Marie Marshall

Author. Poet. Editor.

Tag: teaser

October 4, 2014

Imagine a wall… the answer

Last week I set a conundrum and asked if any of you could guess the answer my friend gave. Her answer illustrates two things, firstly lateral thinking, and secondly paying attention to the question. Here’s the question again:

Imagine a wall made of hard, smooth blocks of stone. It’s so high you can’t see the top. It’s so wide that no matter how far back you step you can’t see where it ends, if indeed it ends at all. A wall so mighty must have foundations almost as deep as it is tall, so it can’t be undermined. It is, as near as makes no difference, a wall of infinite dimensions! How do you get to the other side?

I think the most interesting answer came from someone who suggested walking away from the wall, all round the earth’s circumference, until you came to its further side. Hmm, that would be all very well if the wall didn’t itself circle the globe – you would be half way on your trek and suddenly would come up against the same side of the wall.

Look at the wording of the question again. My friend answered in three words. Here they are:

“Imagine a door…”

__________

While I have your attention, may I mention that the Autumn 2014 Showcase at the zen space, the on-line repository of haiku and other short poetry, is now published. Guest editor this time is the wonderful Sam Snoek-Brown. Read it here.

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September 26, 2014

Imagine a wall…

Today I was pondering the famous ‘three light switches’ conundrum when I remembered another one. It had been posed to me by a fellow writer – even so it wasn’t of her devising, it had been posed to her by someone else who had been amazed at how quickly she had come up with an answer. Instantly. I wondered what you would make of it. Shall we see?

Imagine a wall made of hard, smooth blocks of stone. It’s so high you can’t see the top. It’s so wide that no matter how far back you step you can’t see where it ends, if indeed it ends at all. A wall so mighty must have foundations almost as deep as it is tall, so it can’t be undermined. It is, as near as makes no difference, a wall of infinite dimensions! How do you get to the other side?

If you think you can guess the answer my friend gave, then tweet me @MairibheagM. Yes, her answer was so simple it can easily be contained in a tweet. If you don’t have a Twitter account, then you can get in touch via the email address on my ‘Contact’ page. I’ll publish the answer in a week’s time.