`out of the box’

When you think out of the box, you think creatively, you think in an unconventional manner. The expression derives from the famous puzzle created by a British mathematician, Henry Ernest Dudeney. In this puzzle there are nine dots arranged in three rows; each row containing three dots. The challenge is to connect all nine dots making use of four straight lines, without taking the pencil off paper.

*Sanjay has always been an out of the box sort of guy.

Source: ‘Know Your English’ ( The Hindu) – June 12, 2006