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1114 chapters
PICTURED PUZZLES AND WORD PLAY
PICTURED PUZZLES AND WORD PLAY
BY THE SAME AUTHOR UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME THE TWENTIETH CENTURY STANDARD PUZZLE BOOK Crown 8vo. Cloth Extra. Gilt. FRONTISPIECE Can you discover by anagram what the ape is saying to the elephant, from this descriptive sentence? A sly tree-ape, he tries a rum telephone. Exactly the same letters must be used. Solution Pictured Puzzles AND Word Play A Companion to THE TWENTIETH CENTURY STANDARD PUZZLE BOOK EDITED BY A. CYRIL PEARSON, M.A. AUTHOR OF “ 100 Chess Problems ,” “ Anagrams, Ancient and
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No. I.—A GOOD SPECIMEN
No. I.—A GOOD SPECIMEN
Here is a nest of magic squares, seven of them within the four corners of one diagram:— Image As each border is removed a fresh magic square remains, in which the numbers in the cells of each row, column, and diagonal add up to the same sum, while each of these sums is a multiple of the central 113....
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No. II.—A BORDERED DIAMOND By G. Slater
No. II.—A BORDERED DIAMOND By G. Slater
Image It is a perfect magic diamond as it stands, and equally perfect are the diamonds that remain when each border of cells is removed, as is indicated by the lines....
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No. III.—A MULTIFOLD MAGIC SQUARE
No. III.—A MULTIFOLD MAGIC SQUARE
Here is a magic square of 81 cells. If divided, as is shown, into 9 small squares, each of these is also a magic square, and yet another magic square is formed by the totals of these 9 squares arranged thus:— Images...
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No. IV.—A MODEL MAGIC SQUARE
No. IV.—A MODEL MAGIC SQUARE
This magic square, which has in its cells the first sixteen numbers, is so constructed that these add up to 34 in very many ways. Image How many of these, in addition to the usual rows, columns, and diagonals, can you discover? They must, of course, be in some sort symmetrical. Solution...
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2. A PREDOMINANT VOWEL
2. A PREDOMINANT VOWEL
Can you fill in the missing letters which are needed to turn the oft-repeated “u” below into rhyming verse:— Solution...
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No. V.—TESSELATED DIAMOND By G. Slater
No. V.—TESSELATED DIAMOND By G. Slater
Image In this ingenious diamond all rows and both diagonals add up to 671; in the four corner diamonds all add up to 244; and in the central diamond, and the 16 rows of threes surrounding it, to 183....
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No. VI.—MAGIC SQUARE BY MULTIPLICATION
No. VI.—MAGIC SQUARE BY MULTIPLICATION
Here is a magic square, in which the rows, columns, and diagonals yield the same product, 4096, by multiplication:— Image It will be seen that the numbers in this square, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, are in regular progression, and 4096 is also the cube of the central 16....
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No. VII.—ANOTHER BORDERED MAGIC SQUARE
No. VII.—ANOTHER BORDERED MAGIC SQUARE
Here is quite a good example of a bordered magic square of sixty-four cells:— Image It is a perfect specimen itself, and as each border is removed a fresh perfect magic square is revealed....
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No. VIII.—A HARDY ANNUAL
No. VIII.—A HARDY ANNUAL
A magic square can be formed with the 81 numbers from 172 to 252 inclusive, which in all its rows, columns, and diagonals will total 1908. It may interest our solvers to complete the square. Image We have filled in, as a solid start, 45 of the 81 cells. Solution...
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No. IX.—ANOTHER “ANNO DOMINI”
No. IX.—ANOTHER “ANNO DOMINI”
This magic square adds up in rows, columns, and diagonals to 1908:— Image Can you decide in how many other symmetrical ways the same total is to be made? Solution...
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No. X.—A DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
No. X.—A DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
In this magic square the rows, columns, and diagonals add up always to 33. Image Can you rearrange it so that the first stone (three-ace) shall occupy the centre, now filled by the double six, and it shall still add up in all ways to 33? Solution...
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No. XI.—CHESS AND NUMBERS
No. XI.—CHESS AND NUMBERS
The arrangement of numbers in the 36 cells of this square discloses a very close affinity between chess and arithmetic. Image Can you follow this out? Solution...
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7. A GOOD CHARADE By Horace Smith, one of the authors of “Rejected Addresses.”
7. A GOOD CHARADE By Horace Smith, one of the authors of “Rejected Addresses.”
Solution...
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No. XII.—NUMBERS PATIENCE
No. XII.—NUMBERS PATIENCE
Those who combine a fancy for “Patience” with some skill in numbers will find amusement in filling the empty cells of this diagram with appropriate numbers, each of which must consist of two figures:— Image It is required that each of the rows across from side to side shall add up, when all the cells are filled, to 143 exactly. No number must be used more than once. Solution...
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No. XIII.—THE WINDMILL
No. XIII.—THE WINDMILL
Can you divide a square into 15 parts, which can be built up into this windmill? Solution...
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No. XIV.—A NEST OF RECTANGLES
No. XIV.—A NEST OF RECTANGLES
In this nest of 49 squares it is possible to count a great number of distinct and interlacing figures, whose opposite sides are equal, and whose angles are all right angles. Image Can you decide exactly the number of these rectangles, and say how many of them are square? Solution...
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No. XV.—ANOTHER DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
No. XV.—ANOTHER DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
Can you, using all the dominoes except double five, five-six, and double six, construct with the twenty-five stones a magic square that adds up in all rows, columns, and diagonals to 27, and in which the stones in the cells marked by the same figures in this diagram also add up to that number? Image Solution...
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No. XVI.—DOMINO PATIENCE
No. XVI.—DOMINO PATIENCE
The problem is to construct, with all the twenty-eight stones, a domino pyramid of seven stages, starting with a single stone, and adding one stone on each successive stage. The stones must be so arranged that the number of pips in any row or column are in all cases exactly three times the number of half-dominoes of which that line or column is composed. There are many solutions to exercise the solver’s patience. Solution...
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11. RIVALS ON THE ROAD
11. RIVALS ON THE ROAD
Six horse buses and four motor buses travel each hour from Temple Bar to the Bank. The horses take 15 minutes, and the motors 10 minutes on the journey. If I come to Temple Bar, and wish to reach the Bank as soon as possible, shall I take the first horse bus that turns up, or wait for a motor? It must be assumed that I can only see a bus as it actually passes me. Solution...
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No. XVII.—A FRIENDLY HINT
No. XVII.—A FRIENDLY HINT
The father of this venturesome lad, who was on the point of breaking out of bounds, came on the scene just in time to warn him in a sentence of nine words, five of which were “Never throw a leg, lad.” Can you supply the other four words, which are spelt with exactly the same letters? Solution...
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No. XVIII.—CATASTROPHE
No. XVIII.—CATASTROPHE
In this picture we see that a cat has sprung upon the table to interview the parrot. The title “Catastrophe” recast by anagram, tells the parrot’s happy thought at this critical moment, and the appropriate sentence, “New parrot-stand in a house,” tells, also by anagram, how he put this into instant operation. Solution...
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12. A HISTORICAL CHARADE
12. A HISTORICAL CHARADE
Solution...
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No. XIX.—A PRECOCIOUS BOY
No. XIX.—A PRECOCIOUS BOY
This is the picture of the first prize boy at a baby show. The judge, noticing the position of one chubby fist, said to the proud mother, “Your lad Tommy likes such tit-bits.” To his amazement the baby, removing the comforting hand, replied in eight words composed of exactly the same letters , “So to-day, sir, . .... .. ...... ..... ” Can you complete the sentence? Solution...
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No. XX.—AGAINST THE COLLAR
No. XX.—AGAINST THE COLLAR
The lady who is sitting at the back of this overloaded waggonette cries out, in her sympathy with the struggling horse, “This big load quite hinders his pull.” Her husband, full of holiday spirits and energy, answers her in a sentence of mingled reproof and determination, which forms a perfect anagram of the words of his wife, and describes his feelings and action. Can you recast the letters? Solution...
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No. XXI.—IN A BILLIARD-ROOM
No. XXI.—IN A BILLIARD-ROOM
At the moment when a burly and keen player was in this strange and striking attitude, a bystander whispered to the marker, “Eh! what a stout player is striking!” Can you, using exactly the same letters, put into the mouth of the marker a reply appropriate to the position? Solution...
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No. XXII.—EVOLVING A PAINTER
No. XXII.—EVOLVING A PAINTER
There are two English words which are appropriate to this picture— One of them has as its anagram the very apposite sentence, “Or not a man first;” the other treated in similar fashion becomes, “O I love nuts!” What are the two words? Solution...
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14. DOUBLETS
14. DOUBLETS
Who can turn WHEAT into BREAD with six links, changing one letter each time, and preserving the general order of the letters throughout? Solution...
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No. XXIII.—THE PICK OF THE PACK
No. XXIII.—THE PICK OF THE PACK
How can we decide by anagram whether this is a fancy portrait of “William or dear Jack?” Shake up and recast the words in inverted commas. Solution...
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15. AN OLD ENIGMA
15. AN OLD ENIGMA
Can our readers solve this enigma, which was published in 1811, and to which no answer seems to be known? Solution...
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No. XXIV.—A PICTURE PUZZLE
No. XXIV.—A PICTURE PUZZLE
Take this picture in connection with the lines below it, and find out what it represents. Solution...
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No. XXV.—AN ANXIOUS POSE
No. XXV.—AN ANXIOUS POSE
His wife, who chanced to see Jiggers at the trying moment here depicted, said that he seemed to be in a “sad pet.” How was this literally true? Solution...
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No. XXVI.—TOSS NEITHER HEAD NOR TAIL
No. XXVI.—TOSS NEITHER HEAD NOR TAIL
Never was a cow so troublesome at milking-time. Our picture was taken at the moment when Farmer Hayseed was exclaiming, as he held on behind, “See, we hold this cow’s horns and tail!” The same letters, recast by anagram, form this sentence spoken by his foreman— “She cannot toss, ... .... .... .. .. ” Can you fill in the five missing words? Solution...
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16. ANAGRAM PROVERBS
16. ANAGRAM PROVERBS
These grave lips chatter no ill. or Elephants, all to richest giver! Can you recast the letters of these sentences so that either of them forms the same homely proverb, to which the first anagram is most akin? Solution...
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No. XXVII.—ACTION AND PASSION
No. XXVII.—ACTION AND PASSION
This very resolute horse and his anxious driver take quite different views of the situation shown in this picture. We can fancy that the fast trotter, if he could be endowed with speech, would say, “I’m a train’d stepper!” Can you take these same letters, and recast them into a sentence which would seem to express the driver’s point of view? Solution...
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No. XXVIII.—A FEAT WITHOUT ARMS
No. XXVIII.—A FEAT WITHOUT ARMS
In this picture a clever artist who has no arms is seen calmly painting with his feet. One onlooker says to another, “Why, now I see this fine artist has no hand!” The other replies in a sentence which contains exactly the same letters: “He draws in any fashion .... ... ... ... . ” Can you fill in the four missing words? Solution...
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No. XXIX.—NOT TAKING ANY
No. XXIX.—NOT TAKING ANY
“This is a wine bottle, dear, on a lure,” said a crafty fisher of men to his better half, who was helping him, as he showed her this illustration of their aims. 1834 PORT She knew, however, that the fish he sought to catch was not to be tempted in this way, and she replied in words spelt with exactly the same letters, “And see, he will not .... .. ... .... !” Can you fill in the four missing words? Solution...
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No. XXX.—MUSIC HATH CHARMS
No. XXX.—MUSIC HATH CHARMS
This sturdy musical enthusiast, as he settled himself upon his chair, said, “What shall I play?” and some one replied, “Any strains of Beethoven, he charms all!” This suggestion, however, was not acceptable, and he, as he struck up a piece after his own heart, exclaimed, in a sentence composed of exactly the same letters— “Nay, for this ’cello ...... .... . ...... !” Can you supply the missing words? Solution...
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No. XXXI
No. XXXI
This picture represents a parsnip lying across a sturdy swede. Can you so readjust them that they seem to suggest a successful dramatist of the day? We give this broad hint by anagram— “Here is our parsnip on swede.” ANAGRAM Wise and superior person he! Solution...
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No. XXXII.—A GOOD LETTER PUZZLE
No. XXXII.—A GOOD LETTER PUZZLE
Can you fill the places of these 21 asterisks with only three different letters, arranging them so that they spell a common English word in twelve different directions? Image Solution...
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No. XXXIII.—ANAGRAM ARITHMETIC
No. XXXIII.—ANAGRAM ARITHMETIC
First form a short sentence with the ten letters that are above the line in this diagram:— Image Next number the letters of the sentence consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and then work out a sum in addition with these numbers substituted for the letters with which they correspond. Solution...
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No. XXXIV.—A BUNCH OF FLOWERS
No. XXXIV.—A BUNCH OF FLOWERS
Find within these borders twelve specimens of flowers and foliage:— Image Move in any direction one square at a time, and so spell out their names, using the same square only once in each case. Solution...
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No. XXXV.—ON A BLACKBOARD
No. XXXV.—ON A BLACKBOARD
To test the powers of his young pupils, Dr Puzzlewitz set the following little problem on his blackboard:— Image What are the values of A and of B, when 4 is the result of dividing A by B, or of subtracting B from A? Solution...
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21. WORD-BUILDING
21. WORD-BUILDING
The figures indicate the position of the letters, which spell new words, in the original six-letter word. Solution...
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No. XXXVI.—SQUARING A DIAMOND
No. XXXVI.—SQUARING A DIAMOND
Can you fill in the empty cells with letters, so that they form English words which read alike from top to bottom and from left to right? Image Solution...
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No. XXXVII.
No. XXXVII.
Taking the letters as arranged on this diagram for a starting point, can you place in some of the unoccupied cells five more of A, five of E, five of I, and five of O, making eight in all of each letter, so that in no case shall the same vowel be in the same row, column, or diagonal? Image Each vowel is to be regarded without any reference to the other vowels, and, of course, only one may be placed in a cell. Solution...
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No. XXXVIII.—AN ANAGRAM SQUARE
No. XXXVIII.—AN ANAGRAM SQUARE
Mix together the letters which form the eight words on this draught board— Image and recast them so that they form eight fresh words, which when placed in proper order on the white squares, are a word square in which each word reads alike from left to right, or from top to bottom. The first of the fresh words is CROW. Solution...
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No. XXXIX.—ARITHMETIC BY ANAGRAM
No. XXXIX.—ARITHMETIC BY ANAGRAM
Form a short sentence with the letters above the line in this diagram:— Image Number the letters consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and then work a sum in addition, substituting these numbers for the letter with which they correspond. Solution...
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No. XL.—ANAGRAMS SQUARED
No. XL.—ANAGRAMS SQUARED
Shake up the sixteen letters of these four words, and recast them into four other words:— Image These fresh words, placed on the white squares, must read alike from side to side, and zigzag from top to bottom. The first word is MASK. Solution...
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No. XLI.—A WORD SQUARE BY ANAGRAM
No. XLI.—A WORD SQUARE BY ANAGRAM
Take the letters which form the words in these sixteen cells— Image and recast them so that they form a perfect word square. Solution...
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No. XLII.—QUITE A NOVELTY
No. XLII.—QUITE A NOVELTY
There are five English words in this square:— Image Can you shake up their letters, and recast them into five other words which form a perfect word square, and read alike from top to bottom and from left to right? The first fresh word is CRESS. Solution...
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No. XLIII.—HIDDEN PROVERBS
No. XLIII.—HIDDEN PROVERBS
Five familiar proverbs are hidden in this square of 169 letters, Image The proverbs are arranged in a regular sequence. Solution...
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26. RINGING SWEET CHANGES
26. RINGING SWEET CHANGES
We are familiar with the anagram that so charmingly points to the ministrations on the battle-field of Florence Nightingale— Flit on, cheering angel —but it is not so well known that her name can also be recast with an appropriate wish for her continuance in our loving memory. Can you frame this? Solution...
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No. XLIV.—A CLEVER CRYPTOGRAM
No. XLIV.—A CLEVER CRYPTOGRAM
A French sentence of 100 letters in twenty-two words is concealed in these 100 cells. Image It can be deciphered by means of a cardboard mask of similar size, with circular holes cut out in some of its cells. This is placed squarely over the diagram, turned round in four successive positions. And thus the sequence of letters is found, and falls into words. Solution...
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No. XLV.—SAM LOYD’S PONY PUZZLE
No. XLV.—SAM LOYD’S PONY PUZZLE
The instant popularity of this clever puzzle was amazing, and its sale is said to have run into millions years ago in America. Cut the pony into six pieces, as is indicated in the picture, and rearrange these so that they show a trotting horse. Solution...
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27. A REBUS
27. A REBUS
I am a man I rate you a beast You know me. Can you put this into shape? Solution...
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No. XLVI.—A CLEVER PUZZLE
No. XLVI.—A CLEVER PUZZLE
Here is another of Sam Loyd’s famous trick pictures:— Can you rearrange the parts to show jockeys and horses in racing trim? Solution...
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28. A CHARADE (With Latin parts.)
28. A CHARADE (With Latin parts.)
Solution...
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No. XLVII.—A NICE BALANCE
No. XLVII.—A NICE BALANCE
This boy is sure that if he takes his time, and watches his opportunity, he will be able to reach and secure with his mouth the sugar on the chair. Will he? Solution...
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29. BURIED POETS
29. BURIED POETS
The names of eight famous British poets are buried in these lines—that is to say, the letters that spell the names form in their proper order parts of different words:— Can you dig them up? Solution...
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No. XLVIII.—LEAF-FROG
No. XLVIII.—LEAF-FROG
Here are six little hoptoads, as our cousins across the water call them, three white and three black, going in opposite directions. A frog may jump, one, two, or three steps, but no two may be together at any time. In how few jumps can the black frogs be seated to the left of their white brothers? It is obvious that one of the white frogs must jump first to the stool marked 1. Solution...
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No. XLIX.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
No. XLIX.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
A very curious old print, of which this might well be the title, was picked up on a bookstall. This picture shows clever designs for two of the digits: 1 Se Pierot or Lun, A Figure of One. 2 Again he’s to view, A Figure of Two. ...
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No. L.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
No. L.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
Here is the second pair of this queer company:— 3 Now ’tis plain you may see, He’s a Figure of Three. 4 Behold him once more, A Figure of Four. ...
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33. ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER
33. ONE GOOD TURN DESERVES ANOTHER
Solution...
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No. LI.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
No. LI.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
Here is the third pair of these quaint characters:— 5 Now here we contrive To make him a Five 6 He’s a Six here complete, With his hands to his feet . ...
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35. A BURIED PROVERB
35. A BURIED PROVERB
A proverb of eight words is buried here:— I fancy this Tory outcry, this weary outrageous attempt to show illegality, is as a cat chasing snow-flakes. I must be forgiven if I shun his example. Solution...
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36. MISSING WORDS
36. MISSING WORDS
The six missing words are spelt with the same seven letters. Solution...
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No. LII.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
No. LII.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
Here is another pair of these quaint figures:— 7 With some alteration, A Seven’s his station. 8 Here not being strait, He forms a good eight. ...
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No. LIII.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
No. LIII.—DIGITS IN THE FIDGETS
Here is the final pair:— 9 While drinking his Wine, He appears like a nine. 0 Nine Forms having past He’s a Cypher at last. ...
