Lateral puzzle. From me. No it isn't easy.

[JEK595]

A man was found dead next to a beetle, a book, and a pile of bricks.

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-grace the mind with puzzles, games, and tapioca.-
-If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Not suitable for skydivers.)

[mathgrant]

Was the beetle an insect, or the likeness of one (i.e., a statue)? Does it have something to do with his death?

Does the book have anything to do with his death?

Do the bricks have anything to do with his death?

Did the man die of. . .
suicide?
murder?
natural causes?
Is this even relevant?

Is the location relevant? (i.e. does it matter whether he's at the library, Toys R Us, at home, etc.)

I'm actually curious as to what the answer is. I'm asking all the obvious questions and letting Logain or someone take the credit for solving it in the end.

[Marvin]

Does the book have anything written in it? Are the contents of the book important?
Was it a hardcover book?
Were the bricks at one time fixed together (and have now been separated)?

[JEK595]

Was the beetle an insect, or the likeness of one (i.e., a statue)? Neither
Does it have something to do with his death? Yes
Does the book have anything to do with his death? Partially

Do the bricks have anything to do with his death? Partially

Did the man die of. . .
suicide? No
murder? No
natural causes? No
Is this even relevant? Yes

Is the location relevant? (i.e. does it matter whether he's at the library, Toys R Us, at home, etc.) Yes

Does the book have anything written in it? Yes Are the contents of the book important? Yes, it helps explain the situation
Was it a hardcover book? Not relevant
Were the bricks at one time fixed together (and have now been separated)? No


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-grace the mind with puzzles, games, and tapioca.-
-If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Not suitable for skydivers.)

[quercitron]

Was the beetle a car?

[ZutAlors!]

Was the beetle a car? [edit: I swear I thought of this independantly!]
Was the book The Guinness Book of World Records?
Did the man die because he did something stupid?

[This message has been edited by ZutAlors! (edited 02-20-2002 06:31 PM).]

[The Cheshire Man]

Had the man been driving the beetle?

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Now you see me, now you don't... but keep smiling!

[JEK595]

Was the beetle a car? Yes

Was the beetle a car? Yes!
Was the book The Guinness Book of World Records? No
Did the man die because he did something stupid? If you mean something stupid to break a record, no

Had the man been driving the beetle? No


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-grace the mind with puzzles, games, and tapioca.-
-If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Not suitable for skydivers.)

[Marvin]

Oooh! The book wouldn't be about the beetle, would it?

[Sessie]

Is the book the beetle's owner's manual?

[Tahnan]

Are the bricks made of clay?
...of cement?
...of plastic? (Are they lego bricks?)

[Salty]

was the car up on bricks because he was trying to do the Ferris Beuller trick of putting it in reverse and taking off some miles. The book would have been on the gas pedal, something went wrong, the car came off the bricks and squished him till he be dead.

or something along those lines

[ZutAlors!]

Alternatively, he was simply changing the oil or fixing the parking brake or something, with the car jacked up and on blocks, and the car lurched off the blocks while he was underneath, killing him in an extremely gruesome way.

[dethwing]

theory: He was driving the beetle, but was reading while he was driving. So of course, he ran into a building.

[JEK595]

since ZutAlors is so close,

SPOILER
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The man was a trainee auto mechanic practicing on a Volkswagon Beetle. While working underneath it, the beetle began to lurch off the cement bricks that were supporting it. Since his face was buried in the instruction manual, the man didn't notice and was crushed to death by the car, and was turned rather disgustingly into a human pizza.

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-grace the mind with puzzles, games, and tapioca.-
-If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. (Not suitable for skydivers.)