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--
[Illustration]
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.
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 as many places _upwards on the left_ as there are _step cards
and their upright_.
[Illustration]
Thus if there are 3 steps, it must always be the fourth card upwards on
the left of the semi-circle. To keep up the puzzle, the number of steps
should each time be changed, on the pretext that their number does not
signify.
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.
[Illustration]
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.
No. CXVII
The sixpence under the middle of the tumbler can be easily removed
thus--
[Illustration]
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.
No. CXVIII
This is the way to draw the spiral--
[Illustration]
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.
No. CXXII.
The secret of the talking head is simple indeed when you know it.
[Illustration]
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.
No. CXXV
The picture charade is completed thus--
[Illustration]
My first may blow the candle out,
My second then comes in;
My whole in water moves about
Without an oar or fin--
and is solved by _Puffin_.
No. CXXVI
When the walnuts and cobnuts have been arranged as is shown on the
diagram--
[Illustration]
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.
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.
[Illustration]
WORD PLAY SOLUTIONS
1
The paradox--
Two words in our region of puzzledom pose,
And claim, through the passage of years,
That neither the pages of Johnson disclose,
While either in Murray appears.
is solved by the lines--
This key unlocks our puzzle-box,
Johnson and Murray both give “neither,”
While, to complete the paradox,
Murray and Johnson both give “either!”
2
The verse is completed thus--
Rude Eurus murmurs, trustful buds uncurl,
Bulbs push, due culture nurtures fruitful flush;
Thrush builds, full sunhued plumes furze tufts unfurl,
Up bursts, pure flute-fugue, Bulbul’s tuneful gush.
3
The enigma--
I see my first, I see my next,
And both I sigh and see
Joined to my third, which much perplexed
And sorely puzzled me.
’Twas fifty, and ’twas something more,
Reversed ’twas scarce an ell,
With first and next it forms a whole
Clear as a crystal bell.
What is my whole? A splendid tear
Upheld in cruel thrall;
Blow soft, ye gales, bright sun, appear!
And bid it gently fall.
is solved by ICICLE.
4
The charade--
Take for my first a quadruped,
Transpose one for my second;
My whole, a biped, quick or dead
Is dainty reckoned.
is solved by _Pigeon_ (_one_ becomes _eon_).
5
Byron’s enigma--
I am not in youth, nor in manhood, nor age,
But in infancy ever am known;
I’m a stranger alike to the fool and the sage,
And though I’m distinguish’d in history’s page
I always am greatest alone.
I am not in earth, nor the sun, nor the moon;
You may search all the sky--I’m not there;
In the morning and evening--though not in the noon--
You may plainly perceive me--for, like a balloon,
I am midway suspended in air.
Though disease may possess me, and sickness and pain,
I am never in sorrow nor gloom;
Though in wit and in wisdom I equally reign,
I’m the heart of all sin, and have long lived in vain,
Yet I ne’er shall be found in the tomb!
is solved by the letter I.
6
I am bright as a whole
Till you cut off my head;
Then as black as a coal,
Or a mortal instead.
Shaken up and recast
We with science are found,
Read us back from the last
And we live underground.
is solved by _Star_, _tar_, _arts_, _rats_.
7
Horace Smith’s charade--
In arts and sciences behold my first the watchword still,
All prejudice must bend the knee before its iron will;
Yet “Onward!” is the Briton’s cry--a cry that doth express
A holy work but half begun, and speaks of hopefulness.
In palace or in lonely cot its name alike is heard,
And in the Senate’s lordly halls sit my second and my third.
Strange paradox, though for my first my total is designed,
Sad marks of vice and ignorance we in that whole may find.
is solved by _Reformatory_.
8
Untouched I tell of budding growth and life;
Beheaded I lead upward more or less;
Again--with varied fragrance I am rife;
Again--but little value I express.
is solved by _Nascent_, _ascent_, _scent_, _cent_.
9
The enigma--
Search Holy Writ and you will see
A victory was won by me.
Behead me, and I may be found
In water or on hilly ground.
Behead again, and then transpose,
A snare my letters now disclose.
If yet again my head you sever,
No matter how sharp-set or clever,
’Tis all in vain you look about,
For no one yet has found me out.
is solved by _Sling_, _ling_, _gin_, _in_.
10
The charade--
Said a lawyer aside to his friend in the court,
“Now I’d bet, were we not in this place,
That my first is my second a bottle of port,”
Then bright with my whole shone his face.
is solved by _Pleasure_.
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.
(2) Take a horse ’bus if it comes first, and comes within 2¹⁄₂ minutes
of waiting.
(3) Wait for a motor if a horse ’bus comes first, but does not come
till after 2¹⁄₂ minutes.
As I may have to wait 0 minutes or 15 minutes, the average time of
waiting will be 7¹⁄₂ minutes.
