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Illustration for the riddle “Cleared for Takeoff”

Modern lives · ★☆☆

Cleared for Takeoff

Four hours on the tarmac: the aircraft is faultless, the tanks are full, the sky is clear, and the airport at the other end never closes. When the tower finally clears the flight for takeoff, the captain shuts down the engines and cancels it. He is neither ill nor drunk, and he has been on duty since dawn. Why?

The solution

Uncover this answer in Post Mortem. In the app, the narrator answers your questions as you piece together the story.

Available on Google Play and the App Store.

Where do you start?

Read the scene again and separate the facts from your assumptions. With a narrator who knows the answer, ask one question at a time. They answer yes, no or irrelevant.