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40. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
40. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
If you “resist disasters,” how may this affect one of your home circle? Solution...
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42. ASK A SCHOOLBOY
42. ASK A SCHOOLBOY
If you tell a schoolboy that the longest side of a triangular field measures 100 rods, and that each of the other sides measures 50 rods, and ask him to estimate the value of its grass at £1 per acre, how should he answer? Solution...
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43. A WHOLE LESS THAN ITS PART
43. A WHOLE LESS THAN ITS PART
Solution...
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No. LV.—SPINNING WHEELS
No. LV.—SPINNING WHEELS
What is the smallest number of straight lines which can be drawn within this square so as to enclose each of the wheels within separate boundaries? While solving this, rotate the paper in your hand, and see the wheels spin. Solution...
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44. A HISTORICAL CHARADE
44. A HISTORICAL CHARADE
Solution...
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No. LVI.—FOUR QUARTERS AMONG FIVE
No. LVI.—FOUR QUARTERS AMONG FIVE
A market gardener who has a large square plot of ground wishes to reserve a fourth of it in the shape of a triangle for himself, as is shown in the diagram— and to divide the remainder among his four sons, so that each shares equally, with plots of similar shape. How did he mark it out for them? This appears in a less perfect form in “The Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book.” Solution...
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No. LVII.—USE YOUR PENCIL
No. LVII.—USE YOUR PENCIL
Here is a simple little puzzle which may amuse anyone who has paper and pencil at hand:— Can you combine three figures similar to Fig. A with two similar to Fig. B, so that a perfect Latin cross is formed? It is, of course, an easier matter to cut out five such pieces in paper or cardboard, and arrange them in the form required. Solution...
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45. MISSING WORDS
45. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same seven letters. Solution...
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No. LVIII.—SUBTLE SELFISHNESS
No. LVIII.—SUBTLE SELFISHNESS
Four poor men were living in the cottages shown in this diagram, round a central lake well stocked with fish. Four rich men built their houses further afield, and selfishly determined to exclude their neighbours from access to the water. How could they do this effectually without cutting themselves off from the lake? Solution...
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46. AN ARITHMOREM
46. AN ARITHMOREM
150 hat robe or tent Can you form from this the name of a famous British author, treating the 150 as Roman numerals? Solution...
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No. LIX.—FOR THE CHILDREN
No. LIX.—FOR THE CHILDREN
Cut out in cardboard four pieces of the shape and size of each of the large patterns, and two pieces of the small one:— Now arrange these ten pieces so that they form a perfect square. Solution...
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No. LX.
No. LX.
The dotted lines in this diagram show how the figure can be divided into nine parts by four straight cuts which can be reunited to form a perfect cross. Solution...
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48. A SHARP BOY
48. A SHARP BOY
Tom Larkins, proud of his prize for arithmetic, challenged his sisters to show on a blackboard that if 50 is subtracted from the sum of the nine digits, the result is equal to the number obtained by dividing their sum by 3. How did he prove his point? Solution...
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No. LXI.—AN EASY ONE
No. LXI.—AN EASY ONE
Take in paper or cardboard a figure made up of a square and half of a similar square, thus:— How can you, in the simplest way, divide it into four equal and similar parts by four straight cuts? Solution...
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No. LXII
No. LXII
Can you draw twenty-two straight lines within this circle so that they divide it into four similar parts, each having three of the dots within its borders? Each line must be at right angles to another. Solution...
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No. LXIII
No. LXIII
Cut up this triangle into 5 parts , which can be reassembled to form this triangle . Solution...
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No. LXIV.—ARITHMETICAL TRIANGLE
No. LXIV.—ARITHMETICAL TRIANGLE
The peculiar series of numbers, as arranged in this triangular form, is said to have been perfected by Pascal. Image It has the property of showing, without calculation, how many selections or combinations can be made at a time out of a larger number. Thus to find how many selections of 3 at a time can be made out of 8 we look for the third number on the horizontal row that commences with 8, and find the answer 56. The series is formed thus: Set down the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., as far as you plea
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No. LXV.—MULTIPLICATION NO VEXATION
No. LXV.—MULTIPLICATION NO VEXATION
This diagram shows an ancient and curious method of multiplication, which will be novel to most of our readers. In this instance 534 is multiplied by 342. Draw a square of nine cells with diagonals, fill the three top cells, as is shown, by multiplying the 5 by the 3, the 4 and the 2. Then multiply in similar way the 3 and the 4 by these same figures. Turn the square round so that the diagonals are upright, and add. Of course, placing the numbers thus is the same practically as carrying them by
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No. LXVI
No. LXVI
In this diagram 27 counters are arranged in 9 rows, with 6 in each row. Can you rearrange them so that with similar conditions they all fall within the borders of one equilateral triangle? Solution...
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51. A BURIED ADAGE
51. A BURIED ADAGE
Can you discover a very familiar saying that is buried in these lines? Solution...
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No. LXVII.—AN EIGHT-CARD PUZZLE
No. LXVII.—AN EIGHT-CARD PUZZLE
Place eight cards of two different colours alternately in one row, then with four moves bring all of one colour together. Image Two cards (without altering their relative position) are to be moved at a time, and placed somewhere in the same line, one of them at least touching another card. Solution...
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53. MISSING WORDS
53. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same five letters. Solution...
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No. LXVIII.—THOUGHT READING
No. LXVIII.—THOUGHT READING
Cut out this diagram, and paste it on a card. Hand it to anyone, and ask him to fix upon whichever number he pleases, and merely to tell you in which columns this appears. Image You can then in a moment, and at a glance, pick out the number that is chosen. Solution...
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No. LXIX.—FROM PILLAR TO POST
No. LXIX.—FROM PILLAR TO POST
Let us suppose that these black dots represent a succession of pillar boxes. It will be seen that a postman, starting from the circle, and going along the dotted lines, turns round 18 corners. Can he take a course which involves fewer turnings? Solution...
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No. LXX.—TRANSFORMATIONS
No. LXX.—TRANSFORMATIONS
Here is an ingenious paper and scissors puzzle:— Divide a square card into three pieces, so that these can be reunited to form No. 2 or No. 3 of this diagram. Solution...
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54. COUNTING THE GEESE
54. COUNTING THE GEESE
( From an old Sanscrit source, quoted by Longfellow in his “Kavanagh.” ) Ten times the square root of a flock of geese, seeing the clouds collect, flew to the Manus lake. One-eighth of the whole flew from the edge of the water among a tangle of water lilies, and three couples were seen playing in the water. Tell me, my young girl with beautiful locks, what was the whole number of geese? Solution...
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No. LXXI.—A PUZZLE WITH CHESS PIECES
No. LXXI.—A PUZZLE WITH CHESS PIECES
Image Leaving the Black King in his position, place the three white men so that he stands checkmated. Solution...
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56. PRESS PARODIES
56. PRESS PARODIES
An American paper published the following:— Next day this parody appeared in a rival paper:— Can you fill in the missing words? Solution...
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No. LXXII.—HEXAGONAL ILLUSIONS
No. LXXII.—HEXAGONAL ILLUSIONS
If we look with one eye only, or with eyes half-closed, at these groups of circular dots, they assume the appearance familiar to us in honeycomb. This is an effect of the contrast and opposition of the black and white in the sensation of the retina. Although the black and the white circles are of the same diameter the irradiation is in their case so intense that the white circles appear to be larger than the black....
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No. LXXIII.—AN ILLUSION OF ARCHES
No. LXXIII.—AN ILLUSION OF ARCHES
This excellent illusion appeared in a recent number of the “Strand Magazine”:— Most persons will at first see the passages under these arches as running upwards from left to right, but presently, as their line of vision shifts, the arches will take a downward course from right to left. This very curious effect will well repay a little patience, if it is not realised at once....
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57. WHERE WAS THE WEDDING?
57. WHERE WAS THE WEDDING?
Solution...
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58. ON A BANANA BARROW
58. ON A BANANA BARROW
I have 91 bananas on my barrow, of two qualities; some I sell at four a penny, and the better sort at three a penny. If I had sold them in mixed lots at seven for twopence, I should have made a penny more. How many were there of each quality? Solution...
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No. LXXIV.—IN THE TRAIN
No. LXXIV.—IN THE TRAIN
The Puzzle Problem— A passenger in a first-class railway carriage notices that the top of a factory window due S.W. of him coincides with a mark on the carriage window, and does not move from it while the train is running five and a half miles. At the end of that distance the compass bearing of the chimney is due N.W. How far was the passenger from the chimney when he first noticed it? is solved by 3 1 ⁄ 2 miles. We give a diagram to make the points clear. As the chimney top does not move from i
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No. LXXV.—MENDING THE FLAG
No. LXXV.—MENDING THE FLAG
The cross had been taken out from the centre of this flag, and its owner, who had an ingenious turn of mind, found that by cutting what remained into two pieces, and rejoining them, he could make it into a perfect flag without any waste of material. How did he accomplish this? Solution...
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No. LXXVI.—FOR THE CHILDREN
No. LXXVI.—FOR THE CHILDREN
Add two more pieces similar in shape and size to that marked A, and one similar to B, C, and D respectively, and then readjust the eleven parts so that they form a perfect square. Solution...
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59. MISSING WORDS
59. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same letters. Solution...
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No. LXXVII.—AN EASY MATCH PUZZLE
No. LXXVII.—AN EASY MATCH PUZZLE
This is a simple arrangement of eight matches, by which two squares and four similar triangles are formed....
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61. BURIED TOWNS
61. BURIED TOWNS
Three towns are buried in these lines. Solution...
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No. LXXVIII.—WALKING THE ROUNDS
No. LXXVIII.—WALKING THE ROUNDS
A hospital was built in six detached blocks, and it was the duty of the night watchman to go completely round every block at fixed hours to see that all was safe. What was his shortest course? Solution...
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62. THE ARAB AND HIS ASS
62. THE ARAB AND HIS ASS
Solution...
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No. LXXIX
No. LXXIX
Can you rearrange the twelve counters on this board of 36 squares so that there are two counters on each row, column, and diagonal? Image There must not be more than these two counters in the same straight line. Solution...
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No. LXXX.—THE QUEEN’S TOUR
No. LXXX.—THE QUEEN’S TOUR
This is a course by which the queen on a chessboard, starting from K R sq., passes over every square in fourteen moves....
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64. AFTER THE MATCH
64. AFTER THE MATCH
“Did you score a score?” said Funniman to his schoolboy nephew, after a local cricket match. “No, uncle,” said the youngster, “but if I had made as many more runs, half as many more, and two runs and a half, I should have made my twenty.” How many runs did he get? Solution...
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No. LXXXI.—A NEST OF TRIANGLES
No. LXXXI.—A NEST OF TRIANGLES
In the “Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book” we gave a figure similar to this, in which there were 653 interlacing triangles in four tiers of this character. We now add a fifth tier at the base, and ask our solvers to determine how many triangles of all shapes and sizes can be counted within its enlarged borders. Solution...
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No. LXXXII.—A SIMPLE MATCH PUZZLE
No. LXXXII.—A SIMPLE MATCH PUZZLE
Place eight matches in a row, about an inch apart, as indicated in the diagram. The puzzle is to form these into four pairs in four moves, by moving one match clear over two matches every time. Solution...
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No. LXXXIII.—A MATCH PUZZLE
No. LXXXIII.—A MATCH PUZZLE
Place twelve matches, as is shown in the diagram, so that they form four squares. Now remove three of the matches, and readjust the nine that remain so that they represent three squares. Solution...
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68. MARCONIGRAMS
68. MARCONIGRAMS
Edwin and Angelina were far apart, when this message, with its touch of jealous resentment, reached her on the wings of a Marconigram— “No fickle girl is bonnie to my mind!” Quite equal to the occasion, she flashed back the reply— “In love inconstant I no pleasure find!” How did these messages reveal the places from which they were despatched? Solution...
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No. LXXXIV.—MATHEMATICS WITH MATCHES
No. LXXXIV.—MATHEMATICS WITH MATCHES
In the four corner and four central cells of this nest of squares four matches are so placed as to represent 1 ⁄ 2 , 1, 4, 1 ⁄ 50 , 11, 12, 41, and 49. Can you, still using only four matches in each case, fit different whole numbers or fractions in similar fashion into the other 28 cells? Solution...
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69. EASY MENTAL ARITHMETIC
69. EASY MENTAL ARITHMETIC
Solution...
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No. LXXXV.—MANY READINGS
No. LXXXV.—MANY READINGS
Can you complete the top and bottom rows, the two side columns, and the two diagonals of this square by forming in each of them the same sentence so that it can be read in twenty different directions? Image There are four words in the sentence of thirteen letters. Solution...
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No. LXXXVI.—TOLD AT A GLANCE
No. LXXXVI.—TOLD AT A GLANCE
Ask anyone to fix upon a number between 1 and 60 inclusive, and to point out to you the square or squares in which it appears:— Image You can find the number at a glance, by simply adding together the numbers in the right-hand top corner cells of the square indicated. Thus, if 45 has been chosen, 32 + 8 + 4 + 1 = 45....
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No. LXXXVII.
No. LXXXVII.
Here is a little subtraction sum, which is not quite so simple as it appears to be:— Image Try it as it stands, without reducing the distance to inches. Solution...
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70. A DOUBLET BY MISSING WORDS
70. A DOUBLET BY MISSING WORDS
Can you, by supplying the missing words, turn a grilse into a salmon? One letter is changed each time, and, except in one case, the order of the letters varies:— Solution...
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No. LXXXVIII.—RANGING THE DIGITS
No. LXXXVIII.—RANGING THE DIGITS
These are the arrangements of the nine digits, by which they add up alike in rows, columns, and diagonals in a square; on all sides in a triangle; and from top to bottom and from side to side in a cross:— Image The totals are 15, 20, and 27 respectively....
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72. WHAT IS THIS WORD?
72. WHAT IS THIS WORD?
HAATTCEUMSSSS Solution...
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74. THE GENTLE CRAFT
74. THE GENTLE CRAFT
The question was asked in a puzzle competition—“Why is every angler ipso facto an Ananias?” Although no such method was asked for or expected, we find that the very letters of the question can be recast into a most apposite reply. Our answer by anagram runs thus— A liar, .. ..... gay fancies to a ..... .... Can you complete the sentence by filling in the missing words? Solution...
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No. LXXXIX.—NO TWO IN A ROW
No. LXXXIX.—NO TWO IN A ROW
On a board of sixty-seven squares, arranged as is shown in the diagram, place nine counters, so that no two are in the same row, column, or diagonal. Image The indentations do not affect the simple conditions. Solution...
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No. XC.—EXACT ALIGNMENT
No. XC.—EXACT ALIGNMENT
Can you arrange these nine cards so that they form ten rows with three cards in each row? Image This may, of course, be done with any nine cards. Solution...
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76. A MISSING LETTER
76. A MISSING LETTER
Separate these strings of letters into words that scan and rhyme, adding the same missing letter in 55 places. Solution...
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No. XCI.—AT A FANCY BALL
No. XCI.—AT A FANCY BALL
Two ladies and their squires, here represented by the White Knights and the Black, were dressed to impersonate Light, Liberty, Love, and Learning, and took their places on the corners of a pavement chequered to represent a chessboard, as is shown below:— Image They undertook to step a figure which should exhibit at each pause a revolving square, and in three paces bring them together in the centre, by a course traced upon the lines of their combined monograms. What were their successive steps? S
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No. XCII.—PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY IN CELLS
No. XCII.—PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY IN CELLS
Can you disentangle all this good advice? Image It forms 5 excellent maxims in its 36 cells. Solution...
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No. XCIII.—A DISLOCATED CIRCLE
No. XCIII.—A DISLOCATED CIRCLE
Study this quaint figure carefully, and try to discover how it can be divided into two pieces, so that these can be reunited to form a perfect circle. Solution...
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No. XCIV.
No. XCIV.
When Tommy was offered all the money by his uncle if he could place 15 half-crowns and 15 pennies in such order in a circle that, counting always by nines, and starting at a fixed point, he came always upon a penny, and removed it from the circle, he found the key to success in this Latin line, given to him by a school friend, who shared the spoil—“Populeam virgam mater regina ferebat.” The vowels, from a to u, are numbered from 1 to 5, and when they are thus marked in the sentence— they show th
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No. XCV.—A BUSINESS ANAGRAM
No. XCV.—A BUSINESS ANAGRAM
This smart advertisement of a polish known as “Old Dutch Cleanser” appeared in an American paper:— Cleans Scrubs Scours Polishes Old Dutch Cleanser If the eyes of the proprietor should fall upon this column, he will be surprised to find that his catch words Cleans , Scrubs , Scours , Polishes , can be recast into a perfect anagram, singularly appropriate to the powder advertised. The opening words of the anagram are “O rub on, sir.”—Can our solvers complete the sentence? Solution...
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No. XCVI.—A NEW CHESS PUZZLE By Henry E. Dudeney.
No. XCVI.—A NEW CHESS PUZZLE By Henry E. Dudeney.
Replace all these 51 pieces on the chessboard, so that no Queen attacks another Queen, no Rook another Rook, no Bishop another Bishop, and no Knight another Knight. Image No account is to be taken of the intervening pieces, but each type of piece is to be considered as if it stood alone upon the board. Solution...
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No. XCVII.—A GOOD KNIGHT’S TOUR
No. XCVII.—A GOOD KNIGHT’S TOUR
Here is a beautifully symmetrical specimen of the Knight’s tour:—...
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No. XCVIII.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
No. XCVIII.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
Here is another beautifully symmetrical Knight’s tour:— It starts from the corner square, and the second half of the course has dotted lines....
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79. MISSING WORDS
79. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same six letters. Solution...
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No. XCIX.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
No. XCIX.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
Here is quite a curious pattern described by another Knight’s tour:—...
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No. C.—A GOOD PATTERN
No. C.—A GOOD PATTERN
Here is a very symmetrical Knight’s tour, in which half of the moves are indicated by dotted, and half by unbroken lines:—...
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82. PALINDROME WORDS
82. PALINDROME WORDS
The letters of this sentence “Arrive to vote at it,” can be so recast as to form two palindrome words, or words that read alike from either end. What are they? Solution...
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No. CI.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
No. CI.—A KNIGHT’S TOUR
Here is another specimen of the Knight’s tour, which is beautifully symmetrical— Half of the course is marked with dotted lines....
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No. CII.—A KNIGHT’S POETIC TOUR
No. CII.—A KNIGHT’S POETIC TOUR
On the board below a verse of eight lines runs on the course of a Knight’s move from square to square:— Image Can you disentangle the little poem? Solution...
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84. TOMMY’S MONEY BOX
84. TOMMY’S MONEY BOX
“Dad,” said little Tommy, “give me as much as I have in my purse, and I will put a shilling in my money-box.” This was done, and the process was repeated for three more days. How much had Tommy originally in his purse, which was now quite empty? Solution...
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No. CIII.—THE MANX RABBITS
No. CIII.—THE MANX RABBITS
This is the way to draw three rabbits so that they have but three ears among them all:—...
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No. CIV.—SCORING A CENTURY
No. CIV.—SCORING A CENTURY
On this table is shown in ten different ways how exactly 100 can be arrived at by the use of the nine digits, each appearing only once. Image...
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86. IF WE COULD CHOOSE
86. IF WE COULD CHOOSE
“If it were possible, I should choose,” said young Hopeful, “a life double as long.” “Yes,” said old Sobersides, “and you might turn it to better account if it was also begun old.” How did their actual words bear this out? Solution...