If I wait _x_ min., and a horse ’bus arrives, I should reach the Bank in
15 mins, if I took it.
If I waited longer for a motor, which, on the average, will now turn up
in 7¹⁄₂ - _x_ mins., I should reach the Bank in 17¹⁄₂ - _x_ mins.
If, therefore, _x_ is greater than 2¹⁄₂, the motor is the quicker.
12
The historical charade--
My first, if foolishly or rashly taken,
May mar the future prospects of your life.
My second, by her fickle lord forsaken
(Sad type of many a gentle, patient wife).
May toil and moil to feed his many babies,
While he goes flirting off with other ladies.
The thrifty monarch of a former age
My whole a place in Britain’s history fills.
Immortalised in Shakespeare’s magic pages
As one who’d fain reform his tailor’s bills!
is solved by _Stephen_ (Step-hen).
13
My _second_, worn with pompous pride,
My _first_ had dangling at his side,
On chain securely hooked.
My _first_ he came from o’er the sea,
A bundle of conceit looked he,
And he was all he looked.
She led him to the village green,
Where in desponding mood was seen
My _whole_, with drooping head.
“Behold,” she said, “a perfect, true
And striking likeness, sir, of you!”
And, laughing, gaily fled.
is solved by _Donkey_.
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.
15
_Unity_ is a probable solution of the old enigma, part of which
evidently refers to “a house divided against itself”--
I’m one among a numerous host,
And very useful in my post;
There’s not a house in all the land
Without me properly can stand.
Though men disputed long ago
Whether I did exist or no,
Once more some thousands have been slain
Because they could not me attain.
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.
17
The charade--
My first of rudeness has a sound;
The rest is in a city found;
My whole to win its way is bound.
is solved by _Pertinacity_.
18
The buried potentate in the lines--
My first is in cake, but not in bun;
My second in light, but not in sun;
My third is in night, but not in day;
My fourth is in game, but not in play;
My fifth is in head, but not in tail;
My sixth is in wind, but not in sail;
My seventh in wrong, but not in right;
My eighth is in battle, but not in fight;
My ninth is in sword, but not in knife,
My tenth is in lady, but not in wife;
My whole is a monarch at war with strife.
is _King Edward_.
19
The charade--
My first except when it is old
Is never seen or heard;
When it is heard the sound is tolled
Out of a Jewish beard.
My next was in imperial Rome,
It was her power and might;
Then you had but to write _you wish_,
And straightway ’twas in sight.
My whole was Frank
Of royal rank.
is solved by _Clovis_ (_vis_ in Latin is both _power_ and _you wish_).
20
How great in olden days my power,
Oft have I saved a castle tower
From war’s invading tide.
Transpose me, and how great my fall!
I am then the smallest of the small,
That nothing can divide.
is solved by _Moat_--_atom_.
21
The puzzle--
This compact Enigma take,
All apart its letters shake.
Let your 6, 3, 5 be high,
Like 5, 1, 2 do or die.
Who 4, 6, 5, 1 enjoys
More than 5, 6, 2 by boys?
While 5, 3, 2, 1 are mine,
May 4, 6, 3, 2 be thine.
4, 1, 5 is rich and rare,
6, 5, 1, 2 ends my prayer.
is solved by the word Enigma, from which are formed, as is indicated,
the words _aim_, _men_, _game_, _man_, _mine_, _gain_, _gem_, and
_amen_.
22
The enigma--
“Charles the First walked and talked,
Half an hour after his head was cut off.”
_Old Couplet_.
Cut off my head, I’m every inch a King,
A warrior formed to deal a heavy blow.
Halve what remains, my second is a thing
Which nothing but my third can e’er make go,
My third will vary as you take your line,
This less than human, that way all divine!
is solved by _Dog_ (Og, go, dog, God).
23
The logograph--
Touch me not, I’m firm and sure;
Behead, I’m used by rich and poor;
In house and cottage, hut and hall,
I stand of service to them all.
Behead again, in time of need
I tell that strength and skill succeed.
is solved by _Stable_, _table_, _able_.
24
The names that satisfy the conditions of this Single Acrostic--
What river is that, where it is found,
Which Pope says does with eels abound?
What Scottish lake, by high hills bounded,
Is with bright birch and oak surrounded?
What stream is said in Devon to run
Into the sea near Otterton?
What bay on Cuba’s distant coast
Is justly deemed its pride and boast?
The initials of these names will show
A Scotch reformer, who, we know,
Flourished three hundred years ago.
are _Kennet_, _Ness_, _Otter_, _Xagua_, which give _Knox_.
25
The charade--
My whole may be a mother, not a dad,
So former may, or latter;
But twist my tail, and I become as mad
As any hatter!
