Chapter XI: Part II (1)
Hushed is the still and ------ voice,
Pricked ears are keen to ------,
Men who ------ make noble choice.
------ like gold will glisten.
No. XXX.--THE PROBLEM SQUARED
P R O B L E M
R E C E I V E
O C T A V E S
B E A C O N S
L I V O N I A
E V E N I N G
M E S S A G E
This is a singularly perfect specimen of a seven-letter Word Square.
50. MISSING WORDS
Some men their -------- escorted on their way,
When “-------- look here!” I heard a driver say:
“It -------- our pluck to toil like -------- all day,
When wanting -------- we starve on wretched pay.”
Each missing word is spelt with the same five letters.
No. XXXI.--BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS
Can you disentangle the eight-line verse which is scattered over these 64 squares? You must leap always from square to square, as a knight moves on the chess-board.
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| tle | to | a |cat- |life | and |live | In |
| | | | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| By | tle | ow- |bro | of | non |tle |fall |
| | | |wse | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| ter |tur- | gain| like|land |one’s|quiet| And |
| | | | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| of | ar | Bet-| me | and |Than | a- |bat- |
| | m | | ad- | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
|bask | Be | lau-| or | tle |ness |done |wan- |
| | t- | | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| rel | let |Than |die |With | der | of | smo |
| | | | | | | | ke |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| ter | in |brain|myr- | on | and |har- | un- |
| | | | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
| | | | | | | | |
| Ch | or |to |sun |with |work | In |heat |
| ap- | | | | | | |
+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+
The verses begin with “Better to die,” and end with “tle” in the top left-hand corner.
51. WISDOM WHILE YOU WAIT
As a -------- -------- of facts you’ll find
Our Encyclopedia -------- the mind.
The three missing words are spelt with the same seven letters.
52. MISSING WORDS
You drink that --------, -------- wine, too lavishly at night,
And say a -------- or a swim next morning puts you right,
When night brings you a sudden --------, and morning devils blue,
Then you’ll ------ your careless boast, and own my warning true.
Each missing word is spelt with the same six letters.
No. XXXII.--A BROKEN SQUARE
Can you complete this broken Word Square?
+---------+
| |O| |E| |
+-+-+-+-+-+
|O| | | |E|
+-+-+-+-+-+
| |I| |O| |
+-+-+-+-+-+
|E| | | |E|
+-+-+-+-+-+
| |E| |E|-|
+-+-+-+-+-+
53
The missing words in these lines are all spelt with the same six letters:--
--- -------- but for rebel act
Without --- -------- should be;
But this --- --- --- end, in fact
None find --- -------- in me.
54. MISSING WORDS
“Oh for a ----- in this vast solitude,
This endless rise and fall of ----- and moor!”
Soliloquised a ----- in sad mood,
As through the lonely hills the staff of life he bore.
Spelt with the same five letters.
No. XXXIII.--A KNIGHT’S TOUR PROVERB
If the letters on these squares are taken in proper sequence they will form the words of a well-known proverb:--
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | | | | | | | |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | | | |E| | | |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | |E| | | |T| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | | |L|H| | | |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| |E| |R| |S| | |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | |E|A|S| | | |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|D| |E| |O| |S| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
| | | |S|P| |M| |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
When a starting point has been chosen for trial of this puzzle, the successive letters must occupy the squares which in every case are reached by a knight’s move at chess, until a popular proverb is formed.
55. “MONSTRUM HORRENDUM INFORME INGENS”
’Twas in ........ that we saw him play
Like a ........ in his sports, and they
Amuse us as a good ........ may.
Each missing word has the same eight letters.
No. XXXIV.--GUARINI’S PROBLEM
The following curiosity, which is known as _Guarini’s Problem_, dates back to the year 1512. On a board of 9 squares two white Knights are placed in the top corners, and two black Knights in the bottom corners, thus:--
+---+---+---+
| N |...| N |
+---+---+---+
|...| |...|
+---+---+---+
| n |...| n |
+---+---+---+
The problem is to interchange, in as few moves as possible, the positions of the white and black knights.