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No. CV.—SEEING THROUGH A VEIL
No. CV.—SEEING THROUGH A VEIL
On a piece of clear tracing paper draw with pen and ink a close network of lines, such as is shown in this diagram, near enough together to conceal type of ordinary size. Place this on the page of a book, and challenge any one to read a sentence, or even a word, through it, saying that you can do so easily. How can you succeed? Solution...
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No. CVI.—THE PAPER RINGS
No. CVI.—THE PAPER RINGS
In the diagram a strip of paper is shown (1), with its ends simply gummed together; (2), with a single twist; and (3), with a double twist. Can you decide, without actual experiment, what will be the result in each case if these are cut completely round, as is indicated by the dotted lines? Solution...
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89. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
89. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
How do the actual letters of these words in their union prove that anæsthetics are “blessed in pain?” Solution...
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No. CVII.—THE MAGIC BUTTONS
No. CVII.—THE MAGIC BUTTONS
Make two parallel cuts with a penknife along the centre of a slip of leather or other material, and below them a hole of the same width. Pass a piece of string under the slit, and through the hole, and tie two buttons, each much larger than the hole, to the ends of the string. How can the string be released without removing either of the buttons? Solution...
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No. CVIII.—THE CAPTIVE SCISSORS
No. CVIII.—THE CAPTIVE SCISSORS
Fasten a pair of scissors securely with a piece of string to some convenient article, as is shown in this diagram:— Can you release them without cutting or unfastening the string? Solution...
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90. A BURIED QUOTATION
90. A BURIED QUOTATION
“What sin was it, sonny?” said an American negress to her lover, when she sat on his best hat, which was flattened. Wearily he heard her musical laugh, and arose to go. His hobby was botany, but not hers, for she was then a merry girl. “Bother the flowers! I would prefer this mellow pine-apple, Leonidas,” she said; “I guess we Ethiopians just love fruit!” Solution...
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No. CIX.—A PRIMITIVE TRAP
No. CIX.—A PRIMITIVE TRAP
This diagram represents in the simplest outline a primitive wolf-trap. The dotted line is a gate opening into a circular enclosure. How was the trap set and the wolf caught? Solution...
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91. LADIES AT A SALE
91. LADIES AT A SALE
What are the missing words? Solution...
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No. CX.—A SPINNING NEEDLE
No. CX.—A SPINNING NEEDLE
To balance a needle on the head of a pin, push the pin into the cork of a wine bottle, and the needle into a separate cork. With the aid of three forks, as is shown in the picture, the needle may be balanced and spun round on the head of the pin....
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92. MISSING WORDS
92. MISSING WORDS
Air—“ Three fishers went sailing .” Each missing word has the same six letters. Solution...
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No. CXI.—AFTER DINNER
No. CXI.—AFTER DINNER
This diagram shows how, as an after-dinner trick, four similar wineglasses can be placed on the table so that the centres of the lowest parts of their stems are equidistant from each other....
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No. CXII.—SECOND SIGHT
No. CXII.—SECOND SIGHT
Ask any one, with this diagram to work upon, to think of any number between 5 and 15, and, while your back is turned, to count up to it, beginning at the lowest step, and saying one, two, three, four, and so on, as each step of cards or single card is reached in the direction indicated by the arrow. When the number thought of has been thus arrived at, tell him to stop, and beginning afresh on that card, to count one, two, three, etc., backwards , this time skipping over the double six and the 3
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No. CXIII.—AN AFTER DINNER TRICK
No. CXIII.—AN AFTER DINNER TRICK
Cut a wedge out of an apple, as is indicated in the diagram, and make six gashes as is shown. When this has been done, challenge anyone to divide the apple into six pieces by only two straight cuts, so that there shall be one of the gashes in each piece. Solution...
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No. CXIV.—A TOY BOOMERANG
No. CXIV.—A TOY BOOMERANG
Cut out in cardboard a boomerang as nearly as possible of the size and pattern given here:— Place it flat on the back of the first three fingers of the left hand, sloping them upward; then flick it smartly with the second finger of the right hand. It will fly off and return to your lap. Try it....
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95. LONDON BY ANAGRAM
95. LONDON BY ANAGRAM
Here are two simple sentences:— A lamp shines out for thee. Win me best by tears. Can you recast the letters, so that they form the names of two of the most important buildings in London? Solution...
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96. HEARD ON THE BRIGHTON BEACH
96. HEARD ON THE BRIGHTON BEACH
It was low tide; two children were throwing pebbles into the sea, and sending their excited collie in pursuit of them. The Puzzle Editor, who was on holiday, quickened perhaps by the salt air, bethought him of this appropriate riddle:—What is the difference between that dog and a hungry man? Solution...
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No. CXV.—IN THE GRIP OF A RADISH
No. CXV.—IN THE GRIP OF A RADISH
Cut a radish in half, press the lower surface firmly against a plate, as is shown in the diagram:— and you can lift the plate, to which it clings as closely as a boy’s wet leather disc to the pavement....
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No. CXVI.—ELASTIC PAPER
No. CXVI.—ELASTIC PAPER
The countryman who cut one hole in his door for the cat and another for the kitten would find it difficult to pass a penny through a hole the size of a shilling cut in a stout piece of paper. This diagram shows how easily it can be done:— Fold the paper across the centre of the hole, place the penny in the fold, and bend the lower corners of the paper upwards. This elongates the opening, and the coin falls through....
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99. MISSING WORDS
99. MISSING WORDS
One of the letters of the two short words is used twice in the longer word. Solution...
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No. CXVII.—THE NIMBLE SIXPENCE
No. CXVII.—THE NIMBLE SIXPENCE
Place a sixpence on the tablecloth, and over it set a tumbler, as is shown in the picture below. How can you pocket the sixpence without removing the glass, or having it removed? Solution...
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100. A PIED PROVERB
100. A PIED PROVERB
abdeefiinnnoopprrrsssttuw Solution...
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No. CXVIII.—HOW TO DRAW A SPIRAL
No. CXVIII.—HOW TO DRAW A SPIRAL
How can you draw such a spiral as this with very simple appliances? This spiral is drawn rapidly without removing the pencil from the paper. Solution...
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No. CXIX.—FOR HANDY FINGERS
No. CXIX.—FOR HANDY FINGERS
Take a piece of stout paper or thin cardboard, about 10 in. by 8 in., and cut it as is shown below, removing the parts that are shaded in the diagram. If you hold this between a plain wall, or other surface, and a strong light, you will, with a little practice, be able to cast a shadow similar to one or other of these Madonna heads, which will vary in intensity and expression with the positions of the paper and the light....
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No. CXX.—THE FOUR KINGS
No. CXX.—THE FOUR KINGS
This excellent and easy little card trick will commend itself for fireside use in the long evenings. Take the four Kings from a pack, and two other cards. Hold the Kings thus, in the form of a fan— hiding the two other cards behind the King of Diamonds. After showing them, place the six cards at the bottom of the pack. Now move the lowest card to the top, and the two next cards to any part of the pack, apparently leaving but one King at the bottom. Ask some one to cut the pack, and all the Kings
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103. PROVERB BY ANAGRAM
103. PROVERB BY ANAGRAM
Can you recast this sentence— A defeat whose test is very sure— so that the same letters form an appropriate proverb? Solution...
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No. CXXI.—DOMINO SQUARE
No. CXXI.—DOMINO SQUARE
Its cells add up in columns and rows to 22, and those of the corner squares add up to 10 and 12 respectively. Image...
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104. PHONETIC MISSING WORDS
104. PHONETIC MISSING WORDS
Solution...
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No. CXXII.—THE TALKING HEAD
No. CXXII.—THE TALKING HEAD
This, though quite an old illusion, may be a mystery to some of our readers, so we give it a place among our many curiosities. The table is placed on the middle of a platform, well away from the background, and the head, which is very much alive, is prepared to answer questions, or to whistle, or to sing, at the will of the audience. “How it is done” will be explained. Solution...
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No. CXXIII.—A GENERAL OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
No. CXXIII.—A GENERAL OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
With a little ingenuity, and by slightly warming the wax, and shredding the matches for some effects, all sorts of comical figures can be contrived, similar in character to this dignified general on his high-stepping charger....
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106. AN OLD ENIGMA (By a former Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin.)
106. AN OLD ENIGMA (By a former Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin.)
Solution...
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No. CXXIV.—ANOTHER BOOMERANG
No. CXXIV.—ANOTHER BOOMERANG
Cut out in cardboard a cross similar to that shown in this diagram:— Place one of its limbs under the thumbnail of the left hand, and give the next projecting limb a sharp flick with the middle finger of the right hand. The little boomerang will fly sharply forward, and invariably return rapidly on its tracks. Try it....
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107. PHONETIC GAPS
107. PHONETIC GAPS
Can you fill these gaps with words of similar sound? The gaps in line 1 take words that sound alike; so do those in line 2; and so do the other three in lines 3 and 4. Solution...
25 minute read
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No. CXXV.—A PICTURE CHARADE
No. CXXV.—A PICTURE CHARADE
Can you fill in the missing words so as to complete this picture charade? Solution...
18 minute read
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109. A CRYPTOGRAM
109. A CRYPTOGRAM
Can you so deal with this as to form a rhyming couplet? Solution...
7 minute read
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No. CXXVI.—WALNUTS AND COBS
No. CXXVI.—WALNUTS AND COBS
A good after dinner trick Place four walnuts and four cobnuts in a row, as indicated on the diagram. Now, moving always two that stand together, transfer them to some other positions along the line, and in four such moves leave them so that the large and small nuts range alternately. It may, of course, be done with large and small coins, or with other things that are at hand. Solution...
21 minute read
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111. DOUBLETS
111. DOUBLETS
Here is another exercise in Doublets, from Lewis Carroll’s book on the subject:— Turn ELM into OAK by seven links, introducing the name of another tree as one of them. Solution...
9 minute read
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No. CXXVII.—A PICTURE RIDDLE
No. CXXVII.—A PICTURE RIDDLE
Can you read in this picture the question of our riddle? Solution...
5 minute read
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No. CXXVIII.—BUY A BROOM
No. CXXVIII.—BUY A BROOM
Here is an excellent example of how a characteristic figure may be contrived by shredding, warming, and uniting a few wax matches:— Many similar figures can be made by handy fingers....
11 minute read
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No. CXXIX.—JEU DE PARQUET (For the children)
No. CXXIX.—JEU DE PARQUET (For the children)
An old book, published more than 100 years ago, gives the following samples of patterns which may be formed with very simple materials:— All that is needed for this pastime is a set of 128 coloured triangles, 64 of each colour, with which an endless variety of patterns can be arranged by the exercise of taste and ingenuity....
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114. LINES BY AN OLD OXBRIDGE DON
114. LINES BY AN OLD OXBRIDGE DON
How could a Girton girl retort, using the same words? Solution...
14 minute read
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116. BURIED BEASTS
116. BURIED BEASTS
Can you dig out nineteen beasts that are buried in these lines?— Ireland’s lot heals slowly. Troubles came long ago—at times in battalions—to attack and harass her. Ambitious democrats now countermine famous enthusiasts nearly akin to heroes. Anarchy enables cowards to sow hot terror and all amazement. Solution...
13 minute read
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117. PALINDROMIC VERSE
117. PALINDROMIC VERSE
Can you recast the following sentences so that their words form a verse of four lines, which makes good sense, with lines that rhyme alternately, when read from either end?:— Fading slowly day dies, mournful winds sigh, Stars are waking brightly; owlet holding high revel flies hooting, breaking nightly silence. Solution...
15 minute read
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118. AN ANAGRAM IN THE MAKING
118. AN ANAGRAM IN THE MAKING
“The Observatory at Greenwich, in England,” has been turned into an excellent anagram, which starts— On landing here begin —Can you complete it? Solution...
8 minute read
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122. MISSING WORDS
122. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same seven letters. Solution...
15 minute read
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123. A HUMAN PRODIGY
123. A HUMAN PRODIGY
How was this? Solution...
11 minute read
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126. AN ENIGMA (From Lewis Carroll’s Papers.)
126. AN ENIGMA (From Lewis Carroll’s Papers.)
Solution...
19 minute read
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129. BURIED TOWNS
129. BURIED TOWNS
In each of these sentences a town is buried:— His sister played the piano while we sang. I saw Nell out here last evening. The general rode a large black mare. I have ordered a cab at half-past one. Meet me in the lane at half-past nine. Can you dig them out? Solution...
18 minute read
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130. A GOOD ANAGRAM
130. A GOOD ANAGRAM
“The leaning tower of Pisa, in Tuscany, Italy.” The first seven words of its anagram are “A funny spot in a sweet city.” Can you complete the anagram by adding four more appropriate words? Solution...
10 minute read
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133. A DECISIVE ANAGRAM
133. A DECISIVE ANAGRAM
Can you prove by anagram that, whatever may be true of other plays accredited to Shakespeare, Bacon had certainly no hand in “Much Ado About Nothinge,” if we adopt the old spelling of the final word? Solution...
11 minute read
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135. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
135. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
Can you recast “Insanitary” and “Sanitary Reform” so as to form two very appropriate anagrams? Solution...
5 minute read
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137. MISSING LETTERS
137. MISSING LETTERS
Can you supply the missing letters? Solution...
8 minute read
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141. A PRIZE CRYPTOGRAM
141. A PRIZE CRYPTOGRAM
The following cryptic lines were sent as a reliable tip before a race in which Petronel was to run:— “Tell me, Ben, who tore it Seek a plant for it, see Bob.” Can you discover their hidden meaning? Solution...
13 minute read
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143. FACING BOTH WAYS
143. FACING BOTH WAYS
Can you fill in this broken sentence, first to describe a curse, and then to proclaim its cure:— A sed end ought eat ease ain. using 16, and then 17, extra letters. Solution...
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145. BURIED RIVERS
145. BURIED RIVERS
The deaf and dumb girl began gesticulating with a message, and her delivery was ever neat, with graceful pose in every attitude. Four rivers are buried here. Solution...
8 minute read
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146. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
146. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
If the “shingle” on the beach at Brighton could speak, what would be its boast? Solution...
5 minute read
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148. THE PLAINT OF THE REJECTED
148. THE PLAINT OF THE REJECTED
A May-Day Dirge [A] More than one word. [A] More than one word. Solution...
35 minute read
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149. “BETA IN GREEK MEANS LETTER B.”
149. “BETA IN GREEK MEANS LETTER B.”
The clever play-writer who suggested these words as a phonetic excuse for wife-beating might in another fashion invite a man to beat his wife by merely calling him. What would he say? Solution...
10 minute read
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151. BONES OF A PALINDROME
151. BONES OF A PALINDROME
NRNRMMHDLVLDHMMRNRN. Can you, keeping these consonants in their order, fill in vowels so as to form a sentence which is a perfect palindrome, and reads alike from either end? Solution...
9 minute read
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152. A NICE POINT
152. A NICE POINT
“Can you tell me,” said an undergraduate to his tutor, who was great at Ecclesiastical Law, “whether the Pope would be allowed to bury the Archbishop of Canterbury?” As some slight stress was laid on the syllables Canterbury , the tutor for a moment suspected some trick, but being assured that it was quite a serious question, promised to consider the point. What should he reply? Solution...
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153. A BURIED PROVERB
153. A BURIED PROVERB
While there are very many as kind as this, they know no task unkind. Can you dig a proverb out from this sentence? Solution...
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155. A BURIED QUOTATION (From Shakespeare)
155. A BURIED QUOTATION (From Shakespeare)
Strange weather! What could equal it? Yesterday sunshine and soft breezes, to-day a summer cyclone raging noisily; then other changes, as floods of fiercest rain eddy beneath the blast. Solution...
10 minute read
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156. PALINDROME ON A BEETROOT
156. PALINDROME ON A BEETROOT
Fill in the necessary vowels, and form thus with these consonants in their present order a perfect palindrome:— RDRTPTPTRDR It must read alike from either end. Solution...
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158. AMBIGUOUS
158. AMBIGUOUS
On the outer wall of a Western college this was written: “Young women should set a good example, for young men .... ...... .... !” What three words will give a most ambiguous sense to the inscription? Solution...
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160. DIABOLUS!
160. DIABOLUS!
Can you supply the missing words? Solution...
25 minute read
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162. AN INSCRIPTION WITH A POINT
162. AN INSCRIPTION WITH A POINT
On the comparatively new organ at Ober Ammergau, on a brass plate above the keyboard, is the following Latin inscription:— QVI CHRISTI LAVDES CANTANT SANCTÆ PASSIONIS SVÆ VIRTVTE IN IPSO ET PATRE VNVM SINT which may be freely rendered—“May those who sing the praises of Christ be, by virtue of His Sacred Passion, one in the Father and in Him.” These lines contain a hidden point, beyond their obvious interpretation. Can you discover it? Solution...
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168. TESTED BY DICTATION
168. TESTED BY DICTATION
Tom, home for the holidays, and in teasing mood, declared that he could give his sister quite a simple sentence of seven common words of one syllable, which she could not produce with her new typewriter. What was his sentence? Solution...
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169. ASCRIBED TO VOLTAIRE
169. ASCRIBED TO VOLTAIRE
This French charade, ascribed by some to Lady Waterford, and by others to Voltaire, has neat points:— Solution...
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170. AT THE GUILDHALL
170. AT THE GUILDHALL
Sydney Smith, when questioned as to the value and satisfaction of a City feast, said: “I cannot wholly value a dinner by the .... ... .. ” Can you supply the finish of his witty reply? Solution...
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172. A YOUNG SHAVER
172. A YOUNG SHAVER
Happy in the possession of a Keen Kut , the newest form of safety razor, and meeting a friend whose chin bore painful traces of a less trusty blade, an undergraduate who had a turn for puzzles propounded this riddle: “What is the difference between my razor and yours?” Can you answer it? Solution...
15 minute read
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173. DECAPITATIONS
173. DECAPITATIONS
The missing word in the first line has seven letters; its first letter is cut off to form the second missing word, and this process is repeated throughout the seven lines. Solution...
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175. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
175. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
Solution...
11 minute read
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176. FILL IN THE VOWELS
176. FILL IN THE VOWELS
Lines to an owl:— As a hint, the last line is:— Or of your hooting howls to know. Solution...
13 minute read
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177. ARMY ANAGRAMS
177. ARMY ANAGRAMS
Here is an excellent little exercise for patient or quick-witted solvers:— Each word or group of words in italics forms, when the letters are shuffled and recast as an anagram, a military title. Can you decipher them? Solution...
38 minute read
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179. AN ANAGRAM ENIGMA
179. AN ANAGRAM ENIGMA
Can you recast the three words at the end, so that their letters form a word descriptive of the scene? Solution...
15 minute read
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180. A QUESTION OF TIME
180. A QUESTION OF TIME
Solution...
12 minute read
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182. EATING BY ALPHABET
182. EATING BY ALPHABET
Solution...
15 minute read
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184. PROVERB ANAGRAM
184. PROVERB ANAGRAM
Here is another proverb in anagram:— Behest on thy lips, Society! Can you recast it, and so recover the proverb, with which it is quite in keeping? Solution...
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185. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
185. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
An epidemic of anagrams broke out in a public school, and eight of the prefects, having turned their Christian names into other words, fashioned from them this sentence, which contains them all in order. “I, thy Tom, am sober and lie or live in dew, but her brain sinned.” Can you decipher them? Solution...