Behead me, and behold I am a man,
Who never was called mister;
Cut off my tail, and instantly I can
Become a sister!
is solved by _Madam_ (_ma_, _dam_, _mad_, _Adam_, _Ada_).
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_.
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.
28
The charade--
My first, thou knowest, was in ancient Rome,
Rome’s fate my next, and one that all may dread.
Long may it be before that fate shall come
And sever with my whole thy life’s last thread!
is solved by _Scissors_ (Lat. _scis_, thou knowest; _sors_, a lot).
29
The poets’ names buried in the lines--
The sun is darting rays of gold
Upon the moor, enchanting spot;
Whose purpled heights, by Ronald loved,
Up open to his shepherd cot.
And sundry denizens of air
Are flying--aye, each to his nest;
And eager make at such an hour
All haste to reach the mansions blest.
are Gray, Moore, Byron, Pope, Dryden, Gay, Keats and Hemans.
30
The enigma--
This multiplies me, I declare,
Though it reduces one;
A sty is foul if it is there,
By it a deed is done.
is solved by the letter _n_ (_me_ becomes _men_; _one_, _none_; _a sty_,
_nasty_.)
31
Lennie _parsed_ the words he read,
Studying _Praed’s_ fable;
Lennie’s mother _rasped_ the bread,
Sophy _drapes_ the table.
“Work while you are _spared_,” they said,
“_Spread_ while you are able!”
The words in italics have the same letters.
32
The charade--
When I write with my first, in my second,
My whole is quite sure to be in.
Divided afresh, there is reckoned
A wit, or a something that’s thin.
Prefix a letter, and, as clear as paint,
You see the name of an old English Saint,
is solved by _Within_ (Swithin).
33
The puzzle lines--
My first, though half a noisy bird,
To a slight noise may turn;
My second-twist, a stately word,
And it will bend we learn.
are solved by _Pardon_ (rap-nod).
34
The enigma--
To half of ten add one
Then half a score.
When this is duly done
Almost ten more.
This can be good for none,
But trial sore.
is solved by _Vixen_.
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_.
36
Quick _veerers_ in action, now timid, now bold,
Like _reevers_ of ropes far too rotten to hold,
_Reserve_ a _severer reverse_ and disasters
For a State that _reveres_ not incapable masters.
The six words in italics are spelt with the same letters.
37
My first is an heir,
My second a snare,
My whole is the offspring of fancy,
Which I sent on its way
Last Valentine’s Day,
As a token of love to my Nancy.
is solved by _Sonnet_.
38
The lover’s vow--
My love shall never know my first,
Shall never be my second;
It shall my all, come best, come worst,
Be surely reckoned.
is solved by _Endless_.
39
The enigma--
I am a letter, and a word,
I am a tree, I am a name,
Cut me in pieces with a sword,
You and your act would be the same.
Thrice you must leave the aspirate in doubt,
And use it twice if you would find me out.
is solved by U, You, Hugh, Yew, How.
40
If you “resist disasters,” this may, by anagram, _distress a sister_.
41
The charade--
My first the rainbow shows
When in rich hues it glows.
My next has vowels three;
My third was once a tree.
My fourth begins the year,
My whole the past makes clear.
is solved by _Archæology_.
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_.
43
Less than my last, my whole has place
Between my first and second:
Second has body, arms and face;
First is by inches reckoned.
is solved by _waistcoat_.
44
The historical charade--
My first at early morn the camp alarms,
And at its sound the soldier springs to arms;
My second nowadays fair ladies scorn,
Though in less dainty days it oft was worn.
My whole, a battle fought on Scottish ground,
With victory the rebel forces crowned.
is solved by the battle of _Drumclog_.
45
I love strolling _troupes_ that go wandering round,
Each _spouter_ a _Proteus_ in versatile skill;
Each _posture_ so quaint, each idea so profound,
My barn’s at their service, whenever they will.
A company played there last night, but to-day
Ducks, _pouters_, and poultry have vanished away!
The five words in italics are spelt with the same seven letters.
46
The Arithmorem “150 hat robe or tent” forms the name Charlotte Bronte.
47
The Shedding Letters enigma--
I’m a worker most active, most useful, most known,
Of all that are busy in country and town.
Take from me one letter, and yet my good name
In spite of this loss will continue the same.
Take from me two letters, and still you will see
That precisely the same in effect I shall be.
Take from me three letters, or even take more,
Yet still I continue as sound as before.
is solved by _The Postman_!
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.
49
In the “Geese to Market” problem--
B drove a goodly flock of geese,
And met with Farmer A;
Said Farmer A, “How much apiece
For this lot did you pay?”
Said B, “I paid for all I drive
Just six pounds and a crown,
And I am selling all but five
At the next market town.
If fifteen pence a head I charge
Beyond the price I paid,
I shall secure a sum as large
As he who sold all made.”