56
We call particular attention to the construction of this very curious couplet, in which the spaces are filled by the same seven letters. In every case four of the letters of the missing words or phrases are the same, and keep the same order, and in all but the first the order of the letters is unchanged throughout, though the meaning always alters, as it does in that most perfect old Latin motto, “Persevera, per severa, per se vera,” “persevere through trials, true to thyself.”
Soup is --- ------- for a ------- divine,
Who with --- -------- is ----- -------- to sit down and dine.
No. XXXV.--AN ANAGRAM SQUARE
Can you break up and recast the five words in this square, so that the fresh words form a perfect Word Square? The initials are A, M, E, N, D, S.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|S|E|N|D|E|R|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|O|N|I|O|N|S|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|B|A|B|B|L|E|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|M|A|N|N|E|R|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|S|M|I|L|E|D|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|L|I|N|E|A|L|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+
57. MISSING WORDS
Sweet as the ------ and cruel as its thorn,
------ thy power is great, thy pity scorn.
Swift as the ------ that through the forest fly,
Deep as the ------ that deepest hidden lie,
Is thine own ------ to hapless mortals given,
Semblance of darkest hell or brightest heaven.
These missing words are spelt with the same four letters.
58. MISSING WORDS
(_Dedicated to the Fresh Air Fund_)
Good ----- for City -----
My pipe ----- for -- ---- charms, that yield
Pictures and ----- of a children’s day.
Lest conscience ----- I ----- -- down to say
My ----- shall send some city ----- afield.
Each word or group is spelt with the same five letters.
No. XXXVI.--SHAKESPEARE’S PSALM
Quite as cryptic and convincing as any of the curious Shakespeare-Bacon cyphers is the evidence which connects our great English poet with the forty-sixth Psalm of the authorised Bible version.
Shakespear, spelt thus, as it often was, contains four vowels and six consonants. This is the key to the position. If, guided by these figures, we turn to the _forty-sixth_ Psalm and count from the beginning, we find the _forty-sixth_ word is “Shake.”
Then, counting from the end, disregarding the “Selah,” which is no part of the text, we find that the _forty-sixth_ word is “spear.”
Thus, by a startling and perfect succession of affinities, the poet’s name-number is linked again and again with this Psalm, until it reveals his name.
If any sceptic asks why the Book of Psalms should thus be turned to, the answer comes in the curious fact that the actual letters of the name William Shakespere, another of its different spellings, form this sentence as their anagram, and thus afford the necessary clue:--
“We are like his Psalm.”
A final point of interest is made when we notice that Shakespeare himself must have been just _forty-six_ years old when the Psalms were re-translated.
59. MISSING WORDS
He said “You ------” when one lied,
He said “Don’t ------” when one hied,
His glass held ------ at his side,
He can ------ what he denied.
Each missing word is spelt with the same six letters.
No. XXXVII.--A KNIGHT’S TOUR
The letters on this board, if read aright in the order of a Knight’s moves at chess, will give a popular proverb.
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|R|L|T|E|Y|L|R|O|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|Y|H|L|T|O|B|T|A|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|T|A|A|A| |H|T|I|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|E|L| |E|I|N|E|O|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|D|H|W| |Y|E|S|Y|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|R|T|E|S|D| |B|W|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|Y|N|E|S|N|D|A|E|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|H|A|A|A|W|I|D|E|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Start from the most central E, and you will be able to trace the proverb.
60. MISSING WORDS
Mr Snip, the --------, was -------- a hill,
With a bag of new -------- for stock;
When a runaway motor-car gave him a spill
Which scattered his doubts with the shock.
Each missing word is spelt with the same eight letters.
No. XXXVIII.--A WORD SQUARE
The pupils of Dr Puzzlewitz found one morning these vowels printed boldly on the blackboard:--
E * A * E
* A * E *
A * E * *
* E * * E
E * * E *
Under it the doctor had written “Fill in the consonants, so that the words read alike from top to bottom, and from side to side.” How is this to be done?