16 minute read
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187. A DOUBLE ACROSTIC (From Punch, 1875)
187. A DOUBLE ACROSTIC (From Punch, 1875)
Solution...
22 minute read
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188. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
188. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Why should a man in a rage go to a “shooting gallery?” Each word has its complete anagram. Solution...
6 minute read
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191. PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
191. PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
“I dare not admit faint women.” Can you recast these words so that their letters form a well-known proverb? Solution...
6 minute read
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193. MISSING WORDS
193. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same letters. Solution...
16 minute read
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194. WHAT IS IT?
194. WHAT IS IT?
What is that which is found in the centre of Australia and of America, and in no other place? Solution...
6 minute read
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195. GRANDFATHER’S TURN
195. GRANDFATHER’S TURN
“It’s grandfather’s turn,” cried the children at a Christmas party where jokes and riddles have been rife. With a quiet twinkle in his eye, the old man said, “Do you know why is the fourth of July?” Not one of them could understand or answer his question, which seemed to lack finish and grammar. Can you? Solution...
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200. ANAGRAM WORDS
200. ANAGRAM WORDS
Can you recast these short sentences into six single words? See a pug dog. Red paper. Fat reward. Stay, O morn. Set on a dish. Solution...
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203. BEST WHEN BEHEADED
203. BEST WHEN BEHEADED
Solution...
11 minute read
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205. A SEASONABLE PUZZLE (Quite an ice one)
205. A SEASONABLE PUZZLE (Quite an ice one)
Solution...
13 minute read
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206. ILLUMINATING FIGURES
206. ILLUMINATING FIGURES
Solution...
11 minute read
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207. MISSING WORDS
207. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same ten letters. Solution...
10 minute read
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208. A CHRISTMAS CRACKER
208. A CHRISTMAS CRACKER
Comes Christmas merry? Hungry birds; no bright berries; rents high, not paid; long bills; empty barns; no peace and prosperity. How can we amend this gloomy forecast? Solution...
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209. ANAGRAM FLOWERS
209. ANAGRAM FLOWERS
Six common plants are concealed by anagram in the following sentence. The letters which spell each plant follow each other, but are in disorder. O rise love it lad never let this lamb chase trains. Solution...
10 minute read
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213. A CRYPTIC ADDRESS
213. A CRYPTIC ADDRESS
“Next week,” wrote Funniboy from Naples to his friend, “I am going to ‘plant onions, etc.’ Let me hear from you.” How did his friend gather his destination from these words? Solution...
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216. BONES OF A PALINDROME
216. BONES OF A PALINDROME
RPLVLSLVLPR Can you insert the missing letters, and complete the palindrome so that it reads alike from either end? Solution...
6 minute read
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217. A WORD AND A BLOW
217. A WORD AND A BLOW
“Now, dad,” said Tom Pickles to his father in the Christmas holidays, “take this bottle in your left hand, and when I say ‘three!’ try how far you can blow the cork into it.” The cork, smaller than the neck of the bottle, was placed just inside, and as Tom cried, “One, two, three!” his father gave a lusty blow. What was the result? Solution...
19 minute read
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218. A GOOD RIDDLE
218. A GOOD RIDDLE
When are acorns as strong as oaken posts? Solution...
3 minute read
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219. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME
219. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME
PTTPBTNTNTBPTTPBTNTNTBPTTP. Can you add the vowels, and make a palindrome that reads alike from either end? Solution...
6 minute read
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221. A NOVEL ANAGRAM
221. A NOVEL ANAGRAM
A politician used a high-flown phrase, which implied inaccurate wording, though some spoke of it as dust thrown in people’s eyes. Can you recover the two long words which he used, by anagram, from this sentence? Axiomatic intelligence, or dust. Solution...
12 minute read
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223. IS THIS TRUE?
223. IS THIS TRUE?
Woman without her man would be helpless. Solution...
3 minute read
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224. SOME ANAGRAMS
224. SOME ANAGRAMS
Can you recast these short sentences so that each of them forms a single word? A moment’s cure. The old rocks. Cod is nice. It lures a cat. Solution...
10 minute read
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226. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
226. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Many will remember how often the great tenor, Sims Reeves, was prevented from singing by his delicate throat. An excellent anagram can be evolved from his name which, with some exaggeration, proclaims this. Can you discover it? Solution...
11 minute read
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228. FROM BEDLAM
228. FROM BEDLAM
Here are the bones of a palindrome sentence that might be spoken by some unhappy criminal lunatic. Can you clothe them with their vowels, so that the sentence reads alike from either end? MNCLVDDVLCNM . Solution...
10 minute read
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229. FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
229. FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
Fruit and flowers are hidden here in anagrams, each in its order separately. Solution...
12 minute read
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230. ANSWERS BY ANAGRAM
230. ANSWERS BY ANAGRAM
NOW ONE OLD FORT. What place is this? RABID OWL. Change this bird into a beast. Solution...
6 minute read
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231. CHARADE By W. M. Praed
231. CHARADE By W. M. Praed
Solution...
1 minute read
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234. A BURIED PROVERB
234. A BURIED PROVERB
Society—how her enthusiasts worship at her Juggernaut car. Cases exist here, proving how illogical are these eagle-sighted, place-hunting beings, scoffing at hereditary position, yet striving to get her smile. A well-known proverb is buried in this sentence. Can you dig it out? Solution...
12 minute read
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235. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
235. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What should we put on a bird’s tail to catch it without a steel trap ? Solution...
6 minute read
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236. AN ENIGMA By Praed
236. AN ENIGMA By Praed
Solution...
34 minute read
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237. THE ARAB AND HIS ASS The Sequel
237. THE ARAB AND HIS ASS The Sequel
Solution...
28 minute read
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239. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
239. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Where can you be “in a stone-pine garden”? Solution...
3 minute read
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240. MISSING WORDS
240. MISSING WORDS
The three missing words are spelt with the same five letters. Solution...
12 minute read
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241. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
241. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What bodily discomfort follows an ague-fit ? Solution...
3 minute read
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242. A TANGLED SQUARE
242. A TANGLED SQUARE
Can you readjust the 16 letters in this square so that they form a perfect word square? Image Solution...
6 minute read
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243. RIVERS IN ANAGRAM
243. RIVERS IN ANAGRAM
What European rivers are concealed in these eight anagrams:—Set in red robe Henri Le Roi O sell me red pine nerves biter. Solution...
7 minute read
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244. A PIED PALINDROME
244. A PIED PALINDROME
Rearrange these letters so that they form a palindrome, or sentence that reads alike from either end:— F PPPP RRRR SSSS TT EEEEII OOOO Solution...
8 minute read
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245
245
What political parrot cry can be evolved by anagram from this sentence, which condemns it? O fool! O musty cry! O lurid woe! Solution...
7 minute read
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246. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
246. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What statesman’s name was a “terrible poser?” Solution...
3 minute read
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247. A PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
247. A PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
Can you recast the letters of this sentence into a well-known English proverb? Yea, a glad sun rose red. Solution...
7 minute read
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248. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
248. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Has there been a poet of unusual solemnity? Solution...
4 minute read
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250. HE SQUARED THE CIRCLE
250. HE SQUARED THE CIRCLE
“Yes,” said young Biceps of St Boniface, who had failed to satisfy the examiners, “they have ploughed me in Euclid, and yet if I had half a chance I could teach them how to square a circle!” “Bravo, Biceps!” cried his chum, who was helping him to drown dull care in fruity port, “don’t keep the great secret to yourself!” And so he told him—what? Solution...
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251. TO EXTRACT A CIRCLE FROM A GIVEN SQUARE
251. TO EXTRACT A CIRCLE FROM A GIVEN SQUARE
When his friend had recovered from the shock of the atrocity described in our last, he retaliated by assuring Biceps that he could extract a circle from a given square. What was his method? Solution...
11 minute read
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254. A CIPHER ADVERTISEMENT
254. A CIPHER ADVERTISEMENT
Add two vowels alternately to complete the couplet. Solution...
6 minute read
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255. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
255. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Can you discover by anagram what his brother was when he put “Tim in a pet?” Solution...
6 minute read
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258. IN THE HAY-FIELD
258. IN THE HAY-FIELD
In the words welcome to a thirsty toiler, “Mower, I will tap the cask!” are hidden by anagram the names of an English poet and of one of his poems. Can you discover them? Solution...
10 minute read
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260. A LETTER PUZZLE
260. A LETTER PUZZLE
To be aaaaaaaaaa tCrIiOfUlSes standing is the mark of a mean Solution...
5 minute read
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261. WITH IVORY LETTERS
261. WITH IVORY LETTERS
Can you recast the letters that spell RED NUTS AND GIN so that they form one long word? Solution...
6 minute read
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262. A HIDDEN NOVEL
262. A HIDDEN NOVEL
Can you rearrange these letters so that they form the title of a well-known novel by Charles Dickens? CDEHHIILOOOPRSSTTUY Solution...
6 minute read
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263. “COME OUT, ’TIS NOW SEPTEMBER!” —Old Song.
263. “COME OUT, ’TIS NOW SEPTEMBER!” —Old Song.
The missing words are spelt with the same six letters. Solution...
18 minute read
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265. A BREAKFAST TABLE PUZZLE
265. A BREAKFAST TABLE PUZZLE
“If father gives us a new dog, it will wake the lazy ones!” Can you discover from these words which of his children were often late for breakfast? Solution...
9 minute read
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266. A CIPHER
266. A CIPHER
NGOTRDSREAOHR ETNSVEENUDOEO Can you decipher the common proverb here concealed? Solution...
3 minute read
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268. UNDA WATER
268. UNDA WATER
How might an oyster, if it could speak, and knew that unda is Latin for wave or water, complain in similar phonetic iteration when disturbed by thunder under unda? Solution...
9 minute read
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269. MISSING WORDS
269. MISSING WORDS
The five missing words are spelt with the same five letters. Solution...
21 minute read
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270. FIND THE GIRLS
270. FIND THE GIRLS
Bad hero set by thy door hurt me ma. Army may get ruder daily. Ten girls’ names are here in anagrams. Solution...
7 minute read
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271. A GOOD DESCRIPTION
271. A GOOD DESCRIPTION
Lord Beaconsfield’s statue, True as old ——— Can you can complete this anagram? Solution...
6 minute read
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272. SHAKESPEARE ANAGRAMS
272. SHAKESPEARE ANAGRAMS
These three lines are perfect anagrams of three consecutive lines in “Romeo and Juliet,” Act II., Scene V.:— The tub sold has old rough shelves. And e’en this fisherman caught best white smelts. A living lord’s black dress, worn high, I vow! Can you discover the original lines? Solution...
15 minute read
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274. A PUZZLE ACROSTIC
274. A PUZZLE ACROSTIC
Image Can you substitute words which fulfil the conditions? Solution...
19 minute read
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275. DROP LETTER PUZZLE
275. DROP LETTER PUZZLE
One letter is dropped each time. Solution...
16 minute read
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276. DOUBLETS
276. DOUBLETS
Can you convert HARE into SOUP, using not more than six links, changing only one letter with each link, and preserving the order of the letters from link to link? Solution...
9 minute read
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278. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
278. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
If a “newspaper” could speak, what might it say of the general work of its staff? Solution...
6 minute read
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279. BY RULE OF THUMB
279. BY RULE OF THUMB
How can you turn the positive quantity 1011 into a negative? Solution...
4 minute read
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280. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
280. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What one word can you form from the sentence— “O, I’m man’s trial!” Solution...
5 minute read
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281. A REBUS
281. A REBUS
EEE and xxx URXXI XXX and eee. Solution...
3 minute read
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282. A RIDDLE
282. A RIDDLE
Why may not the owner of a pine forest fell his timber? Solution...
4 minute read
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283. MISSING WORDS
283. MISSING WORDS
The missing words are spelt with the same seven letters. Solution...
13 minute read
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284. DOUBLETS
284. DOUBLETS
Can you change ARMY into NAVY with seven links, changing one letter every time, and preserving their sequence? Solution...
5 minute read
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286. CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
286. CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
When is an onion like music? Solution...
3 minute read
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287. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
287. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What is the bitter cry of “Christianity?” Solution...
3 minute read
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288. NO TURNCOAT
288. NO TURNCOAT
Show by anagram that a Conservative is constant to his cause. Solution...
4 minute read
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289. WHY NOT?
289. WHY NOT?
Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall as a rule upon the same day of the week. Can any ingenious reader discover why they will not fall upon the same day of the week in the year 1910. Solution...
11 minute read
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295. A CHARADE By Mark Lemon
295. A CHARADE By Mark Lemon
Solution...
16 minute read
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308. A CHARADE In English Sapphics
308. A CHARADE In English Sapphics
Solution...
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315. MISSING WORDS
315. MISSING WORDS
It is a ...... fact that neither ...... nor ...... grow .. .... . Solution...
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316. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME
316. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME
DRWNDRRDNWRD . Insert the missing letters, and so form a perfect palindrome, which reads alike from either end. Solution...
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318. A RIDDLE
318. A RIDDLE
What person’s name is doubly evil? The answer may be given in a line that rhymes. Solution...
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327. A CHESS CHARADE By H. J. C. Andrews
327. A CHESS CHARADE By H. J. C. Andrews
In the ’seventies no one was more popular at Simpson’s Chess Room in the Strand than the gentle and brilliant subject of these lines, a clever water-colourist. The charade is by his friend, the well-known problem composer. Both have passed away, but they are not forgotten by those who had the happiness to know them:— Solution...
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331. AN OLD ENIGMA By Charles James Fox
331. AN OLD ENIGMA By Charles James Fox
Solution...
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345. WHAT DID THE COLONEL SAY?
345. WHAT DID THE COLONEL SAY?
After officers’ mess, when cigars were well alight, the old conundrum was propounded, “What is most like a cornet of horse?” A sharp sub. was ready with the reply, “A hornet, of course”; it was presently capped by this variant which occurred to a married captain, “a corset of horn”; and yet another reading was suggested by the deaf old colonel, “How much did you say the .............. ” Can you complete this? Solution...
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347. A LOVER TO HIS LASS
347. A LOVER TO HIS LASS
Solution...
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351. BURIED PLACES
351. BURIED PLACES
What geographical names are buried in these lines? He has my R. N. as a monogram I am her stupid sister. The calmest man is sometimes made irate. Solution...
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359. WHAT IS THIS?
359. WHAT IS THIS?
“We westand fall.” Solution...
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361. A GOOD ANAGRAM
361. A GOOD ANAGRAM
George Thompson, the zealous anti-slavery advocate, was asked to go into Parliament, the better to press his point and cause. When he hesitated a friend produced, as a conclusive reason, this anagram, spelt with the letters of his name—“O go, the negro’s M.P.!”...
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1. A SUM WITHOUT FIGURES
1. A SUM WITHOUT FIGURES
Here is a long-division sum without figures:— Image These letters form a sentence of three words .... .... .. , and represent the figures 1234 5678 90; the puzzle is to discover this key sentence, by working out the sum in the corresponding figures. Solution...
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2. A DAY’S SPORT
2. A DAY’S SPORT
At the invitation of a farmer in the country I went out with my gun for a day’s shooting on his farm. “What sport had you?” said a friend afterwards at the Club. “I shot only birds and rabbits,” was my reply, “and the bag showed 36 heads and 100 feet.” How many birds were there, and how many bunnies? Solution...
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3. THE SQUAREST WORD
3. THE SQUAREST WORD
Image How many distinct readings of these four words can you find, taking their letters in any “go as you please” direction, without jumping over any letter? Solution...
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4. A CROSS PURPOSE
4. A CROSS PURPOSE
Can our readers rearrange these letters in the form of a similar cross, so that they form two words familiar to us all? Image One of the letters, to be placed where the lower E now stands, is common to both words. Solution...
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5.
5.
“Take this sovereign, my boy,” said a man to his son who had a turn for arithmetic, “and buy for yourself and for your three sisters the best present possible for each, of different values, expending in each case an aliquot part of the pound, that is to say, a fraction of it whose numerator is one. If there is any change you can give it to the Fresh Air Fund.” How was this commission carried out? Solution...
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6. A WORD SQUARE
6. A WORD SQUARE
Can you complete this word-square? Image Solution...
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7. VERBAL ARITHMETIC
7. VERBAL ARITHMETIC
First find a word that is spelt with the ten letters above the line, and number its letters consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. Image Substitute the corresponding figures for the letters, and then work out the addition sum which they represent. Solution...
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8. A WORD SQUARE
8. A WORD SQUARE
Can you complete this word square? Image Solution...
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9.
9.
Take the twelve first prime numbers, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, which have no factors but themselves and unity, and write down the value of their product, using no figures but 0, 1, 2, and 3, and of these using 2 and 3 only once. Solution...
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11. GAPS TO FILL
11. GAPS TO FILL
Can you complete this word square? Image Solution...
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12. IS IT POSSIBLE?
12. IS IT POSSIBLE?
Fill a wineglass with water to the brim, and set it on the corner of a table-napkin, which should be in immediate contact with the polished surface of a table, allowing the rest of the napkin to fall over the edge. Can you remove the napkin without touching the glass or spilling any of the water? Solution...
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13. A NICE CALCULATION
13. A NICE CALCULATION
My third and fourth are a quarter of my first and second; my fourth is half of them, and my third is half. What am I? Solution...
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14. FOR THE CHILDREN
14. FOR THE CHILDREN
A London firm, having sent an order by telegram to a manufacturer in Paris for 480 sets of Diabolo, received to their amazement a huge consignment of 6336 sets. How did this mistake arise? Solution...
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16. A QUESTION OF AGES
16. A QUESTION OF AGES
“My husband’s age,” said Mrs Evergreen, “is represented by the figures of my age reversed. He is older than I am, and the difference between our ages is one-eleventh of their sum.” What were their respective ages? Solution...
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17. MISSING FIGURES
17. MISSING FIGURES
Can you complete this multiplication sum? Image Solution...
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19. BEDDING OUT
19. BEDDING OUT
I bought less than 100 plants for my new rosery, and found that if I set them 3 in a row there would be one over; if 4 in a row there would be two over; if 5 in a row, three over; and if 6 in a row, four over. How many rose trees did I buy? Solution...
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20.
20.
Can you arrange three nines so that they represent exactly 20? Solution...
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21.
21.
A house has nine windows on its front. How many signals can be given by merely leaving one or more of them open? Solution...
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22. ON MY BIRTHDAY (By Sir John Evans)
22. ON MY BIRTHDAY (By Sir John Evans)
Solution...
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25. THE TEN DIGITS
25. THE TEN DIGITS
This arrangement of the digits represents 20, one being a whole number, the others a fraction:— 6 13258 947 = 20...
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26. CHRONOGRAM
26. CHRONOGRAM
The battle of Montl’héry was fought in 1465. Its date can be committed to memory in the sentence which might have been a battle-cry—“A cheval, à cheval, gendarmes, à cheval!” For it is arrived at by the addition of the Roman numerals which this contains, thus:—...
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27. A TOUR DE FORCE
27. A TOUR DE FORCE
In this most remarkable sentence of only twenty-eight letters, every letter of the alphabet is used— IF JACK QUIZ BALD NYMPHS GROW VEXT....
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28. AN OLD TALE OF A TUB
28. AN OLD TALE OF A TUB
Tom Hood, seeing over the door of a public-house BEAR SOLD HERE, said that it was rightly spelt if it was the landlord’s own bruin !...
