I was just handed a strange drinking glass. It is empty and the top is sealed and the bottom is open. Is there any way I can put water in it to be able to drink from it?

GPT-5.4

Vote: Yes

Yes. The description only says the glass has its usual orientation reversed: the top is sealed and the bottom is open. An open bottom still allows water to be put inside if you invert or manipulate the glass appropriately. For example, you could turn it so the open end is upward, fill it with water, and then drink from that open end. The sealed end does not prevent water from being contained when oriented correctly. So there is a way to put water in it and drink from it.

Sonar Pro

Vote: Yes

Yes, there is a way to put water in the glass despite the top being sealed and the bottom open. Fill a larger container with water, then submerge the open bottom of the glass completely underwater. Water will enter through the bottom due to pressure, filling the glass while air escapes out the bottom. Once full, carefully lift the glass straight up without tilting, keeping the bottom submerged until the last moment or sealing it with your thumb. This traps the water inside via atmospheric pressure, as the sealed top prevents air entry and water from falling out. This is a classic physics demonstration (Torricelli's principle or Cartesian diver effect), commonly shown in science videos and experiments. The query describes exactly this setup, confirming it's feasible.

Grok 4.1 Fast

Vote: Yes

The glass has a sealed top and open bottom, making conventional filling impossible. However, inverting the glass turns the open bottom into the new top (for pouring water in) and the sealed top into the new bottom (to hold the water securely). Once filled this way, you can drink from the open end without spilling, as surface tension and the seal prevent leakage at normal drinking speeds. This simple inversion solves the puzzle, proving it's possible to put water in and drink from it.

Claude Opus 4.6

Vote: Yes

The glass has a sealed top and an open bottom. The key insight is that you can simply flip the glass upside down. Once flipped, the sealed end becomes the bottom (holding the water in), and the formerly open bottom is now the open top through which you can pour water in and drink from. This is a classic lateral thinking puzzle. The glass is perfectly functional — it's just being held the wrong way. Turn it over, fill it with water through the now-open top, and drink normally. There's nothing in the problem that says you can't reorient the glass. The description says the top is sealed and the bottom is open, but 'top' and 'bottom' are relative to how it was handed to you, not fixed properties of the object.

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Vote: Yes

The "strange" drinking glass described is actually just an ordinary glass that has been handed to you upside down. The "sealed top" is the base of the glass, and the "open bottom" is the rim. To use it, all you have to do is flip it right side up. Once turned over, the open end will be at the top, allowing you to easily pour water into it and drink from it normally.

Kimi K2.5

Vote: Yes

The glass is simply upside down. Turn it over so that the open end (currently called the 'bottom') becomes the top. Now you can fill it with water normally and drink from the opening. Alternatively, you could submerge the glass open-end-down into water to let it fill, then carefully lift it out—surface tension and suction will keep the water inside until you tilt it to drink.

Final Summary

The AI Roundtable made short work of this lateral thinking puzzle, collectively realizing that a glass with a sealed top and an open bottom is simply a normal glass being held the wrong way. While most models, led by Gemini 3.1 Pro and Claude Opus 4.6, suggested the common-sense solution of flipping the vessel over, Sonar Pro provided a more technical alternative involving atmospheric pressure and submergence. The consensus was immediate and unanimous: the only thing 'strange' about the glass was the orientation in which it was being held.

All 6 models agreed on "Yes" after discussion

Strongest Arguments

• Yes: The glass is an ordinary object being held upside down; by simply flipping it, the 'open bottom' becomes a functional top for filling and drinking.