61. MISSING WORDS
----- her fair cheek, and back o’er all
The ----- of years ----- memory.
Those wedding ----- to her recall
The ----- he urged so tenderly.
Each of these missing words has five letters.
62. MISSING WORDS
Two burglars attempted to ----- a house,
The ----- was heard, though as still as a mouse.
When challenged at once he a ----- became,
But caught as a ----- he finished his game.
Each word has the same five letters.
No. XXXIX.--THE SQUAREST WORD
The squarest word in any language is the Latin _time_, which, in connection with the three other Latin words, _item_, _meti_, _emit_, can be read, when written as a square, in every possible direction. Thus:--
T I M E
I T E M
M E T I
E M I T
As it seems impossible to go one better, we have been seeking, as a new nut for our store, some English word which may be a good second. Can you complete the square which is built up on these lines?
D E L F
* * * *
* * * *
* * * *
Delf is the key word, but it so far falls short of the perfection aimed at, that other letters are used in four of the vacant places. Still, it is so constructed that words which begin with D, E, L, or F appear each of them in four different directions, and is thus quite a notable example.
No. XL.--A PUZZLE DIAMOND
Can you fill in this diamond with four words that read alike from left to right, and from top to bottom?
D
. I .
. . A . .
D I A M O N D
. . O . .
. N .
D
63. MISSING WORDS
The -------- fool in olden days
Gave kings advice in jesting phrase;
He’s -------- now; the modern throne
-------- all follies but its own.
Each missing word is spelt with the same eight letters.
64. MISSING WORDS
Days of ------ and times of evil,
Starving girls with ------ do toil,
No man ------ feast or revel,
Hushed is ------ and turmoil.
Each missing word contains the same six letters.
65. MISSING WORDS
Who ------- in his pride and rage,
To ------- vice a prey,
May hope to reach a green old age,
And find ------- his stay.
Each word has the same seven letters.
No. XLI.--A DEFECTIVE DIAMOND
S
. . M
P . . . L
. . N . . A L
S . . . N . . . R
M . . . C . E
L A . . E
L . E
R
The places now occupied by dots are to be filled in with letters so that a complete diamond is formed, of words that read alike from left to right, and from top to bottom.
66. A POET’S POLITICS
When Limerick once, in idle whim,
Moore as her member gaily courted,
The boys, for fun’s sake, asked of him
To state what party he supported.
When thus to them the answer ran,
“I’m of no party as a man,
But as a poet ------”
What is the missing word?
67. MISSING WORDS
Is England ------? That this is so
A solemn ------ aspires to show.
By most ignored, the theme -- ---- to some
Who gravely to the same conclusion come.
Like ------ o’er obstacles they soar,
And if an ---- -- ’vert they rave the more.
There are six letters in the missing words and phrases.
No. XLII.--A SPECIMEN MAGIC SQUARE
The following clever word square of the unusual number of seven letters, in which there is no undue straining of words or inflexions, is by a master hand, and would be difficult to match:--
P A L A T E D
A N E M O N E
L E V A N T S
A M A S S E S
T O N S U R E
E N T E R E R
D E S S E R T
68. MISSING WORDS
Off to the links is now their cry,
For golf is man’s --------:
Be not -------- or slow,
-------- hit the ball will go.
Each missing word is spelt with the same eight letters.
69. MISSING WORDS
No maid e’er ------- North, South, East, or West,
More ------- than she who ------- Love’s request.
Each missing word is spelt with the same seven letters.
70. OUT IN THE COLD
Though in ......... I be,
It is, alas! ... ......
No ...... ... comes nigh to me.
Each word or phrase has the same nine letters.
No. XLIII.--A LETTER PUZZLE
Can you fill in the places of these 21 asterisks with only 3 different letters, so arranged that they spell a common English word of 5 letters in 12 different directions?
