Shawn and Kyle are bunk mates in prison and are desperate to escape. There is an unbarred window high above them, but the walls are smooth and it’s too high for them to reach even when standing on each other’s shoulders. Their cell has no furnishings other than a toilet and even when standing on the toilet and each other’s shoulders, they can’t reach the window.
They’ve tried digging through the dirt floor but the wall extends 50 feet below. How could escape through the window?
They could dig down with their hands, but it would take too long to dig 50 feet down. Instead, they could pile the dirt they dig up to give them enough height to reach the window. If they put the toilet seat down, they could pile the dirt on top, then get on each other’s shoulders to reach the window. That would mean only one of them would be able to get out. The remaining prisoner could either continue piling dirt to account for the missing guy or the escaped prisoner could come back with a rope to help his mate escape.
A seed. One seed turns into a plant or tree and seemingly disappears. When a plant dies, the seeds can be harvested to create new plants. From a single seed, hundreds more are created, vastly exceeding the original. Gardeners care for plants on bent knee and each new plant helps make the air fresher.
What looks like food, tastes like food, smells like food, sounds like food when you cook it, is grown in dirt like food, fills up your stomach like food, but is not food?
A poisonous mushroom. Since some types of mushrooms are edible, it can be very hard to distinguish between a safe mushroom and one that will kill you. Food is defined as a substance consumed to provide nutrition, therefore a poisonous mushroom that kills you doesn’t qualify as food, even though it shares all of the traits of a regular mushroom.
Other valid answers include anything that’s edible, resembles food, but is poisonous.