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29. ALL THE ALPHABET
29. ALL THE ALPHABET
Here is an ingenious rhyming couplet of only 33 letters, in which every letter of the alphabet is used—...
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30. AN IMPERIAL ANAGRAM
30. AN IMPERIAL ANAGRAM
A sa Majesté impériale le Tsar Nicolas, souverain et autocrate de toutes les Russies. The same letters exactly spell— O, ta vanité sera ta perte. O, elle isole la Russie; tes successeurs te maudiront à jamais! This most remarkable anagram was published in the early days of the Crimean war....
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31. A FOURFOLD ANAGRAM
31. A FOURFOLD ANAGRAM
“Notes and Queries.” A question sender. Enquires on dates. Reasoned inquest. I send on a request....
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32. A GOOD ANAGRAM
32. A GOOD ANAGRAM
The name of John Abernethy, a very brusque doctor of bygone days, lends itself to this most apposite anagram— Johnny the bear!...
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33. TWO EXCELLENT ANAGRAMS (After the Irish famine.)
33. TWO EXCELLENT ANAGRAMS (After the Irish famine.)
Duchess of Marlborough. She labours much for God. Or, The Duchess of Marlborough. Lo, she sought much for bread....
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34. “ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE”
34. “ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE”
French guest to his host after a big shoot:— “How many braces have you to your bags?”...
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35. A PRIZE ANAGRAM
35. A PRIZE ANAGRAM
It would be difficult to find a more ingenious and appropriate anagram than this, which took a prize in “Truth” in 1902, and connects the King’s recovery with the Coronation. The sentence set was— “God save our newly crowned King and Queen! Long life to Edward and Alexandra!” The letters of this were recast thus— Can we wonder an anxious devoted England followed drear danger quakingly?...
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36. A PRIZE ANAGRAM
36. A PRIZE ANAGRAM
“Truth” offered a prize for the best anagram on the sentence—“‘Truth’ Toy and Doll Fund, Christmas, nineteen hundred and seven.” The winning anagram, by the Editor of these pages, was, “A sunny tender mind understands that the children do love fun!”...
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37. TAKE CARE OF THE PENCE
37. TAKE CARE OF THE PENCE
In a moment of economy I told my wife that I would put by a farthing the first week of the New Year, a halfpenny the second week, a penny the third, and so on, doubling the sum each week to the end of the year. She had a turn for figures, and staggered me by showing that I should have to provide £4,691,249,611,844, 5s. 3 3 ⁄ 4 d. to carry out my plan!...
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38
38
Now that Ellen Terry has written “The Story of My Life,” this anagram has a special interest:— LYCEUM THEATRE, STRAND. Teach and melt us, Terry!...
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38a. RING OUT, WILD BELLS!
38a. RING OUT, WILD BELLS!
More startling than the well-known calculation of payment by continuously doubling the farthing given for the first nail in a horse’s shoe, is the fact that the possible changes on a peal of 24 bells would not be exhausted if every minute of 4000 years were prolonged to a period of 10,000 years!...
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39. A SCHOLAR AT PLAY
39. A SCHOLAR AT PLAY
Erasmus himself was responsible in one of his lighter moments for the following ingenious play upon his name:— Quæritur unde mihi sit nomen Erasmus, eras mus ; Si sum mus ego, te judice, summus ero!...
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40. QUITE AN EYESORE!
40. QUITE AN EYESORE!
“Well!” cried an agitated carpenter to his mate, “of all the saws that I ever saw saw, I never saw a saw saw as this saw saws!”...
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42. A GOOD ANAGRAM
42. A GOOD ANAGRAM
CONFESSIONS OF AN OPIUM EATER. The same letters recast spell— If so, man, refuse poison at once!...
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43. A TOUR DE FORCE
43. A TOUR DE FORCE
The following curiosity, constructed some years ago for prize purposes by the Editor, shows how, in word or letter juggling, difficulties can be overcome:— A sentence in which each letter of the alphabet is used exactly twice: “XLV gruff nymphs jerk XLV jaws,” quoth wag B. Dick, Q.C., to Ben Dizzy, M.P....
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44. THE MISSING LINK
44. THE MISSING LINK
If anagrams count, our “ancestor” was not a monkey but a Norse cat !...
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45. A STRIKING ANAGRAM
45. A STRIKING ANAGRAM
The name of Randle Holmes, author of a notable book on heraldry, was so recast that it formed the words: “Lo, men’s herald!”...
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46. A CURIOUS PALINDROME
46. A CURIOUS PALINDROME
Dog as a devil deified lived as a god....
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47. AFTER THE EVENT An Anagram.
47. AFTER THE EVENT An Anagram.
The Oxford and Cambridge annual Boat-race. Cantab blue had raced in an extra good form....
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48. TO FIND THE GOLD
48. TO FIND THE GOLD
Tell a person who holds a sovereign in one hand and a shilling in the other to reckon 4 for the gold, and 3 for the silver. Then bid him triple what is in the right hand, and double what is in the left, and give you the added product. If this is an even number the gold is in the right hand, if odd it is in the left....
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49. A MUSICAL ANAGRAM
49. A MUSICAL ANAGRAM
Adelina Patti. Adept Italian....
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50. A HAPPY THOUGHT
50. A HAPPY THOUGHT
Sir Charles Napier’s witty despatch, “Peccavi!” “I have Scinde!” is familiar to us. Not so well known is the happy phrase attributed to Sir Colin Campbell, “Nunc sum fortunatus!” “I am in Lucknow!”...
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51. A CLEVER TRIPLE ANAGRAM
51. A CLEVER TRIPLE ANAGRAM
Owen, the Welsh epigrammatist, composed this very clever Latin line:— In verbis, ubi res postulat, esto brevis . (“In words, where the matter requires it, be brief.”) The words in italics are spelt with the same six letters....
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52. CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
52. CAN SUCH THINGS BE?
Take a long strip of paper, say 9 in. by 2 in., which will have, of course, an upper and an under surface and two edges along its length. How can you arrange this strip, by quite a simple method so that it will have only one surface and one edge? Solution...
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53.
53.
Can you divide nine into two parts which are together equal to ten? Solution...
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54. FOLDING A FLOCK
54. FOLDING A FLOCK
A shepherd had a flock of sheep in a fold enclosed by 100 hurdles. His master made a large purchase at the annual fair, and required him to pen some pigs with 16 of the hurdles, and to arrange the remainder so that they could accommodate nine times as many sheep as the 100 hurdles had contained. How was this possible? Solution...
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55. A NEAT TRICK
55. A NEAT TRICK
Here is a neat final trick, if you have some reputation for sleight of hand. Place three biscuits on the table in a row, and cover each of them with a borrowed hat. Raise each hat in turn, gravely eat the biscuit, and replace the hat. Then undertake that the three biscuits shall be under whichever hat is selected. How can you contrive this? Solution...
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56. VERY SMALL CHANGE
56. VERY SMALL CHANGE
In how many different ways can 7s. 3d. be paid away in current coin of the realm, without ever using exactly the same set of coins a second time? Solution...
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FRONTISPIECE
FRONTISPIECE
The words which describe this picture can be recast, letter for letter, into the perfect anagram— “Please, Mister Elephant, are you there?” Return to description...
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No. IV.
No. IV.
It is said that there are 86 ways in which the numbers in this model magic square can be added up so that they make 34. Image It is not difficult to discover more than half this number that are symmetrical, including, of course, the 4 rows, 4 columns and 2 diagonals. Here are a dozen samples, from which others can be seen— Return to description...
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No. VIII
No. VIII
Here is the completed magic square— Image Every row, column and diagonal adds up to exactly 1908. Return to description...
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No. IX
No. IX
This up-to-date magic square adds up to 1908 in quite 56 different symmetrical ways. Image Here are 44 of them— There are a dozen other ways, more or less symmetrical, such as 481, 474, 483, 470; or 474, 485, 470, 479. Return to description...
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No. X
No. X
This is the rearrangement of the domino magic square— Image The three-ace, which was a corner stone in the former diagram now occupies the centre, and the rearrangement was effected by first transferring the two bottom rows to the top, and then the fourth and fifth columns to the extreme left. This method of shifting the stones does not affect the magic quality of the square. Return to description...
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No. XI
No. XI
The affinity between chess and numbers is well illustrated by the Knight’s tour on this diagram— The Knight starts from the square marked 1, and returns at last to it. The constant difference between any opposite and corresponding numbers in cells that are equidistant from the centre is 18. Return to description...
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No. XII
No. XII
Here are the cells in the diagram of our Numbers Patience, so filled in that each of the rows across from side to side adds up exactly to 143. Image Each cell contains, in accordance with the conditions, a different number. Return to description...
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No. XIII
No. XIII
This is the division of a square into fifteen parts, which will form the windmill:— This puzzle may, of course, be reversed, the parts of the square being given, and the solver asked to form with them a symmetrical windmill. Return to description...
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No. XIV
No. XIV
In this nest of 49 squares it is possible to count 784 distinct interlacing figures, whose opposite sides are equal, and whose angles are all right angles. Image Of these 784 rectangles 140 are squares. Return to description...
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No. XV
No. XV
This is the domino magic square, in which all the stones are used except double-six, double-five and six-five. Image All rows, columns and diagonals add up to 27, as do the stones in the four corner cells and the four central border cells of the full square, and of the square of nine cells in the middle. Return to description...
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No. XVI
No. XVI
Those to whom games of Patience appeal will find an interesting and pretty form of it in the construction of a pyramid with a complete set of dominoes. Image Solvers may like to study the position given, which is one of many that are possible, and to discover for themselves the ruling conditions which are its characteristics. Return to description...
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No. XVII
No. XVII
When the boy’s father came up just in time to stop him from breaking out of bounds, and said, “Never throw a leg, lad,” the rest of the sentence, spelt with exactly the same letters , was “over the garden wall!” Return to description...
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No. XVIII
No. XVIII
“Catastrophe,” the title of the tragedy foreshadowed, can be recast into “ A cat! stop her! ” By similar process the words, “New parrot stand in a house,” become “ He turns on a soda-water tap! ” The parrot’s ready resource and triumph is depicted here with striking effect. Return to description...
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No. XIX
No. XIX
When the judge at a baby show said to the mother of the small boy whose thumb was in his mouth, “Your lad Tommy likes such tit-bits,” the precocious child replied, as he removed his comforting hand, in a sentence spelt with exactly the same letters , “So to-day, sir, I suck my little thumb.” Return to description...
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No. XX
No. XX
When the lady sitting at the back of this overloaded wagonette said to her husband, “This big load quite hinders his pull,” in her sympathy with the struggling horse, he made this very practical reply, in a sentence spelt with exactly the same letters : “Do sit quiet, girl; I shall push behind!” Return to description...
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No. XXI
No. XXI
When a bystander whispered to the marker, “Eh! what a stout player is striking!” an appropriate reply, spelt with exactly the same letters , would have been: “He plays without taking a rest, sir.” Return to description...
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No. XXII
No. XXII
The two English words appropriate to this picture— which have as their anagrams “Or not a man first,” and “O I love nuts!” are Transformation and Evolutions . Return to description...
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No. XXIII
No. XXIII
This is a fancy portrait of William— We decide by anagram whether this is William or dear Jack , for these words, when recast, spell “I am Will, a card joker!” Return to description...
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No. XXIV
No. XXIV
The word indicated by this picture in combination with the lines below it— is Stout . Return to description...
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No. XXV
No. XXV
The words of Jigger’s wife, when she said that he seemed to be in a “sad pet,” were true by anagram. His ball hugs the cushion so closely as to be completely pasted . Return to description...
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No. XXVI
No. XXVI
When, as they held on to the fractious cow, the farmer exclaimed, “See, we hold this cow’s horns and tail,” his foreman, using exactly the same letters in his sentence, said— “She cannot toss, her wild head is low.” Return to description...
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No. XXVII
No. XXVII
While the horse shown in this picture might be saying, if it could speak, “I’m a train’d stepper!”— the driver, from his point of view, might say, as he held him in check, “Spirit and a temper!” making use in his words of exactly the same letters . Return to description...
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No. XXVIII
No. XXVIII
When one onlooker, seeing the artist working with his feet, said— “Why, now I see this fine artist has no hand!” the other replied, using exactly the same letters, “He draws in any fashion with his ten toes!” Return to description...
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No. XXIX
No. XXIX
When her husband, showing this picture said to his wife, “This is a wine bottle, dear, on a lure,” she, knowing that temptation in this form would fail, said, as she glanced at his illustration of their aims, in words spelt with exactly the same letters:— “And see, he will not rise at our bait!” Return to description...
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No. XXX
No. XXX
The sturdy musician, who had said, “What shall I play?” to which some one replied, “Any strains of Beethoven, he charms all!” as this was not an acceptable suggestion, struck up a piece after his own heart. He said, as he struck the strings, in a sentence composed of exactly the same letters—“Nay, for this ’cello heaven sent a Brahms!” Return to description...
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No. XXXI
No. XXXI
Here is the picture of a parsnip lying across a swede readjusted and reversed. We gave as a clue the anagram— “Here is our parsnip on swede.” ANAGRAM Wise and superior person he! but this is now hardly needed to show who is thus represented in friendly caricature: (With apologies to G. B. S.) Return to description...
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No. XXXII
No. XXXII
The letter puzzle is solved thus— Image Within this square the word LEVEL runs in twelve different directions, being itself a palindrome. Return to description...
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No. XXXIII
No. XXXIII
The sentence formed with the ten letters above the line, which is the key to this sum, is Do your best . If these letters are numbered consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and the corresponding figures are substituted for the letters, the sum works out as is shown in the second diagram— Image Return to description...
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No. XXXIV
No. XXXIV
The twelve names of flowers and foliage that may be gathered within these borders, by moving in any direction one square at a time, Image are 18, 26, 32, 24, Rose ; 25, 33, 34, 28, 35, Tulip ; 35, 28, 27, 21, Pink ; 31, 32, 25, 24, 18, Aster ; and, in similar ways, Verbena ; Salvia ; Ivy ; Lily ; Lilac ; Heliotrope ; Fern ; and Bell . Return to description...
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No. XXXV
No. XXXV
The solution of this little problem, set by Dr Puzzlewitz on his blackboard to test the powers of his young pupils—“What are the values of A and B, when 4 is the result of dividing A by B, or of subtracting B from A?”— Image is that A = 5 1 ⁄ 3 and B = 1 1 ⁄ 3 . Return to description...
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No. XXXVI
No. XXXVI
This is the diamond squared:— Image in which the words read alike from top to bottom, and from left to right. Return to description...
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No. XXXVII
No. XXXVII
This is the arrangement of the 32 letters in the 64 cells— Image No A is in the same column, row, or diagonal with another A, no E with another E, no I with another I, and no O with another O. Return to description...
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No. XXXVIII
No. XXXVIII
This is the anagram square, with the letters, which in the former diagram spelt the words vote , wove , prow , call , stew , news , core , nape , recast into fresh words which now read alike from top to bottom and from left to right of the square. Image The empty squares and diagonal setting are necessary for this particular puzzle, as the words would not form a word square if their letters were placed below one another in the usual way. Return to description...
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No. XXXIX
No. XXXIX
The sentence formed with the ten letters above the line, which is the key to this sum, is— Add these up . If these letters are numbered consecutively 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, and the corresponding figures are substituted for the numbers, the sum works out as is shown below. Image Return to description...
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No. XL
No. XL
The four words, seek, slab, leek, moan, which were placed on the white squares when recast form the following combination:— Image These fresh words read alike from side to side, and zigzag from top to bottom. Return to description...
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No. XLI
No. XLI
These are the four words, recast by anagram from afar, task, seat, leal, and which now form a perfect word square. Image Return to description...
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No. XLII
No. XLII
The word square is recast thus— Image Its words are spelt with the same letters as the words chess , greed , canes , rears , cheer , which formed the original square, but did not read alike from top to bottom, and from left to right, as these do. Return to description...
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No. XLIII
No. XLIII
The five familiar proverbs hidden in this square of 169 letters are: A rolling stone gathers no moss. Too many cooks spoil the broth. A live dog is more to be feared than a dead lion. You cannot eat your cake and have it. Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war. Image Return to description...
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No. XLIV
No. XLIV
If the shaded circles are cut out and the diagram is placed squarely over the jumbled letters, with the I., II., III., IV. in turn at the top left-hand corner, this sentence is disclosed— Le premier Supplément du Journal de la Jeunesse a été publié dans le Numéro du Dix-neuf Juin Mil huit cent soixante-quinze. Return to description...
18 minute read
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No. XLV
No. XLV
This is the way to reconstruct Sam Loyd’s black pony—so that, while its legs and tail are strangely misplaced, they form the spirited outline of a white galloping horse. Return to description...
10 minute read
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No. XLVI
No. XLVI
Here is the key to Sam Loyd’s ingenious puzzle— which shows the jockeys and horses in full racing trim. Return to description...
8 minute read
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No. XLVII
No. XLVII
This is the inevitable result of the boy’s attempt to annex with his mouth the sugar on the chair— Return to description...
8 minute read
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No. XLVIII
No. XLVIII
The leap-frog puzzle is solved in nine hops thus:— First jump from stool 2, then from 5, 3, 6, 7, 1, 3, and 6 in turn to the vacant stools. Return to description...
11 minute read
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No. LV
No. LV
This diagram shows that the seven wheels, which spin so merrily when the paper is rotated in the hand, can be divided off into separate enclosures by only three straight lines— Return to description...
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No. LVI
No. LVI
The diagram below shows how the market-gardener, keeping one-fourth of his square field for himself in the shape of a triangle, was able to divide the remainder so that each of his four sons had an equal portion of similar shape— Return to description...
14 minute read
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No. LVII
No. LVII
Here is a drawing of the perfect Latin cross— The position of the two long pieces does not readily suggest itself to those who try to arrange the five on paper with a pencil. Return to description...
12 minute read
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No. LVIII
No. LVIII
This diagram shows the effectual means taken by four rich men, whose houses were further afield, to exclude four poor men from all access to a central lake, that they might reserve the fishing for themselves. They built a high wall on the lines that are indicated which, while it left a way for each of them to the water, altogether shut it away from their poor neighbours. Return to description...
21 minute read
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No. LIX
No. LIX
This is the square that can be formed with the ten pattern pieces given— Return to description...
6 minute read
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No. LX
No. LX
The dotted lines in this diagram show how the figure can be divided into nine parts by four straight cuts which can be reunited to form a perfect cross. Return to description...
11 minute read
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No. LXI
No. LXI
This is a simple way by which the figure given can be divided by four straight cuts into four equal and similar parts— Return to description...
9 minute read
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No. LXII
No. LXII
This is the way to draw twenty-two straight lines within the circle at right-angles to each other, so that they divide it into four similar parts— and each part has three dots within its borders. Return to description...
12 minute read
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No. LXIII
No. LXIII
These diagrams show how the upper triangle is divided into five parts, which can be rearranged to form the equilateral triangle below. The originator of this ingenious novelty says, “The method of construction is not shown, but its application is general, and the result is easily verified by measurement.” Return to description...
15 minute read
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No. LXVI
No. LXVI
This is an arrangement of the twenty-seven counters in nine rows, six in a row, within the borders of an equilateral triangle. Return to description...