* * * * *
* * * *
* * *
* * * *
* * * * *
Two of the five letters are vowels.
71
--------- his pride the Royal James
Came down upon the --------- Thames;
Like --------- his court repair
To breathe -- -------’s freer air.
Each space has the same nine letters.
72. DROP LETTER LINES
With lily leaves his oars are ........,
Her eager hands their treasures .......,
To the fair winds all cares . .....,
And echo faintly answers .....!
The first letter is dropped in each case, so that while the word which ends line 1 has eight letters, the last word of line 4 has but five.
73. ENIGMA WITH MISSING LETTERS
There was no good ... in the d...y, so the klim.
No. XLIV.--A CANINE CHRONOGRAPH
Some years ago a country parson had the following inscription engraved upon the tombstone of a favourite dog that died in 1885:--
CarLo
Dear DoggIe
LoVIng faIthfVL anD trVe
she Lost her sIght
bVt not her LoVe
for
I. e. V.
If the large capital letters are treated as Roman numerals, they add up to the year of the dog’s death, 1885.
74
If the missing letters, indicated by dots, are supplied, and the words are separated, this will be found to form a line in a well-known poem:--
.u.u.m.r.i.u.d.s.s.e..o.l.w.d.a.t.n.f.l.o.e.f.s.e.
75
Complete this sentence by filling in five words in the gaps, each spelt with the same five letters:
If you write ----- ----- at ----- do not ----- the -----.
76. SIX MISSING WORDS
A ..... ..... on ....’. strands
Caught Pat’s heart in her meshes;
He left the ..... in Cupid’s hands,
And watched her ..... her tresses;
Tresses of ..... coloured gold,
That did her fairy form enfold.
Each missing word has the same five letters.
No. XLV.--A HIDDEN NAME
“Yes,” said the village wit, as a merry party sat round the tap-room fire at Stratford-on-Avon, “some wiseacres have tried to prove that Bacon wrote Shakespeare’s plays, because his name can be found hidden in some of the lines. Let me show you how easily this sort of thing can be arranged to suit our fancy.”
Taking a piece of chalk he wrote upon the door--
“Titus Andronicus”
“All’s Well that Ends Well”
“The Merchant of Venice”
“Coriolanus”
“Cymbeline”
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
“Much Ado about Nothing”
“Look down the letters under _d_ of these titles of some of Shakespeare’s plays,” he said, “and you will find the well-known name of one who certainly did not write them.” What name did he mean? What but that of the prince of jokers, Dan Leno!
77. MISSING WORDS
Can you supply the missing words in these lines? Each is spelt with the same five letters:--
A man of ----- had caught a -----,
And it was windy weather;
“Give me my -----,” he cried, “to fix
My fish and ----- together.”
No. XLVI.--A CRYPTIC INSCRIPTION
The following cryptic inscription was engraved, in his own language, upon a tablet in honour of the great French astronomer and scientist, Arago:--
+-------------+
| URE |
|AR ERIL|
+-------------+
It has this interpretation:--
AR à gauche,
ERIL à droit,
URE sur tout.
Arago chérit la droiture sur tout.
Arago cherished integrity above all.
78. ON THE LOOSE
When ....., our puppy, sets out for a run,
Over ..... he ....., all frolic and fun.
For no whistle he ..... in his desperate hurry
The cattle to ....., and the slow sheep to worry.
Each word has the same five letters.
79. MISSING WORDS
Buy my ripe ------, my ------ who’ll buy?
Don’t look so ------, but take some and try!
The missing words are spelt with the same six letters. What are they?
No. XLVII.--SQUARE THE CIRCLE
Here is a circle which it is quite possible to square:--
C I R C L E
I . . . E .
R . . E . .
C . E . . E
L E . . E .
E . . E . .
Can you fill it in with English words, that read alike from top to bottom, and from left to right? Try it before you turn to the solution. Every E must be worked in as it stands.