B bought 25 geese at 5s. each, and proposed to sell 20 of them at 6s.
3d.
50
The charade--
When second held first
For best or for worst,
I thought myself happy to win her.
But what could I say
When the very next day
She gave me the whole for my dinner?
is solved by _Herring_.
51
In the lines--
The bees’ blithe vernal love-songs softly hum,
Blending so sweetly with the restful air;
The noiseless, deep-laced twilight shadows come,
And well I ken the lass who meets me there--
the familiar adage, “Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home”
is buried.
52
The mutilations in--
A little beast without its head
Becomes a mighty beast instead:
But then the subject of my riddle
Is cut asunder in the middle;
And nothing this division gains,
Though unknown quantity remains.
are _Fox_, _ox_, _o_, _x_.
53
Mary sat with _slate_ in hand,
Writing _tales_ dramatic.
Did she _steal_ the plots she planned?
Negative emphatic!
_Stale_ to us the _tales_ may be,
But at _least_ they’re new to she!
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.
55
The enigma--
Six hundred and sixty so ordered may be
That if you divide the whole number by three
You find the result will exactly express
The half of six hundred and sixty, no less--
is solved by turning the sixes of 660 upside down, when it becomes 990,
and satisfies the conditions.
56
The press parody ran thus--
There was a young turkey, oh, bless her!
It cost very little to dress her;
Some breadcrumbs and thyme
About Thanksgiving time,
And they ate every bit from the dresser!
57
She loses her head when she joins the brides,
He joins them after tea;
But both are swept by ruthless tides
Away on the western sea.
is solved by _Hebrides_.
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.
59
The words in italics have the same letters--
How does the sluggard’s garden grow?
When _rates_ are high, results are low.
His borders _tares_ and bindweed spoil,
No careful culture _tears_ the soil;
What weeds that _stare_ are all alive
Where _aster_, pink, or rose should thrive.
60
Correctly drawn results I yield,
Varied, but welcome everywhere;
But met with in the open field
I’m banned if frequent, blest if rare.
To this peculiar difference the clue
Is called with much significance the cue.
is solved by _Cheque_, _check_ (the letter Q).
61
The three towns buried in the lines--
Wait while I think the matter over,
On holiday intent;
The best I’ve seen is surely Dover,
That pretty port of Kent.
are _Leith_, _Thebes_, _St Ives_.
62
An Arab came to the river side,
With a donkey bearing an obelisk;
But he did not venture to ford the tide,
For he had to good an ass to risk (_asterisk_).
So he camped all night by that river side,
Secure till the tide had ceased to swell,
For he knew that whenever the donkey died,
No other could be its _parallel_ (‖).
63
The charade--
What ho, my jolly _second!_ never say my _first_
While my final you can find in Amsterdam.
Think how a sound _whole_ stays your hunger and your thirst,
Deftly readjusting bread and meat and jam.
is solved by _Dietary_ (Amsterdam is on the River Y).
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.
65
The enigma--
Six letters spell the happy state
Of two in love made one.
The same six letters tell the fate
Of marriage ties undone.
is solved by _United_, _untied_.
66
The riddle--
My first’s a bond, my second’s weigh;
These own the rest of all my lay;
Busy my third; fourth like the pole,
Whose opposite my fifth makes goal.
is solved by _Shackle_, _Tons_, _Ant_, _Arctic Expedition_.
[Lieutenant Ernest H. Shackleton, R.N., leader of his South Polar
Expedition.]
67
For two months at the _nets_ we played,
Ere we were _sent_ to Lord’s;
Alas! the score our champion made
Was what a _nest_ affords.
The crowd in _tens_ of thousands came,
But took scant notice of the game.
The words in italics have the same letters.
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.
69
The Mental Arithmetic--
Set down three figures in a line,
Then multiply by four;
This, if you use the proper sign,
Makes five, and nothing more.
is solved by 1.25. In 1¹⁄₄ the figures are not _in a line_.
70
The doublet by missing words, in which a grilse is turned into a salmon,
is solved thus--
To silver Tweed, or broader Spey,
The _grilse_ of _silver_, _sailer_ gay,
Guides on; the _sailor morals_ draws
When _salmon_ follows Nature’s laws.
One letter is changed in each link.
71
The enigma--
I never move, and yet I run
From place to place all day;
Some loving swain, hot foot for fun,
Sees Dora in my way--
is solved by _Road_, which spells also _Dora_.
72
The Letters--
~HAATTCEUMSSSS~
form the name of the State _Massachusetts_.
73
The enigma--
Seven words in one of letters five we fix,
Six English, and one Latin;
No need to twist them, or afresh to mix,
If puzzles you are pat in.
is solved by _There_: the words are--_there_, _here_, _her_, _the_,
_ere_, _he_, _re_.
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_.
75
The quaint riddle--