8 minute read
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No. LXVII
No. LXVII
All the cards of one colour, when placed alternately, can be brought together in four moves, two at a time, thus— Image Place two and three beyond eight; Place five and six between one and four; Place eight and two between four and seven; Place one and five between seven and three. Return to description...
17 minute read
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No. LXVIII
No. LXVIII
You can in a moment tell the number chosen on these cards, when you are told on which of them it appears, Image by adding together the numbers at the top left-hand corner of these. Return to description...
5 minute read
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No. LXIX
No. LXIX
This diagram shows that the postman can take a course which involves fewer turnings than that indicated, when he had to pass round eighteen corners. It will be seen that he has to turn only fifteen times. Return to description...
12 minute read
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No. LXX
No. LXX
This shows how a square can be divided into three parts, so that these can be reunited to form No. 2 and No. 3 of the diagram. Try it with scissors and paper or cardboard. Return to description...
13 minute read
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No. LXXI
No. LXXI
Image This position fulfils the conditions of the puzzle. Obviously it could not occur in actual play. Return to description...
6 minute read
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No. LXXV
No. LXXV
The dotted lines in this diagram show where the flag with a cross taken out from its centre must be cut, so that the two pieces can be rejoined to form a perfect flag. The piece on the right is moved upward, and to the left. Return to description...
15 minute read
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No. LXXVI
No. LXXVI
This is a way in which the eleven parts can be readjusted to form a square:— Return to description...
7 minute read
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No. LXXVIII
No. LXXVIII
This shows the shortest course— This track takes him completely round every block, passing only once round four of them. Return to description...
9 minute read
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No. LXXIX
No. LXXIX
Here is a very simple and symmetrical arrangement, by which on a board of 36 squares twelve counters are so placed that there are two, and two only, on each line, column, and diagonal. Image There are other arrangements which fulfil the conditions. Return to description...
13 minute read
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No. LXXXI
No. LXXXI
In this nest of triangles of five tiers there are 1196 separate triangles, or nearly double the number (653) of a similar nest of four tiers. In such a figure with 10,000 tiers there would be 6,992,965,420,332 different triangles! Return to description...
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No. LXXXII
No. LXXXII
The match puzzle, in which eight matches set in a row are to be rearranged in four pairs, by passing one match over two four times— is solved, if the matches are numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, by moving 4 to 7, 6 to 2, 1 to 3, and 5 to 8. Return to description...
18 minute read
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No. LXXXIII
No. LXXXIII
The lower diagram shows how, when three matches are removed from the four squares, the remaining nine can be readjusted to represent three squares— Return to description...
10 minute read
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No. LXXXIV
No. LXXXIV
This diagram shows how different arrangements of four matches are possible in all the thirty-six cells of the square. In every case a whole number or a fraction is represented, with such signs or lines as are necessary, and only four matches are used. Return to description...
14 minute read
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No. LXXXV
No. LXXXV
It will be seen from the diagram below that the sentence, when filled in as required, is “Rise to vote, sir.” Image As this sentence is a perfect palindrome, and reads alike from either end, it can be traced in a great number of different directions. Return to description...
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No. LXXXVII
No. LXXXVII
This subtraction sum may be very neatly worked, without reducing the distances to inches, thus:— Image Instead of borrowing one foot, we borrow half-a-foot— i.e. , 6 inches; taking 5 from the 6 we have 1 as a remainder; now carrying the 6 inches to the 1 foot, and borrowing half a yard, and subtracting, we have 0 as remainder; carrying the half-yard to the 5 yards, we borrow the full 5 1 ⁄ 2 yards, which are one rod, and proceed in the usual manner afterwards, with the result that is shown. Retu
27 minute read
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No. LXXXIX
No. LXXXIX
This is an arrangement of nine counters on the irregular board of 67 squares. Image No two counters are in the same row, column, or diagonal. Return to description...
9 minute read
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No. XC
No. XC
This is the arrangement of nine cards in ten rows, three in each row— Image Return to description...
6 minute read
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No. XCI
No. XCI
The following diagram shows how the two ladies and their squires represented by white Knights and black, and dressed to impersonate Light, Liberty, Love, and Learning, started from the four comer squares, and stepped a figure which exhibited at each pause a revolving square, and in three paces came together in the centre, by a course traced upon the lines of their combined monograms. Return to description...
20 minute read
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No. XCII
No. XCII
The 5 maxims in these 36 cells— Image are disentangled by reading the lowest line with each of the upper ones in turn. Thus the first maxim runs:—“Never tell all you know, he who tells all he knows often tells what he should not,” and so on throughout. Return to description...
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No. XCIII
No. XCIII
The dislocated circle is solved by making a single cut through the dotted line shown in the diagram below, and join up the pieces. The second diagram shows how this figure is arrived at, by drawing three similar and intersecting circles, which have their centres at the angles of an equilateral triangle. The piece cut off by the dotted line corresponds to the section that completes the circle below. Return to description...
21 minute read
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No. XCV
No. XCV
The catch-words Cleans, Scrubs, Scours, Polishes, which proclaim the merits of an “Old Dutch Cleanser” on the sails of this windmill, can be recast so that the same letters form the singularly appropriate sentence— “O rub on, sir, success spells cash!” Return to description...
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No. XCVI
No. XCVI
The following diagram shows the solution of this new chess puzzle, and fulfils its conditions that no Queen should attack a Queen, no Rook a Rook, no Bishop a Bishop, and no Knight a Knight. Image Mr Dudeney explains that only 8 Queens or 8 Rooks can be thus placed upon the board, while the greatest number of Bishops is fourteen, and of Knights thirty-two. But as all Knights must be placed on squares of the same colour, while the Queens occupy four of each colour, and the bishops seven of each c
33 minute read
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No. CII
No. CII
This diagram shows the order in which the syllables or words of the eight-line verse are to be read on the course of a Knight’s moves at chess— Image They run thus:— Return to description...
30 minute read
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No. CV
No. CV
If such a network as is shown in the diagram below is drawn on clear tracing-paper and placed on the page of a book, it will conceal the words beneath it. But if, while lying close to the page, it is moved quickly round and about, the letters and words will be distinctly seen, just as objects on the other side of close lattice-work become visible as we pass them quickly in a train. Return to description...
22 minute read
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No. CVI
No. CVI
These are the results of cutting, in the direction of the dotted lines, completely round a simple paper ring, a ring with one twist, and a ring with a double twist. We have (1) two simple rings; (2) one large-twisted ring; (3) two rings linked together. If a third twist is given before cutting, a curious knot is formed. Return to description...
18 minute read
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CVII
CVII
The string when it has been placed in the position shown in the diagram, and two buttons larger than the hole have been fixed upon its ends can be easily removed if the narrow slip of the leather is drawn through the hole. Return to description...
13 minute read
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CVIII
CVIII
The scissors, when securely fastened, as is shown in the diagram, can be easily released by passing the loop upward through the handle, and then completely over them. Return to description...
9 minute read
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CIX
CIX
The primitive wolf-trap consisted of two circular fences higher than a wolf could scale, with a gate as was shown on the former diagram. To set the trap a lamb was placed in the safe centre, and the gate was opened as is shown below— Attracted by the bleating of the lamb, the wolf entered the outer circle, made his way round, and presently pushed aside the gate, which closed with a spring, and shut off all escape. Return to description...
24 minute read
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No. CXII
No. CXII
When you have told someone to think of a number between 5 and 15, and while you are not looking, to count upwards from the lowest card step, and round in the direction indicated by the arrow, until that number is reached, and then, starting afresh with “one” on that card to count backwards round the semi-circle, this time not including the central upright or the steps below it , until the number thought of is again reached, you can tell at once which is the final card arrived at, for it will be
45 minute read
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No. CXIII
No. CXIII
This diagram shows how the apple may be divided into six pieces by two straight cuts, so that there shall be a gash in each piece. First cut the apple through the dotted line, then place the upper piece shown at the side of the larger piece, and make the second cut straight through, where the line is drawn. Return to description...
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No. CXVII
No. CXVII
The sixpence under the middle of the tumbler can be easily removed thus— Slip larger coins under opposite edges of the tumbler to raise it slightly, and then scratch firmly on the cloth, from just outside the rim, in the direction you wish the sixpence to take. It will at once respond, and makes its own way gradually outside the circle that had surrounded it. Return to description...
20 minute read
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No. CXVIII
No. CXVIII
This is the way to draw the spiral— Tie a piece of strong thread with a loop at its end round the upper part of the windings of a screw. Drive the screw into a board, through the middle of a card, wind the thread down the screw so that its loop just reaches the card, place a pencil in this loop, and draw the spiral freely, unwinding the thread from the grooves of the screw, and keeping it always taut. A perfect spiral is the result. Return to description...
26 minute read
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No. CXXII.
No. CXXII.
The secret of the talking head is simple indeed when you know it. Between the front and two side legs of the table mirrors are fixed, which reflect the similar surroundings, so that the performer, kneeling behind these, and putting his head through a hole in the table top, completely conceals his body and limbs from the audience. Return to description...
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No. CXXV
No. CXXV
The picture charade is completed thus— and is solved by Puffin . Return to description...
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No. CXXVI
No. CXXVI
When the walnuts and cobnuts have been arranged as is shown on the diagram— they can be shifted so that they stand alternately, by moving two that are close together at a time, in four moves, as follows:— (1) Move 2 and 3 beyond 8. (2) Move 5 and 6 between 1 and 4. (3) Move what are now 6th and 7th in the gap. (4) Move what are now 1st and 2nd in the gap, and the alternate arrangement is complete. Return to description...
26 minute read
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No. CXXVII
No. CXXVII
The question suggested by this picture riddle is: Why is a waiter like a racehorse? And the solution is: Because he runs for cups and plates. Return to description...
11 minute read
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1
1
The paradox— is solved by the lines— Return to description...
24 minute read
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3
3
The enigma— is solved by ICICLE. Return to description...
34 minute read
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4
4
The charade— is solved by Pigeon ( one becomes eon ). Return to description...
15 minute read
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5
5
Byron’s enigma— is solved by the letter I. Return to description...
1 minute read
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6
6
is solved by Star , tar , arts , rats . Return to description...
22 minute read
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7
7
Horace Smith’s charade— is solved by Reformatory . Return to description...
34 minute read
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8
8
is solved by Nascent , ascent , scent , cent . Return to description...
16 minute read
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9
9
The enigma— is solved by Sling , ling , gin , in . Return to description...
31 minute read
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10
10
The charade— is solved by Pleasure . Return to description...
18 minute read
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11
11
The answer to the problem— Six horse ’buses and four motor ’buses travel each hour from Temple Bar to the Bank. The horses take 15 minutes, and the motors 10 minutes on the journey. If I come to Temple Bar, and wish to reach the Bank as soon as possible, shall I take the first horse ’bus that turns up, or wait for a motor? It must be assumed that I can only see a ’bus as it actually passes me— is (1) Take a motor if it comes first. is (2) Take a horse ’bus if it comes first, and comes within 2 1
1 minute read
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12
12
The historical charade— is solved by Stephen (Step-hen). Return to description...
32 minute read
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14
14
Lewis Carroll turns WHEAT into BREAD, changing one letter each time, and preserving their general order throughout, thus— WHEAT; cheat; cheap; cheep; creep; creed; breed; BREAD. Return to description...
9 minute read
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15
15
Unity is a probable solution of the old enigma, part of which evidently refers to “a house divided against itself”— Return to description...
26 minute read
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16
16
The anagram proverbs, “These grave lips chatter no ill,” and “Elephants, all to richest giver,” are both founded on Little pitchers have long ears , and spelt with exactly the same letters. Return to description...
10 minute read
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17
17
The charade— is solved by Pertinacity . Return to description...
13 minute read
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18
18
The buried potentate in the lines— is King Edward . Return to description...
44 minute read
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19
19
The charade— is solved by Clovis ( vis in Latin is both power and you wish ). Return to description...
31 minute read
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21
21
The puzzle— is solved by the word Enigma, from which are formed, as is indicated, the words aim , men , game , man , mine , gain , gem , and amen . Return to description...
39 minute read
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22
22
The enigma— Old Couplet . is solved by Dog (Og, go, dog, God). Return to description...
31 minute read
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23
23
The logograph— is solved by Stable , table , able . Return to description...
21 minute read
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24
24
The names that satisfy the conditions of this Single Acrostic— are Kennet , Ness , Otter , Xagua , which give Knox . Return to description...
38 minute read
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25
25
The charade— is solved by Madam ( ma , dam , mad , Adam , Ada ). Return to description...
28 minute read
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26
26
In addition to the singularly appropriate anagram that has been so happily attached to the name of Florence Nightingale, Flit on, cheering angel , the same group of letters can be recast as an aspiration for her continuance in our loving memory, so that they form the sentence, Cling on, feeling heart . Return to description...
16 minute read
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27
27
The rebus— I am a man I rate you a beast You know me reads thus:—I rate you lower than a man, above a beast. Know between you and me I am above the rest. Return to description...
11 minute read
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28
28
The charade— is solved by Scissors (Lat. scis , thou knowest; sors , a lot). Return to description...
21 minute read
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29
29
The poets’ names buried in the lines— are Gray, Moore, Byron, Pope, Dryden, Gay, Keats and Hemans. Return to description...
26 minute read
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30
30
The enigma— is solved by the letter n ( me becomes men ; one , none ; a sty , nasty .) Return to description...
20 minute read
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31
31
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
20 minute read
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32
32
The charade— is solved by Within (Swithin). Return to description...
21 minute read
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33
33
The puzzle lines— are solved by Pardon (rap-nod). Return to description...
15 minute read
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34
34
The enigma— is solved by Vixen . Return to description...
15 minute read
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35
35
The buried proverb— I fancy this Tory outcry, this weary outrageous attempt to show illegality, is as a cat chasing snow-flakes. I must be forgiven if I shun his example—is— If you swear you will catch no fish . Return to description...
12 minute read
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36
36
The six words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
19 minute read
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38
38
The lover’s vow— is solved by Endless . Return to description...
14 minute read
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39
39
The enigma— is solved by U, You, Hugh, Yew, How. Return to description...
22 minute read
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40
40
If you “resist disasters,” this may, by anagram, distress a sister . Return to description...
5 minute read
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41
41
The charade— is solved by Archæology . Return to description...
17 minute read
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42
42
If you ask a schoolboy to estimate the value of the grass in a triangular field, of which the longest side measures 100 rods, and each of the other sides 50 rods, at £1 per acre, it may take him some little time to see that he is being sold, since the condition is not fulfilled that any two sides of a triangle must be greater than the third side . Return to description...
21 minute read
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44
44
The historical charade— is solved by the battle of Drumclog . Return to description...
22 minute read
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45
45
The five words in italics are spelt with the same seven letters. Return to description...
25 minute read
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46
46
The Arithmorem “150 hat robe or tent” forms the name Charlotte Bronte. Return to description...
4 minute read
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47
47
The Shedding Letters enigma— is solved by The Postman ! Return to description...
31 minute read
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48
48
When Tom Larkins challenged his sisters to prove on a blackboard that if 50 is subtracted from the sum of the nine digits the result equals the number obtained by dividing their sum by 3, he showed them that the sum of the digits may be written thus: XLV, and that if the L, which represents 50, is removed, XV, or 15, the third of 45, remains. Return to description...
19 minute read
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49
49
In the “Geese to Market” problem— B bought 25 geese at 5s. each, and proposed to sell 20 of them at 6s. 3d. Return to description...
40 minute read
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50
50
The charade— is solved by Herring . Return to description...
18 minute read
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51
51
In the lines— the familiar adage, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home” is buried. Return to description...
18 minute read
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52
52
The mutilations in— are Fox , ox , o , x . Return to description...
20 minute read
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54
54
The old Sanscrit problem, quoted by Longfellow in his “Kavanagh,” Ten times the square root of a flock of geese, seeing the clouds collect, flew to the Manus lake. One-eighth of the whole flew from the edge of the water among a tangle of water lilies, and three couple were seen playing in the water. Tell me, my young girl with beautiful locks, what was the whole number of geese? is solved by 144. Return to description...
21 minute read
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55
55
The enigma— is solved by turning the sixes of 660 upside down, when it becomes 990, and satisfies the conditions. Return to description...
20 minute read
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58
58
If I have 91 bananas on my barrow, and find, when I have sold one quality at four a penny, and the other at three a penny, that in mixed lots at seven for twopence I should have made a penny more, I had 64 of inferior and 27 of better sort. Return to description...
15 minute read
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59
59
The words in italics have the same letters— Return to description...
22 minute read
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60
60
is solved by Cheque , check (the letter Q). Return to description...
19 minute read
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61
61
The three towns buried in the lines— are Leith , Thebes , St Ives . Return to description...
16 minute read
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63
63
The charade— is solved by Dietary (Amsterdam is on the River Y). Return to description...
20 minute read
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64
64
The schoolboy who calculated that if he had made as many more runs at a cricket match, and half as many more, and two runs and a half, he would have made a score, scored seven runs. Return to description...
11 minute read
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65
65
The enigma— is solved by United , untied . Return to description...
15 minute read
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66
66
The riddle— is solved by Shackle , Tons , Ant , Arctic Expedition . [Lieutenant Ernest H. Shackleton, R.N., leader of his South Polar Expedition.] Return to description...
21 minute read
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67
67
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
21 minute read
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68
68
When Edwin and Angelina received these mutual Marconigrams— “No fickle girl is bonnie to my mind.” “In love inconstant I no pleasure find,” he was at Lisbon and she was at Constantinople, as is indicated by the fact that the names of these places are “buried” in the messages. Return to description...
15 minute read
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69
69
The Mental Arithmetic— is solved by 1.25. In 1 1 ⁄ 4 the figures are not in a line . Return to description...
18 minute read
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70
70
The doublet by missing words, in which a grilse is turned into a salmon, is solved thus— One letter is changed in each link. Return to description...
21 minute read
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71
71
The enigma— is solved by Road , which spells also Dora . Return to description...
16 minute read
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72
72
The Letters— HAATTCEUMSSSS form the name of the State Massachusetts . Return to description...
5 minute read
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73
73
The enigma— is solved by There : the words are— there , here , her , the , ere , he , re . Return to description...
22 minute read
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74
74
The full solution of the answer by anagram to the question, “Why is every angler ipso facto an Ananias?” is— A liar, he spins gay fancies to a woven yarn. Question and answer are spelt with the same letters . Return to description...
13 minute read
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75
75
The quaint riddle— is solved thus—It would be Askewer (a skewer!) Return to description...
21 minute read
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76
76
“S” is the missing letter which occurs 55 times, and these are the four lines:— Return to description...
17 minute read
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77
77
The enigma— is solved by Patent , paten , pate , pat . Return to description...
15 minute read
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78
78
The logogriph— is solved by feasting , fasting , sting , tin , in . Return to description...
40 minute read
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79
79
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
16 minute read
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80
80
The enigma— is solved by Coat . Return to description...
18 minute read
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81
81
The charade— is solved by Lethe . Return to description...
10 minute read
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82
82
The two palindrome words which can be formed from the letters of the sentence “Arrive to vote at it,” are Rotator and Evitative . Return to description...
9 minute read
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83
83
The enigma— is solved by Clover , lover , over , ver (Latin for Spring). Return to description...
20 minute read
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84
84
When Tommy undertook to put a shilling in his money-box if his father would give him as much as he had in his purse, and after repeating the process for three more days found himself penniless, he had elevenpence farthing in his purse at first. Return to description...