80. MISSING WORDS ILLUSTRATED
He who .... may .... at last,
How to .... we show;
Take a sixpence, hold it fast,
Press the .... and blow!
Each missing word has the same four letters.
No. XLVIII.--A BROKEN SQUARE
We give as clues the complete border, and a diagonal in which the same letter persists. Can you construct the whole square?
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_B_|_O_|_A_|_S_|_T_|_E_|_R_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_O_| | | |_E_| |_E_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_A_| | |_E_| | |_S_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_S_| |_E_| | | |_E_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_T_|_E_| | | | |_N_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_E_| | | | | |_T_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_R_|_E_|_S_|_E_|_N_|_T_|_S_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
ANAGRAMS
Anagrams, as a method of divining and illustrating personal destiny and character, were quite a craze in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. No specimens of this word juggling have ever been more apt than the perfect pair of political anagrams evolved from the names of two of our greatest statesmen.
When the reins of power changed hands, it was found that the letters which form Gladstone also spell out exactly, “G. leads not,” while the name of his great rival and successor Disraeli itself announces, when recast, “I lead, sir!”
No. XLIX.--A CARD PROBLEM
Here is a pretty card problem, akin in its character and arrangement to a Magic Square.
Take from a pack of cards the four aces, kings, queens, and knaves, and arrange them so that in each horizontal, vertical, and diagonal row, each of the four suits and each of the four denominations shall be represented once, and only once.
IDEAL ANAGRAMS
| |
-+--------------------------------------------------------+-
|Ave Maria, gratiâ plena, Dominus tecum! |
|Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata. |
|Regia nata, evadens luctum amari pomi. |
|Eva secunda, Agni immolati pura mater. |
| |
|Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee! |
|A virgin calm, holy, pure and spotless. |
|Of royal kin, free from the penalty of the bitter apple.|
|A second Eve, pure mother of the slain Lamb. |
-+--------------------------------------------------------+-
| |
These wonderful anagrams need no word of praise. Constructed each of them with the same letters, the lines express with startling emphasis the character and special attributes of her whom they describe.
No. L.--TURF-CUTTING
I cut eight narrow strips of turf from my lawn, to form a double rose-border, with sides of the relative lengths shown in the diagram:--
How can I relay these eight pieces, without turning or breaking them, on a piece of level soil, so that they enclose three flower-beds of similar size?
AN ANAGRAM EPITAPH
This was engraved on a slate monument in memory of Marya Arundell, in Duloe, Cornwall, June 8, 1629:--
| |
-+------------------------------------------------+
| MARYA ARUNDELL--MAN A DRY LAUREL |
| |
|Man to the marigold compared may be, |
|Man may be likened to the laurel tree. |
|Both feede the eye, both please the optic sense,|
|Both soon decay, both suddenly fleete hence. |
|What then infer you from her name but this, |
|Man fades away, _man a dry laurel_ is! |
-+------------------------------------------------+-
| |
No. LI.--A READY RECKONER
Two schoolboys, looking into a small water-butt after a heavy rain, could not agree as to whether it was quite half full.
They appealed to the gardener, as there were no means of measurement at hand, and he, being a shrewd, practical man, was able to decide the point. How did he do this?
TWIN ANAGRAMS
Paradise lost.
_Reap sad toils._
Paradise regained.
_Dead respire again!_
No. LII.--A TRANSFORMATION
Can you turn this flat-headed 3 into a 5 by one continuous line, without scratching out any portion of the 3?
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA
What were “The Australian Cricketers?”
ANSWERED BY ANAGRAM
_Clinkers! Each a true artist._
BUNYAN’S ANAGRAM
John Bunyan, in the conclusion of the advertisement of his “Holy War,” has these quaint lines (using i for j):--
“Witness my hand, if Anagrammed to thee
The letters make ‘Nu hony in a B.’”
OLD POLITICAL ANAGRAMS
“The Earl of Beaconsfield.”
_Chief one of all debaters._
“William Ewart Gladstone.”
