Cooking For Engineers

[capstinence]

Let's do the puzzle where a scenario is given and then everyone asks yes or no questions to determine what really happened. Since I know most people have played these as kids, and thus probably know most of the answers to the common ones, I'll start with a really tough one that my father used when I was young:

A bell rang, a man died, and a bell rang. What happened?

No need to white your answers, as the collection of knowledge will be what is needed to solve the riddle.

[Michael Chu]

Is the second bell the same as the first bell (same sound)?

[capstinence]

Yes, same sound.

[Michael Chu]

Did the events happen immediately following each other?

[capstinence]

The events happened in that sequence, yes. Though not necessarily immediately after one another.

[Michael Chu]

Did the first bell signal the cause of the man's death? (for example, was it rung to warn the man of the thing that would kill him)

[capstinence]

No.

[Michael Chu]

Was the man the victim of homocide or suicide? That is, did a human delibrately or not, have a direct cause to this man's death?

[capstinence]

A human did not directly have anything to do with the man's death.

[Michael Chu]

Did the man die of some form of overexertion such as heart attack, dehydration, exposure, etc. (For example, if he was involved in a race and then died due to a physical condition resulting from his activity?)

[capstinence]

Yes. Very nice question.

[Michael Chu]

Was the man's death related to a sporting event or competition?

[capstinence]

No.

[Michael Chu]

Did the sound cause the man to perform the action that led to his death?

[capstinence]

Which sound?