13 minute read
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85
85
is solved by Theatres ( tres , Latin for three ). Return to description...
15 minute read
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86
86
When young Hopeful said, “If it were possible I should choose a life double as long,” and old Sobersides answered, “Yes, and you might turn it to better account if it was also begun old,” and the fact that their actual words “double as long,” and “also begun old,” were spelt with exactly the same letters , gave emphasis to the reply. Return to description...
18 minute read
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87
87
The charade— is solved by Drama , ram , a dram . Return to description...
26 minute read
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88
88
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
10 minute read
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89
89
The proof by anagram that the words of commendation “blessed in pain,” are properly applied to anæsthetics, is that exactly the same letters spell indispensable . Return to description...
8 minute read
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90
90
The quotation buried in the sentence— “What sin was it, sonny?” said an American negress to her lover, when she sat on his best hat, which was flattened. Wearily he heard her musical laugh, and arose to go. His hobby was botany, but not hers, for she was then a merry girl. “Bother the flowers! I would prefer this mellow pineapple, Leonidas,” she said; “I guess we Ethiopians just love fruit!” is “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Return to descri
26 minute read
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91
91
The words in italics are spelt with the same four letters. Return to description...
16 minute read
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92
92
...... The words in italics have the same six letters. Return to description...
30 minute read
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93
93
The charade— is solved by Punchestown . Return to description...
21 minute read
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94
94
The enigma— is solved by Entrance . Return to description...
12 minute read
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95
95
The two sentences— A lamp shines out for thee, Win me best by tears, are anagrams of The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey . Return to description...
10 minute read
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96
96
When on the Brighton beach an excited collie in pursuit of stones thrown into the sea, suggested the riddle, “What is the difference between that dog and a hungry man?” The appropriate answer was, “The one stops and shakes himself; the other chops and steaks himself!” Return to description...
13 minute read
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97
97
The hidden animal in— is Rhinoceros . Return to description...
25 minute read
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98
98
The smart enigma— is solved by A Fox . Return to description...
15 minute read
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99
99
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters, the t being repeated in toast . Return to description...
21 minute read
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100
100
The pied proverb is “Fine words butter no parsnips.” Return to description...
3 minute read
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101
101
The puzzle verse— is solved by Badinage (bad in age). Return to description...
16 minute read
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102
102
The hero’s name, hidden in— is General Wolfe . Return to description...
46 minute read
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103
103
Here is the sentence given with its appropriate and perfect anagram— A defeat whose test is very sure. Sweet are the uses of adversity. Return to description...
9 minute read
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104
104
The phonetic missing words are given in italics:— Return to description...
19 minute read
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105
105
The queer obstacle— is A turnstile . Return to description...
15 minute read
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106
106
The old enigma— is solved thus— Return to description...
26 minute read
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107
107
The phonetic gaps are filled thus— Return to description...
18 minute read
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109
109
The cryptogram— is solved by inserting the letter “I” throughout, when this rhyming couplet is formed— Return to description...
15 minute read
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110
110
The buried proverb in— is ’Tis a long lane that has no turning . Return to description...
18 minute read
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111
111
Lewis Carroll’s doublet, which changes ELM into OAK by seven links, introducing the name of another tree as one of them, is solved thus by him— ELM, ELL, ALL, AIL, AIR, FIR, FAR, OAR, OAK. A shorter solution is by these six links— Ely , sly , say , bay , bat , oat ; and one of these ( bay ) is also a tree, as was fir , so that the conditions given are fulfilled. Return to description...
24 minute read
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112
112
is solved by attendance . is solved by satiate . Return to description...
23 minute read
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113
113
The charade— is solved by Artisan , strain , train , rain . Return to description...
24 minute read
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114
114
The lines by an old Oxbridge don— can be happily met by this retort in the same words, recast by a Girton girl— Return to description...
27 minute read
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115
115
The enigma— is solved by Beautify , Beatify . Return to description...
12 minute read
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116
116
The beasts buried in the lines— Ireland’s lot heals slowly. Troubles came long ago—at times in battalions—to attack and harass her. Ambitious democrats now countermine famous enthusiasts nearly akin to heroes. Anarchy enables cowards to sow hot terror and all amazement, are— eland, sloth, camel, goat, bat, lion, stoat, ass, ram, fat, ermine, mouse, yak, roe, hyena, cow, sow, otter and llama. Return to description...
18 minute read
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117
117
This is the palindrome verse that reads and rhymes from either end— Return to description...
14 minute read
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118
118
The anagram recast from “The Observatory at Greenwich in England” is completed thus— On landing here begin to watch every star. Return to description...
7 minute read
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119
119
The enigma— is solved by Nemo , omen , o men . Return to description...
15 minute read
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120
120
The question— is solved thus— FOWL IS FARE. Return to description...
22 minute read
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121
121
The enigma— is solved by There . Return to description...
15 minute read
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122
122
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
16 minute read
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123
123
A Mr Harwood had two daughters by his first wife, the elder of these was married to John Coshick. This Coshick had a daughter by his first wife, whom old Harwood married. Thus Harwood’s daughter could say— Return to description...
21 minute read
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124
124
The charade— is solved by Catchword . Return to description...
12 minute read
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125
125
The paradox— is solved by the fact that the lines apply to the large and small wheels of a bicycle. Return to description...
23 minute read
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126
126
The enigma from Lewis Carroll’s Papers— is solved by Tablet . Return to description...
21 minute read
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127
127
The charade— is solved by Halfpenny . Return to description...
17 minute read
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129
129
The towns buried in the sentences— are Lewes , Louth , Deal , Bath and Neath . Return to description...
23 minute read
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130
130
The anagram on “The leaning tower of Pisa, in Tuscany, Italy,” is completed thus— A funny spot in a sweet city; I o’erhang it all . Return to description...
9 minute read
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131
131
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
19 minute read
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132
132
The charade— is solved by Flambeau . Return to description...
12 minute read
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133
133
If we adopt the old spelling of the final word, we can prove by anagram that Bacon had no hand at anyrate in Shakespeare’s play “Much Ado About Nothinge,” for the same letters exactly spell “ Bacon? O, naught due to him! ” Return to description...
13 minute read
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134
134
is solved by Left , felt , let . Return to description...
20 minute read
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135
135
“Insanitary” and “sanitary reform” are very happily recast by anagram thus— In nasty air; Former air nasty . Return to description...
6 minute read
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136
136
The charade— is solved by Cutlet . Return to description...
13 minute read
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137
137
These are the completed lines— It will be seen that “a” was the only missing letter. Return to description...
24 minute read
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138
138
The charade— is solved by Honey (honey-moon; hone; Ney; one). Return to description...
23 minute read
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139
139
The enigma— is solved by Attenuate :—at ten, u, Ate, goddess of Revenge. Return to description...
15 minute read
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140
140
The charade— is solved by Overcomes . Return to description...
14 minute read
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141
141
The cryptogram which was sent as a reliable tip before a race in which Petronel was to run— is deciphered thus— Take every third letter, and you arrive at Lenortepnoteb. Read this backwards, and you have the tip, “Bet on Petronel!” Return to description...
19 minute read
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142
142
The enigma— is solved by Nothing . Return to description...
16 minute read
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143
143
The broken sentence— A sed end ought eat ease ain. is thus filled in to describe a curse and to proclaim its cure— A cursed fiend brought death, disease and pain; A blessed friend brought breath and ease again. Return to description...
16 minute read
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144
144
The charade— is solved by Capacity . Return to description...
12 minute read
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145
145
The four rivers buried in the sentence— The deaf and dumb girl began gesticulating with a message, and her delivery was ever neat, with graceful pose in every attitude. are Ganges , Thames , Severn and Seine . Return to description...
14 minute read
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146
146
If the “shingle” on the Brighton beach could speak, it might boast by anagram, “I am English !” Return to description...
6 minute read
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147
147
The enigma— is solved by adding an a to her , which becomes hear . Return to description...
16 minute read
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148
148
The missing words in the “Plaint of the Rejected” are— The R.A. , hater , heart , earth , Herat . Return to description...
8 minute read
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149
149
The man who could attach a phonetic meaning to the words “Beta in Greek means letter B,” could in another fashion invite others to beat his wife by merely calling them and saying, “ Hither! ” (hit her). Return to description...
11 minute read
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150
150
The rebus— is solved thus—Who follows me under an umbrella, with overalls all over mud, after a thunderstorm? Return to description...
6 minute read
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151
151
This is the completed palindrome:— Nor I nor Emma had level’d a hammer on iron. It reads alike from either end. Return to description...
8 minute read
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152
152
The tutor came to the conclusion that there is nothing in Ecclesiastical Law to prevent the Pope from burying the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the undergraduate who had proposed the question demurred to this reply; pressed for his reason he said, as his face broke into a smile, “He cannot do so, because the Archbishop is not dead !” Return to description...
17 minute read
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153
153
The proverb buried in the sentence, “While there are very many as kind as this, they know no task unkind,” is, “ Let every man skin his own skunk .” Return to description...
9 minute read
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154
154
is solved by Heather (he, at her). Return to description...
14 minute read
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155
155
The quotation from Shakespeare buried in— Strange weather! What could equal it? Yesterday sunshine and soft breezes, to-day a summer cyclone raging noisily; then other changes, as floods of fiercest rain eddy beneath the blast. is “The quality of mercy is not strained.” Return to description...
13 minute read
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156
156
The beetroot palindrome, which reads alike from either end is— RED ROOT PUT UP TO ORDER Return to description...
6 minute read
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157
157
is solved by Missionaries . Return to description...
20 minute read
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158
158
The words written on the walls of a Western college gained their ambiguous sense from the three final words, printed in italics—“Young women should set a good example, for young men will follow them !” Return to description...
11 minute read
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159
159
The enigma— is solved by Note . Return to description...
17 minute read
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161
161
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
22 minute read
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162
162
The date of the new organ given by the English is concealed in the lines of this inscription above its keyboard at Ober Ammergau— QVI CHRISTI LAVDES CANTANT SANCTÆ PASSIONIS SVÆ VIRTVTE IN IPSO ET PATRE VNVM SINT. If the Roman numerals that occur in the words are added together, they amount to 1894, the date of its completion. Return to description...
19 minute read
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163
163
is solved by Stael , least . Return to description...
14 minute read
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164
164
The French charade— is solved by Mari-age . Return to description...
12 minute read
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165
165
The charade— is solved by Current . Return to description...
15 minute read
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167
167
The enigma— is solved by the letters me . Return to description...
13 minute read
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168
168
When Tom declared that he could give his sister quite a simple sentence of seven common English words of one syllable, which she could not produce on her typewriter, he had in his mind, “We can spell (to, too, two) in three ways,” which cannot, of course, be expressed in seven written words. Return to description...
15 minute read
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169
169
The French charade— is solved by Mariage . Return to description...
17 minute read
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170
170
Sydney Smith’s conclusion as to the value and satisfaction of a City dinner was completed thus:—“I cannot wholly value a dinner by the test you do !” (Turtle, in Latin, testudo ). Return to description...
10 minute read
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171
171
DEAN SWIFT’S ENIGMA— is solved by A Goose-quill . Return to description...
1 minute read
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172
172
The answer to the riddle propounded by the possessor of a new Keen Kut razor to his friend whose chin was disfigured by scars, “What is the difference between my razor and yours?” is—“Mine cuts thoroughly; yours also cuts, tho’ roughly!” Return to description...
12 minute read
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173
173
The decapitated words are in italics— The ern, or erne, is the sea-eagle. Return to description...
30 minute read
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175
175
is solved by vote , veto . Return to description...
14 minute read
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176
176
The lines to an owl are filled in thus— The vowel “o” occurs forty-six times in the six lines. Return to description...
23 minute read
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177
177
In the Army anagram— the words in italics spell also soldier , colonel , general , captain , and lieutenant . Return to description...
36 minute read
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178
178
is solved by Anemone , the wind flower (name, mean, anem, one, o, ne). Return to description...
25 minute read
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179
179
The anagram enigma— is solved by snowbound , which contains exactly the same letters as “no buds now.” Return to description...
16 minute read
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180
180
The question of time— is solved by a quarter to four . Return to description...
16 minute read
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181
181
The Donkey drive— is solved by Ass-ass-in . Return to description...
15 minute read
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182
182
The “Eating by Alphabet” enigma— is solved by A past Y (a pasty). Return to description...
19 minute read
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183
183
The charade— is solved by Buskin . Return to description...
13 minute read
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184
184
The sentence— Behest on thy lips, Society; forms an Anagram of the proverb “Honesty is the best policy.” Return to description...
7 minute read
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185
185
This sentence, fashioned by eight schoolboys as anagrams on their Christian names, arranged in order— “I thy Tom am sober and lie or live in dew, but her brain sinned”— reveals, when deciphered, the names Timothy, Ambrose, Daniel, Oliver, Edwin, Hubert, Brian and Dennis. Return to description...
13 minute read
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186
186
The enigma— is solved by Fright . Return to description...
13 minute read
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187
187
The double acrostic— From “Punch,” 1875. is solved M. P. P. M. Return to description...
24 minute read
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188
188
A man in a rage should go to a “shooting gallery,” because by its Anagram it is largely soothing . Return to description...
7 minute read
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189
189
The beatitude— is solved by A Queen Bee . The Bee is made up of the letter b (let her be), in Greek called Beta (beat her), and two little e ’s (ease). Return to description...
21 minute read
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190
190
The puzzle-lines— are cleared up by Satisfactory . Return to description...
17 minute read
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191
191
The English proverb which is concealed under its anagram— “I dare not admit faint women,” is Time and tide wait for no man . Return to description...
9 minute read
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192
192
The charade— is solved by Asbestos ( os is Latin for mouth ). Return to description...
18 minute read
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193
193
The four words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
17 minute read
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194
194
That which is found in the centre of Australia and of America, and in no other place, is the letter “r” (no othe r place). Return to description...
8 minute read
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195
195
Grandfather’s riddle, “Do you know why is the fourth of July?” is solved by the fact that the fourth letter of that word is y! Return to description...
8 minute read
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196
196
is solved by Nightingale . Return to description...
15 minute read
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197
197
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
12 minute read
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198
198
The enigma— is solved by Comfortable . Return to description...
13 minute read
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199
199
The charade— is solved by Wheel , heel , eel . Return to description...
16 minute read
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200
200
The anagram sentences are recast thus into single words— See a pug dog. Red paper. Pedagogues. Prepared. Fat reward. Afterward. Stay, O morn. Set on a dish. Astronomy. Astonished. Return to description...
12 minute read
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201
201
The enigma— is solved by Do-do . Return to description...
17 minute read
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202
202
The paradox— is solved by the word heard . Return to description...
14 minute read
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203
203
The enigma— is solved by Incomplete . Return to description...
14 minute read
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204
204
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
23 minute read
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205
205
is solved by Two in the shade! Return to description...
14 minute read
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206
206
The puzzle— is solved by Love . Return to description...
14 minute read
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207
207
The missing words are in italics— Return to description...
10 minute read
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208
208
Read backwards it becomes— Prosperity and peace; no barns empty; bills long paid; not high rents; berries bright; no birds hungry; merry Christmas comes. Return to description...
8 minute read
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209
209
The anagram plants concealed in the sentence—O rise love it lad never let this lamb chase trains, are: Osier, violet, lavender, thistle, balm, china asters. Return to description...
8 minute read
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210
210
The enigma— is solved by Sinecure . Return to description...
15 minute read
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211
211
The paradox— is solved by TIT. Return to description...
15 minute read
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212
212
The charade— is solved by I.O.U. Return to description...
18 minute read
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213
213
When Funniboy wrote from Naples to his friend, “Next week I am going ‘to plant onions, etc.,’” it was an intimation by anagram that he was bound for Constantinople. Return to description...
9 minute read
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215
215
The enigma— is solved by Thymy ( thy , my ). Return to description...
15 minute read
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216
216
This is the completed palindrome— REPEL EVIL AS A LIVE LEPER, which reads alike from either end. Return to description...
6 minute read
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217
217
When Tom Pickles’s father tried with a lusty puff to blow the small cork into the bottle, the sudden compression of the air inside, followed by its expansion, drove the cork in an unexpected direction, so that it flew out and struck him sharply on the mouth. Return to description...
14 minute read
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218
218
Acorns are as strong as oaken posts when they propagate (prop-a-gate). Return to description...
5 minute read
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219
219
The completed palindrome runs thus— “Put it up but not on tub, put it up but not on tub, put it up,” which reads alike from either end. Return to description...
9 minute read
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220
220
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
26 minute read
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221
221
The two long words used recently by a politician which can be recast by anagram to form the sentence, “Axiomatic intelligence, or dust” are— TERMINOLOGICAL INEXACTITUDES. Return to description...
8 minute read
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222
222
is solved by Palate (Até, goddess of fate). Return to description...
22 minute read
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223
223
The sentence “Woman without her man would be helpless” takes on a distinct meaning if the words “without her” are read together, and a comma is placed after “woman.” Thus—“Woman, without her man would be helpless.” Return to description...
11 minute read
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224
224
The short sentences are recast into single words thus— A moment’s cure. The old rocks. Commensurate. Stockholder. Cod is nice. It lures a cat. Coincides. Articulates. Return to description...
11 minute read
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225
225
The enigma— is solved by Hearth , earth , heart (transpose eat to ate ). Return to description...
21 minute read
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226
226
Here is a metrical account of the anagram which, with some exaggeration, proclaims that Sims Reeves was often prevented from singing by his delicate throat— Return to description...
21 minute read
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227
227
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
12 minute read
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228
228
This is the completed palindrome— I maniac lived, a devil Cain am I. Return to description...
5 minute read
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229
229
The lines— contain in anagram and in proper order the fruits tamarinds , gooseberries , and the flowers magnolia , daisy , lobelia . Return to description...
16 minute read
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230
230
These are the anagrams— Now one old fort Tower of London . Rabid owl Wild Boar . Return to description...
9 minute read
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233
is solved by A’blowing (n-a-g). Return to description...
26 minute read
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234
234
The proverb buried in the sentence— Society—how her enthusiasts worship at her Juggernaut car. Cases exist here, proving how illogical are these eagle-sighted, place-hunting beings, scoffing at hereditary position, yet striving to get her smile. is “Where the carcase is there will the eagles be gathered together.” Return to description...
14 minute read
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235
235
The answer by anagram to—What should we put on a bird’s tail to catch it without a steel-trap ? is Saltpetre . Return to description...
8 minute read
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236
236
The charade— is solved by Season . Return to description...
41 minute read
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237
237
The sequel to the Arab and his ass runs thus— Return to description...
31 minute read
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238
238
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
26 minute read
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239
239
The answer by anagram to “Where can you be ‘in a stone-pine garden’?” is Pontresina, Engadine . Return to description...
6 minute read
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240
240
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters— Return to description...
13 minute read
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241
241
According to its anagram, the bodily discomfort which follows an ague-fit is fatigue . Return to description...
6 minute read
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242
242
This is the adjustment of the tangled square— Return to description...
3 minute read
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243
243
The European rivers concealed in the eight anagrams: Set in red robe Henri Le Roi O sell me red pine nerves biter, are Dniester, Ebro, Rhine, Loire, Moselle, Dnieper, Severn, Tiber. Return to description...
9 minute read
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244
244
The palindrome runs thus— STOP ROSE, I PREFER PIES OR POTS. Return to description...
5 minute read
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245
245
“Your food will cost you more!” is the political parrot cry which can be evolved by anagram from— O fool! O musty cry! O lurid woe! Return to description...
9 minute read
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246
246
Sir Robert Peel was the statesman from whose name a “terrible poser” is formed by anagram. Return to description...
5 minute read
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247
247
The letters of the sentence, “Yea, a glad sun rose red” can be recast into the well-known proverb Delays are dangerous . Return to description...
7 minute read
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248
248
The question, “Has there been a poet of unusual solemnity?” is answered by “ Yes, Milton .” Return to description...
6 minute read
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249
249
The anagram enigma— is solved by Onion (no, no, I). Return to description...
16 minute read
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250
250
When young Biceps, who had been plucked in Euclid declared that he could teach the examiners how to square a circle, this was his tricky method:—A circle may be aptly described as a “copper” or “Brown.” Having at hand your “copper” (P. C. Brown), when he has caught you on his rounds, proceed to square him in the customary way. Return to description...
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251
251
As Biceps could not tell how to extract a circle from a square, his friend gave him the following solution: “Let the given square be Sloane Square; find the Inner Circle, and take its lines to any point, at any distance from that square, paying the proper fare. That’s the ticket!” Return to description...
15 minute read
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253
253
The charade— is solved by Denounce (16 ozs. = 1 Pound ). Return to description...
25 minute read
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254
254
The cipher— becomes by the addition of E and O alternately— Return to description...
16 minute read
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255
255
When his brother put “Tim in a pet,” the explanation by anagram is that he was impatient . Return to description...
6 minute read
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256
256
The missing words are in italics. Return to description...
22 minute read
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257
257
The charade— is solved by Void . Return to description...
19 minute read
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258
258
In the words spoken in the hay-field to a thirsty toiler, “Mower, I will tap the cask!” are concealed by anagram the poet and his poem— William Cowper, The task. Return to description...
9 minute read
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259
259
The charade— is solved by Important . Return to description...
17 minute read
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260
260
To be aaaaaaaaaa tCrIiOfUlSes standing is the mark of a mean is solved by To be tenacious in the midst of trifles is the mark of a mean understanding . Return to description...
11 minute read
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261
261
The letters which spell RED NUTS AND GIN can be recast to form the one word UNDERSTANDING . Return to description...
7 minute read
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262
262
The novel by Charles Dickens hidden in the pied letters— CDEHHIILOOOPRSSTTUY is The Old Curiosity Shop . Return to description...
6 minute read
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263
263
The words in italics have the same six letters. Return to description...
16 minute read
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264
264
The charade— is solved by Nameless . Return to description...
15 minute read
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265
265
When one of the children said, “If father gives us a new dog it will wake the lazy ones”—the words pointed to Susan and Ethel, whose names are buried in the sentence. Return to description...
10 minute read
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266
266
The cipher— NGOTRDSREAOHR ETNSVEENUDOEO is solved by starting with last letter of the second line, followed by the first letter of the first line, and so on throughout, taking always the last and first unused letters alternately, and forming thus the proverb “ One good turn deserves another! ” Return to description...
15 minute read
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267
267
The enigma— is solved by Lot’s wife . Return to description...
15 minute read
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268
268
The question— How might an oyster, if it could speak and knew that unda is Latin for wave or water, complain in similar phonetic iteration when disturbed by thunder under unda? is answered thus— He could exclaim, “a noise annoys an oyster!” Return to description...
13 minute read
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269
269
The words in italics have the same five letters— Return to description...
21 minute read
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270
270
The girls’ names shown by anagram in the sentence—“Bad hero set by thy door hurt me ma. Army may get ruder daily,” are Deborah, Betsy, Dorothy, Ruth, Emma, Mary, Amy, Gertrude, Lydia. Return to description...
9 minute read
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271
271
The anagram is completed thus— “Lord Beaconsfield’s statue.” True as old Ben’s stolid face! Return to description...
7 minute read
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272
272
The Shakespeare anagrams— The tub sold has old rough shelves. And e’en this fisherman caught best white smelts. A living lord’s black dress, worn high, I vow! are formed, letter for letter and line for line, from this passage in “Romeo and Juliet”— “Love’s heralds should be thoughts, Which ten times faster glide than the sun’s beams, Driving black shadows over low’ring hills.” Return to description...
21 minute read
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273
273
The words in italics are spelt with the same six letters. Return to description...
18 minute read
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274
274
The Puzzle acrostic— is solved thus— Return to description...
46 minute read
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275
275
One letter is dropped each time. Return to description...
16 minute read
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276
276
In the doublets puzzle HARE is made into SOUP by the following six links, changing one letter each time, and preserving their order— HARE, hark, hack, sack, sock, soak, soap, SOUP. Return to description...
10 minute read
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277
277
The enigma— is solved by Epigram . Return to description...
15 minute read
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278
278
If a “newspaper” could speak, it might say by anagram of the general work of its staff, We pen pars . Return to description...
7 minute read
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279
279
The positive quantity 1011 is turned into a negative thus:— NO. Return to description...
4 minute read
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280
280
The one word formed by anagram from “O, I’m man’s trial” is Matrimonials . Return to description...
5 minute read
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281
281
The rebus— EEE and xxx URXXI XXX and eee. is solved by “Great ease and small crosses before you are twenty-one, great crosses and little ease after that.” Return to description...
9 minute read
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282
282
The answer to the riddle “Why may not the owner of a pine forest fell his timber?” is—Because no one is allowed to cut when it is his own deal . Return to description...
10 minute read
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283
283
The words in italics are spelt with the same letters. Return to description...
14 minute read
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284
284
In the doublet, as solved by Lewis Carroll, ARMY is changed into NAVY with seven links, and preserving the sequence while changing a letter every time—thus: ARMY, arms, aims, dims, dams, dame, name, nave, NAVY. Return to description...
10 minute read
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285
285
The anagram puzzle— is solved by Unexceptionably , which contains exactly the same letters. Return to description...
12 minute read
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286
286
The answer to the strange riddle, “When is an onion like music?” is “ When you find it smell odious! ” (it’s melodious). Return to description...
7 minute read
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287
287
The bitter cry of Christianity is, by its anagram: I cry that I sin . Return to description...
6 minute read
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288
288
That a Conservative is constant to his cause is shown by the anagram: Not vice versâ . Return to description...
6 minute read
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289
289
As a rule Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall upon the same day of the week, but they will not fall upon the same day of the week in 1910 (or indeed in any year), because the New Year’s Day must be after the Christmas Day to fulfil the conditions! Return to description...
15 minute read
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292
292
is solved by Needles , needless . Return to description...
23 minute read
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293
293
is solved by Clock , lock . Return to description...
55 minute read
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295
295
Mark Lemon’s charade— is solved by Barrow . Return to description...
19 minute read
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296
296
is solved by Clover , lover , over , clove , love , cover , cove . Return to description...
57 minute read
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304
304
Praed’s charade— is solved by Cambridge . Return to description...
1 minute read
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314
314
is solved by Horsemanship . Return to description...
22 minute read
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315
315
It is a fact that neither melons nor lemons grew on elms . The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
9 minute read
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316
316
The completed palindrome, which reads alike from either end, is— DRAW NO DRAY A YARD ONWARD. Return to description...
6 minute read
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324
324
is solved by Train , rain , ain , in . Return to description...
24 minute read
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327
327
The Chess charade— is solved by Boden . Return to description...
29 minute read
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329
329
is solved by An umbrella . Return to description...
43 minute read
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331
331
Fox’s enigma— is solved by Glass , lass , ass . Return to description...
26 minute read
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333
333
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
20 minute read
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335
335
is solved by Gnat , tang , ant . Return to description...
19 minute read
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336
336
is solved by The figure 8. Return to description...
23 minute read
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342
342
is solved by Chine , niche , chin , inch . Return to description...
31 minute read
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343
343
is solved by Hatred , hat red , dearth , thread . Return to description...
25 minute read
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344
344
is solved by Within , Swithin . Return to description...
15 minute read
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345
345
After officers’ mess, when cigars were well alight, the old conundrum was propounded, “What is most like a cornet of horse?” A sharp sub. was ready with the reply, “A hornet, of course”; it was presently capped by this variant which occurred to a married captain, “a corset of horn”; and yet another reading was suggested by the deaf old colonel, “How much did you say the ‘horse ate of corn’?” Return to description...
20 minute read
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346
346
is solved by Venice (Ven us changes to Ven ice ). Return to description...
14 minute read
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347
347
The very prosaic reply to the dainty lines— is: Because they are leg ends (legends)! Return to description...
12 minute read
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348
348
The words in italics have the same letters. Return to description...
18 minute read
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349
349
is solved by The letter E . Return to description...
12 minute read
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351
351
The geographical names buried in the sentences— He has my R.N. as a monogram on all his paper. I am her stupid sister. The calmest man is sometimes made irate— are Smyrna; Amherst; and Madeira. Return to description...
12 minute read
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353
353
is solved by A spider’s web . Return to description...
20 minute read
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357
357
is solved by trifle , flirt . Return to description...
20 minute read
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359
359
The Rebus—“We westand fall,”—is solved by United we stand, divided we fall . Return to description...
5 minute read
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360
360
is solved by Counterfoil . Return to description...
31 minute read
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1
1
Here is both the sum without figures, and its counterpart in numbers:— Image The key sentence is: DON’T GIVE UP, the letters of which correspond to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0. Return to description...
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2
2
When I shot only birds and rabbits, and my bag at the end of the day showed 36 heads and 100 feet, I had killed 22 birds and 14 rabbits. Return to description...
9 minute read
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3
3
There are no fewer than 40 distinct readings of the four words which form the square— Image DELF and FLED have each four straight readings, while EVIL and LIVE can each be traced in 16 different ways, and the four words run straight from every side of the square. Return to description...
15 minute read
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5
5
When a man gave a sovereign to his son to be spent on presents of different values for him and his three sisters, each to cost an aliquot part of the pound, and each to be as good as possible; and told him to give the change to the Fresh Air Fund, the presents cost 1 ⁄ 3 , 1 ⁄ 4 , 1 ⁄ 5 , 1 ⁄ 6 of a pound respectively, or 6s. 8d., 5s., 4s., and 3s. 4d., and there was a shilling over for the Fresh Air Fund. Return to description...
28 minute read
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6
6
This is the complete word-square— Image Return to description...
3 minute read
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7
7
The key word to the addition sum is REPUBLICAN. It works out thus— Image Return to description...
32 minute read
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8
8
The word square is completed thus— Image Return to description...
3 minute read
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9
9
The product of the first twelve prime numbers, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, can be written down by using no figures but 0, 1, 2, and 3, and of these 2 and 3 once only, thus— 10 × 1001 × 2001 × 10013:— or 10 = 1 × 2 × 5 1001 = 7 × 11 × 13 2001 = 3 × 23 × 29 10013 = 17 × 19 × 31 Return to description...
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10
10
The question— is answered by—Collars, 2d. Cuffs, 3d. Return to description...
18 minute read
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11
11
The word square is completed thus— Image Return to description...
3 minute read
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12
12
To remove the table-napkin on a corner of which a wine-glass full of water stands near the edge of a polished table, take hold with the left hand of the part that hangs over the edge and raise it to a horizontal position. Then strike hard downward with the right hand, at about six inches from the table, and the cloth will come away, leaving the wineglass altogether undisturbed—an illustration of what is known as the vis inertiæ . Return to description...
22 minute read
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13
13
My third and fourth are a quarter of my first and second; my fourth is half of them, and my third is half. What am I? is solved by Twopence-half-penny . Return to description...
10 minute read
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14
14
The London firm who had sent a telegram to Paris for 480 sets of Diabolo, and received to their surprise a huge consignment of 6336 sets, had worded their order thus: “Send us twenty two-dozen cases of Diabolo,” knowing that they were put up two dozen in a case. The wholesale firm read the order as twenty-two dozen cases— i.e. , 264 cases of 24 in a case! Return to description...
19 minute read
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16
16
When Mrs Evergreen said: “My husband’s age is represented by the figures of mine reversed; he is older than I am, and the difference between our ages is one-eleventh of their sum,” he was 54, and she was 45. Return to description...
12 minute read
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17
17
This is the completed multiplication sum— Image Return to description...
39 minute read
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18
18
is solved by writing 13 in Roman numerals, XIII.; and then drawing a line across their middle, so that the upper half forms VIII. Return to description...
14 minute read
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19
19
I bought fifty-eight plants for my new rosery, when I found that if I set them three in a row there would be one over; if four in a row two over; if five in a row three over; and if six in a row four over. Return to description...
14 minute read
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20
20
Three nines arranged thus represent 20— 9 + 9 ·9 Return to description...
4 minute read
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21
21
If a house has nine windows on its front, as many as 511 signals can be given by merely leaving one or more of them open, including the case in which all are left open. Return to description...
11 minute read
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22
22
The birthday puzzle by Sir John Evans is solved thus— Return to description...
19 minute read
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52
52
This is the way to arrange a strip of paper 9 in. by 2 in. so that it has only one surface and one edge . Gum the ends together with a half twist in the slip. If a continuous line is now drawn along the middle of the band it will traverse the whole length of the paper and finish at its starting point. Again, if a mark is made on the edge, and the finger or a pencil starting from this runs along the edge, it also will return to its starting point. Return to description...
29 minute read
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53
53
To divide nine into two parts which shall be together equal to ten, write IX in bold Roman numerals on a sheet of paper, and fold this across the middle of the figures, thus— IX — IV IɅ This gives a six on one side of the fold and a four upon the other side. Return to description...
17 minute read
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54
54
The shepherd who had folded his flock with 100 hurdles, and whose master bade him the next day use 16 of these to pen some pigs, and to enclose nine times as many sheep with the remaining 84 as the 100 had contained, had originally placed the hurdles in two rows of 49 each, with one hurdle at each end. He made room for nine times as many sheep within 84 hurdles by arranging them in a square, with 21 on every side, thus increasing the area ninefold. Return to description...
25 minute read
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55
55
When you have lifted three hats that cover three biscuits in a row, eaten the biscuits and replaced the hats, you can carry out your undertaking that the three biscuits shall be under whichever hat is selected by solemnly placing that hat upon your head! Return to description...
13 minute read
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56
56
The number of different ways in which 7s. 3d. can be paid away in current coin of the realm, without ever using exactly the same set of coins a second time, is 1,062,102! Return to description PRINTED AT THE MERCAT PRESS, EDINBURGH....
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No. I.—A GOOD SPECIMEN
No. I.—A GOOD SPECIMEN
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No. II—A BORDERED DIAMOND
No. II—A BORDERED DIAMOND
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No. III.—A MULTIFOLD MAGIC SQUARE
No. III.—A MULTIFOLD MAGIC SQUARE
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No. IV.—A MODEL MAGIC SQUARE
No. IV.—A MODEL MAGIC SQUARE
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No. V.—TESSELATED DIAMOND
No. V.—TESSELATED DIAMOND
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No. VI.—MAGIC SQUARE BY MULTIPLICATION
No. VI.—MAGIC SQUARE BY MULTIPLICATION
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No. VII.—ANOTHER BORDERED MAGIC SQUARE
No. VII.—ANOTHER BORDERED MAGIC SQUARE
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No. VIII.—A HARDY ANNUAL
No. VIII.—A HARDY ANNUAL
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No. IX.—ANOTHER “ANNO DOMINI”
No. IX.—ANOTHER “ANNO DOMINI”
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No. X.—A DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
No. X.—A DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
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No. XI.—CHESS AND NUMBERS
No. XI.—CHESS AND NUMBERS
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No. XII.—NUMBERS PATIENCE
No. XII.—NUMBERS PATIENCE
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No. XIV.—A NEST OF RECTANGLES
No. XIV.—A NEST OF RECTANGLES
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No. XV.—ANOTHER DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
No. XV.—ANOTHER DOMINO MAGIC SQUARE
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No. XXXII.—A GOOD LETTER PUZZLE
No. XXXII.—A GOOD LETTER PUZZLE
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No. XXXIII.—ANAGRAM ARITHMETIC
No. XXXIII.—ANAGRAM ARITHMETIC
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No. XXXIV.—A BUNCH OF FLOWERS
No. XXXIV.—A BUNCH OF FLOWERS
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No. XXXV.—ON A BLACKBOARD
No. XXXV.—ON A BLACKBOARD
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No. XXXVI.—SQUARING A DIAMOND
No. XXXVI.—SQUARING A DIAMOND
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No. XXXVIII.—AN ANAGRAM SQUARE
No. XXXVIII.—AN ANAGRAM SQUARE
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No. XXXIX.—ARITHMETIC BY ANAGRAM
No. XXXIX.—ARITHMETIC BY ANAGRAM
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No. XL.—ANAGRAMS SQUARED
No. XL.—ANAGRAMS SQUARED
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No. XLI.—A WORD SQUARE BY ANAGRAM
No. XLI.—A WORD SQUARE BY ANAGRAM
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No. XLII.—QUITE A NOVELTY
No. XLII.—QUITE A NOVELTY
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No. XLIII.—HIDDEN PROVERBS
No. XLIII.—HIDDEN PROVERBS
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No. XLIV.—A CLEVER CRYPTOGRAM
No. XLIV.—A CLEVER CRYPTOGRAM
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No. LXIV.—ARITHMETICAL TRIANGLE
No. LXIV.—ARITHMETICAL TRIANGLE
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No. LXVII.—AN EIGHT-CARD PUZZLE
No. LXVII.—AN EIGHT-CARD PUZZLE
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No. LXVIII.—THOUGHT READING
No. LXVIII.—THOUGHT READING
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No. LXXI.—A PUZZLE WITH CHESS PIECES
No. LXXI.—A PUZZLE WITH CHESS PIECES
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No. LXXXV.—MANY READINGS
No. LXXXV.—MANY READINGS
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No. LXXXVI.—TOLD AT A GLANCE
No. LXXXVI.—TOLD AT A GLANCE
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No. LXXXVIII.—RANGING THE DIGITS
No. LXXXVIII.—RANGING THE DIGITS
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No. LXXXIX.—NO TWO IN A ROW
No. LXXXIX.—NO TWO IN A ROW
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No. XC.—EXACT ALIGNMENT
No. XC.—EXACT ALIGNMENT
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No. XCI.—AT A FANCY BALL
No. XCI.—AT A FANCY BALL
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No. XCII.—PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY IN CELLS
No. XCII.—PROVERBIAL PHILOSOPHY IN CELLS
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No. XCVI.—A NEW CHESS PUZZLE
No. XCVI.—A NEW CHESS PUZZLE
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No. CII.—A KNIGHT’S POETIC TOUR
No. CII.—A KNIGHT’S POETIC TOUR
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No. CIV.—SCORING A CENTURY
No. CIV.—SCORING A CENTURY
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No. CXXI.—DOMINO SQUARE
No. CXXI.—DOMINO SQUARE
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242. A TANGLED SQUARE
242. A TANGLED SQUARE
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274. A PUZZLE ACROSTIC
274. A PUZZLE ACROSTIC
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1. A SUM WITHOUT FIGURES
1. A SUM WITHOUT FIGURES
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3. THE SQUAREST WORD
3. THE SQUAREST WORD
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4. A CROSS PURPOSE
4. A CROSS PURPOSE
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7. VERBAL ARITHMETIC
7. VERBAL ARITHMETIC
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17. MISSING FIGURES
17. MISSING FIGURES
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