_Wit so great will lead man._
No. LIII.--A CLEAR COURSE
These diagrams show two of the many ways in which eight pieces of chessmen or draughtsmen can be so placed upon the board that each of them has a clear course in every direction, along straight or diagonal lines.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |.X.| |...| |...| |...| | |...| |...| |.X.| |...|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|...| |...| |...| X |...| | |...| |...| X |...| |...| |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| X |...| |...| |...| |...| | |.X.| |...| |...| |...|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|...| |...| |...| |.X.| | |...| |...| |...| |...| X |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |...| |.X.| |...| |...| | |...| |...| X |...| |...|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|...| |...| |...| |...| X | |...| |...| |...| |.X.| |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |...| X |...| |...| |...| | X |...| |...| |...| |...|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|...| |...| |.X.| |...| | |...| |.X.| |...| |...| |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
We will give a table in the solutions which shows a large number of similar possible positions. Meantime our solvers may like to trace some for themselves.
APPOSITE AND OPPOSITE
Three most excellent anagrams are formed with the letters of the great name Thomas Carlyle. Two of them seem to point to the rugged sage of Chelsea in life, and one to his repose in death. They are:--
Mercy! lash a lot.
Cry shame to all!
A calm holy rest.
A ROYAL ANAGRAM
(Adsit omen!)
“Albert Edward and Alexandra.”
_All dear bread and war tax end!_
No. LIV.--QUARRELSOME NEIGHBOURS
Three families, who were not on speaking terms, lived in three houses within the same enclosing fence. Determined to avoid each other, they built covered ways from the doors of their houses to their gates, so that they might never cross each other’s paths. The family in A had their gate at A, those in B at B, and those in C at C. How were these covered ways arranged so as to secure their complete separation?
HIS HOBBY
William Ewart Gladstone.
_A man will go wild at trees._
A SOLDIER’S ANAGRAM
Lord Kitchener of Khartoum.
_Oh firm rod! the knack to rule!_
No. LV.--A PRETTY TRICK
Ask some one to place five cards (not court cards) in a row, to add up their pips, and to place two cards representing that number below, for subtraction, as is shown in the diagram.
/-------\ /-------\ /-------\ /-------\ /-------\
| ♠ | | ♦ | | ♣ ♣ | | ♥ ♥ | | ♦ ♦ |
| | | | | | | ♥ | | ♦ ♦ |
| | | ♦ | | ♣ ♣ | | ♥ ♥ | | ♦ | = 28.
| | | | | | | ♥ | | ♦ ♦ |
| ♠ | | ♦ | | ♣ ♣ | | ♥ ♥ | | ♦ ♦ |
\-------/ \-------/ \-------/ \-------/ \-------/
/-------\ /-------\
| ♣ | | ♠ ♠ |
| | | ♠ |
| | | ♠ ♠ |
| | | ♠ |
| ♣ | | ♠ ♠ |
\-------/ \-------/
/-------\ /-------\ /-------\ /-------\ /-------\
| ♥ | | ♣ | | ♠ ♠ | | ♦ ♦ | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | ♣ | | ♠ ♠ | | ♦ ♦ | | ♥ |
| | | | | | | | | |
| ♥ | | ♣ | | ♠ ♠ | | ♦ ♦ | | |
\-------/ \-------/ \-------/ \-------/ \-------/
Let him then place cards to represent the result of subtraction, remove which one he pleases of these, and tell you the sum of the remaining pips.
You can at once tell him the value of the card removed by deducting the number of pips in that remainder from the next highest multiple of 9. Thus, in the instance shown above, if one of the sixes is removed, the sum of the remaining pips is 12, and 18 - 12 = 6. A space must be left for any 0.
BOAT-RACE ANAGRAMS
Here is a batch of anagrams, all letters perfect, which show how, by a little ingenuity, words may be twisted into opposite and appropriate meanings.
“The Oxford and Cambridge annual boat-race.”
