"A man writes the same number, and nothing else, on 20 sheets of paper. Why?" "A man went around the world in a ship. Yet he was always in sight of land. How come?" These are examples of lateral thinking puzzles. You're given a statement about a situation that you have to use as a starting point to arrive at a particular explanation or solution. often there can be many possible scenarios to explain the puzzle, but the challenge is that you have to find the "right" answer. Typically the puzzles contain insufficient information for you to immediately figure out the solution (clues are provided). When you get stuck, attack the problem from a new direction--think laterally! Not only are these puzzles fun, they also help to develop skills in questioning, deduction, logic, and, of course, lateral thinking. Answers: It's January and he is writing the date of the year on all the checks in his checkbook to avoid putting last year's date by mistake; He was an astronaut in a space ship. 96 pages, 25 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.