Thanks for your interest in ‘Lateral’. We’re open to original ideas for future questions. We include a selection of the best listener questions in our episodes.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

Before you submit your idea, here are a few pointers:

- The question MUST BE AN ORIGINAL IDEA that is your own work. Please DO NOT send us puzzles from books or websites – we can't use them, and you'll be wasting your time (we know all the classic puzzles anyway!). NEW: If you want to check whether we've used an idea before, try a Google search for (e.g.) "keyword site:lateralcast.com/episodes" (using one or more keywords of your own choice) and it will search through all our current transcripts.

- Questions must have a really strong “penny drop” moment, where the situation becomes very obvious after making a couple of mental leaps.

- The question should NOT require prior knowledge of an obscure piece of trivia to solve it. It's better for players to use things they already know to WORK OUT the answer. Players should say “Oh, of course!” or “That’s brilliant!”, not “I’d never have got that”. This is the most common reason why ideas are rejected. Feel free to playtest your question with others before submitting.

- Questions need to include some clues that help to start off the conversation. What words can you add in that provide subtle hints? Don't be too vague – include some details of names, dates, locations etc. that allow the teams to get a foothold.

- Most our questions are based on something that really has happened or could have happened. However, we would like to use more riddle-like questions (i.e. ones that don't rely on historical events) for a change of pace, as a long as they sound fresh and original. However, we tend NOT to use those artificial ‘murder mystery’ stories that are common in lateral thinking puzzle books.

- We’re open to any subjects. As a rough guide, we don't tend to receive many questions about Art, Animals, Fashion, Geography, Literature and Medicine at time of writing.

- Please AVOID tragedies such as plane crashes, natural disasters, mass murders etc. Clearly, it wouldn't be right for us to joke about such situations.

- If this relates to a true news story or other specific fact, please include links to reputable sources. Check with Snopes.com and similar sites to ensure that the story isn't an urban myth.

- Please do a quick internet search to check that it’s NOT something Tom Scott has covered in one of his previous videos. Also avoid things featured on (e.g.) QI/No Such Thing As A Fish, CGP Grey, Bright Side, Bored Panda etc., because Tom and our guests might have already seen them too.

- For info, we've already had the following ideas submitted several times: • "Prawo Jazdy" driving licence
• John Cage's 'ASLSP' (As Slow As Possible)
   • Yankee Candles/lack of smell due to COVID
• Balmoral Hotel's clock in Edinburgh
• Pete Best's album 'Best of the Beatles'
• Sweden swapping to right-hand drive in 1967
• The anti-DRM software measure on OK Go's 2005 album "Oh No"
• How Space Shuttles were impacted by Roman horse-drawn carriages
• The Henley-on-Todd regatta
        • Unused bus stops in Germany

FURTHER DETAILS

You are welcome to submit more than one question, by filling out this form multiple times. Once you've submitted a question once, you don't need to submit it again — even if you've come up with a better version. You don't need to say "Feel free to rewrite the question/clues" — if we like the basic idea, we will edit it for you.

If your question idea is accepted and used by us, we will give you a credit on the programme itself, or in the supporting notes, or our other online platforms.

LICENCE AGREEMENT

While efforts will be made to give credit for ideas and questions, the following terms apply: