The year is 1880. A man walks into a busy, noisy office to apply for a job. He fills out the necessary paperwork and is told to sit with the other job applicants and wait until he is called. A few minutes later, he gets up and goes into another room. Someone greets him and tells him, "Congratulations. You have the job!" The other job applicants are upset, because they arrived earlier than this man, yet he was offered the job for a good reason. Why did he get the job?
NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To see the answer, look in the comments section.
Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here
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Posts
What job is he applying for?
ReplyDeleteSorry, I only answer questions that can be answered with "yes" or "no."
ReplyDeleteis he applying for a job with the railroad? how about an oil company?
ReplyDeleteNo, ot either of those jobs.
ReplyDeleteIs he between 20-30?
ReplyDeleteIs he over 60?
ReplyDeleteDid he get a college education?
ReplyDeleteHmmm. I don't know how old he is. I guess it doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteHe may or may not have had a college education. I don't think it really matters either.
ReplyDeleteMarcia, did he get the job because he didn't wait to be called, but had the initiative to go into the other room?
ReplyDeleteNo, Debbie, that's not it.
ReplyDeleteIs the man Thomas Edison?
ReplyDeleteDid he demonstrate a particular skill in the "other room" that earned him the job?
ReplyDeleteBecause he is a man and the other applicants are women?
ReplyDeleteGinger - No, it wasn't Thomas Edison
ReplyDeleteDonna - No, he didn't demonstrate any particular skill in the "other room."
Anonymous - No, it wasn't because he was a man.
It's a job for a telegraph operator. He heard the telegraph code and understood it said to come to the other room. No one else understood the code and therefore couldn't do the job.
ReplyDeleteIs the type of office important? Would it be the office of a political figure?
ReplyDeleteDoes the answer pertain to something that was invented in 1880?
ReplyDeleteWas it because of something he wrote in the paperwork?
ReplyDeleteGreat questions, everyone.
ReplyDeleteGinger - Yes, the type of office is important, but no, he wasn't a political figure.
Donna - It has something to do with something that was invented prior to 1880, but was in use in 1880.
Aaron - No, it didn't have anything to do with what he wrote in the paperwork.
Ems - sorry I haven't checked the blog for awhile, (except your photos caught my eye) - Fred and Sally were up for so long I thought you gave up riddles for the summer season?!!! Is the man deaf? Or better yet - Is it a telegraph office and does he hear his name tapped out in Morse Code, so the people know he knows the code and give him the job? I'll keep better track of you - thanks for posting it on the Iditasite.
ReplyDeleteOops - got caught up in changing my blogger account name and that took five minutes!! My comment therfore was late. Haven't seen the answer yet - sorry if it's a duplicate!! Happy Summer Ems!
ReplyDeleteLaure W. - Congratulations! You are correct. He was a telegraph operator, and he was the only one who understood the Morse code that told him to come to the inner office. Had you heard that riddle before, or did you figure it out? Good job! When I read the riddle in a book, I guessed that he had really good hearing and was the only one able to hear the call to come to the inner office. (I figured the job had something to do with having good hearing). I didn't figure out the telegraph operator part. When I wrote the riddle, I added the 1880 part to give a bit of a clue.
ReplyDeleteSugar River,
ReplyDeleteIt's good to hear from you. Your answer about the telegraph operator is correct. As you can see, it has been guessed already. Yes, sorry I had the other riddle up too long. I was running a bit short of riddles and had to research a bit. Plus I got kind of lazy. From now on, I am going to try to post one every Sunday evening about midnight, so it will be up by Monday morning, so you can check then. However, I won't promise I'll be faithful to that every time.
Wow, it's great to be called "Ems" again. I miss everyone on the forum.
I had heard it before. The first time I heard it, I didn't have a clue. Thanks for posting your riddles on the SHS board. I usually lurk there, but obtain great information for homeschooling my 4 kiddos.
ReplyDeleteHi Marcia. I would have NEVER gotten this one, but I did look at your other posts, and I got the fish one right away! Fun.
ReplyDeleteGOOD RIDDLE MARCIA, Steve
ReplyDeleteAh. Normally I leave a note saying you can only guess if you haven't heard it before, but I forgot it this time. Oops. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, because Sugar River guessed it anyway, even though she hadn't heard it before. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteWe're having some comptuer problems, so I'm not promising I'll have one up on Monday, but if I can find a computer to use, I will post it.