a different puzzle - all YOU have to do is reply with your answer.

The best and most imaginative answers will go on to the Higher Thinking hall of fame!

Today's puzzle:

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?

If you think you may know the answer, or you have a funny idea as to what it might be, please post it in a reply! (If you know the answer because you've seen it before, please keep it to yourself so that other people can have a go)

The answer will be posted this time next week. Good luck!

He lived in a lighthouse. He snuffed out the light and a boat (or boats) crashed and sank as a result.

Domus lucis!

He attacked 90 people with a cheese grater.

He felt so lonely he came up with a new imaginary friend every day, after 3 months that added up to 90 imaginary friends. The house became too crowded so one person had to leave and he drew the shortest straw because his imaginary friends could not draw any straws.

While walking through the forest all alone he was chased up a tree by an imaginary wolf. There he sat until an imaginary forest fairy gave him imaginary wings to fly away from the imaginary wolf with. The imaginary wings didn't work and all his imagination including the 90 imaginary friends died with him.

3 months without sex will probably make you real horny...

Mabye he just fucked 90 people to death?

His house was next to a chemical plant that ALSO caught fire. One of the chemical vats exploded, killing 90 people.

'Never heard of again'? You mean 'heard from', no?

In Oz, people usually say, "heard of". I suppose it depends on where you're from.

Greetings forum goers!

Welcome to Higher Thinking's thinking puzzle #1!

Every week I will post a different puzzle - all YOU have to do is reply with your answer.

The best and most imaginative answers will go on to the Higher Thinking hall of fame!

Today's puzzle:

A man lived alone in a house for 3 months. During that time, nobody visited him and he never went out. At the end of that time, he became deranged. One night he put out the fire, turned off the lights, and walked out of the house. He was never seen or heard of again.

His actions in leaving that house resulted in the deaths of 90 people.

Why?

If you think you may know the answer, or you have a funny idea as to what it might be, please post it in a reply! (If you know the answer because you've seen it before, please keep it to yourself so that other people can have a go)

The answer will be posted this time next week. Good luck!

Perhaps you should do a daily puzzle. Your expectations of NS were, I'm afraid a little low if thought we would still be puzzling after a week ;)

He attacked 90 people with a cheese grater.
He felt so lonely he came up with a new imaginary friend every day, after 3 months that added up to 90 imaginary friends. The house became too crowded so one person had to leave and he drew the shortest straw because his imaginary friends could not draw any straws.
While walking through the forest all alone he was chased up a tree by an imaginary wolf. There he sat until an imaginary forest fairy gave him imaginary wings to fly away from the imaginary wolf with. The imaginary wings didn't work and all his imagination including the 90 imaginary friends died with him.
The man lived as the sole caretaker of 91 people in an insane asylum. When he left, he shut off the furnace, making them cold. The cold caused them to run amok, and they decided to resort to cannibalism. They selected one of their brethren to eat, and built a spit to roast him on. As they were lighting the fire, it got out of control, and burned the asylum down.
Ironically, the only one of them to survive was the man on the spit, who fell out of the window, having his fall mostly broken by the spit itself.
(This is so much better than the real answer.)
[/really long and interesting story]
Lol to all of the above.

One month earlier the man received a phone call telling him to keep the lights in his house on and the fire burning for the rest of his life, or 90 people would be killed. When he turned off the lights and put out the fire 90 people were killed. Simple.

Lighthouse. Ship crashed. Neeeext?

Lighthouse. Ship crashed. Neeeext?

You're totally wrong.

Lighthouse. Ship crashed. Neeeext?

En-tro-py. There's a reason they call it the 'heat death of the Universe'.

aliens killed 90 people in revenge because he left