ANAGRAMS
Hard race, but Cantab gained lead from Oxon.
Ah! bad rudder line for Cantab cox to manage.
Cantab blue had raced in an extra good form.
No. LVI.--THE CROSS-KEYS
This pretty puzzle can be made at home by anyone who is handy with a fret-saw.
Cut three pieces of hard wood according to the patterns given in this diagram, and try to fit the three sections together so that they form a firm symmetrical figure with six projecting ends.
ANGLO-JAPANESE ANAGRAMS
“The Anglo-Japanese treaty of Alliance.”
Yea, Fate enjoins to help a gallant race
or
Hail, gallant East! Fear not, enjoy peace
or
A peace angel, then joy to all in far East.
A WONDERFUL ANAGRAM
If the letters which spell the names of the twelve months are shaken up and recast, these appropriate lines and their title are formed--
POEM
Just a jury by number, each a scrap of year,
A number recording every jumble, tumble, tear!
No. LVII.--THE NABOB’S DIAMONDS
An Indian Nabob left a casket of valuable diamonds to his children under the following conditions:--The first was to take a diamond and one-seventh of the remainder; the second was to take two and a seventh of the then remainder; the third three and a seventh of the rest, and so on, on similar lines, till all the diamonds were taken. Each of the children had then exactly an equal share. How many diamonds were there, and how many children?
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 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?
A GOOD ANAGRAM
Sir Francis Bacon, the Lord Keeper.
_Is born and elect for rich speaker._
THE DREAMER’S ANAGRAM
“Imagination”--_I’m on it again!_
A SEASONABLE ANAGRAM
“Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.”
_We murmur--“Time’s running past!”_
No. LVIII.--A CARD CHAIN
The cardboard chain in this diagram is formed of unbroken links cut from one card.
There are no joinings in these links, no paste or gum is used, and the chain is fairly cut from a single card.
APPROPRIATE
Very apt indeed, in these days of books and papers without end, is the descriptive anagram which we find involved in
“The Alphabet,” _That be a help_.
A TOUR DE FORCE
Made with the letters which form the names of the twelve months, each being used once, and only once:--
Merry durable just grace
My every future month embrace,
No jars remain, joy bubble up apace!
No. LIX.--STRAY DOTS
These represent the four quarters of a torn design, on which large black dots had been so drawn that no two of them stood on the same row, column, or diagonal.
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----+-----+--+ +--+-----+-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--●-----+-----+-----+--+ +--+-----●-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----●-----+--+ +--+-----+-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----+-----+--+ +--+-----+-----●-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----+-----+--+ +--+-----+-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--●-----+-----+-----+--+ +--●-----+-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----+-----+--+ +--+-----+-----+-----+--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
|\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /| |\ | / \ | / \ | / \ | /|
+--+-----+-----+-----●--+ +--+-----+-----+-----●--+
|/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \| |/ | \ / | \ / | \ / | \|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+ +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
Can you copy out these four pieces, and place them in close contact, so that the proper edges come together to reproduce the original effect?
AN OLD POLITICAL ANAGRAM
The initials of Brougham, Russell, Allthorp, and Grey,
If rightly disposed the word “brag” will display;
Transpose them and “grab” will appear to the view,
Which hints at what many assert to be true,
That they, like some others, still follow the plan
To _brag_ what they’ll do, and then _grab_ what they can!
No. LX.--THE OPEN DOOR
A prisoner placed in the cell marked _A_ is promised his release on the condition that he finds his way out of the door at _X_ by passing through all the cells, entering each of them once only.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| A |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| |
+ + + + + + + + +
| _x_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +
How can he do this?
A ROYAL ANAGRAM
The following remarkable anagram is recast from the name and title of the daughter of George IV., who was direct heir to the throne:--
“Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales.”
ANAGRAM
_P. C. her august race is lost, O fatal news!_
No. LXI.--THE SHEPHERD’S PUZZLE
When a farmer told his shepherd to put 21 sheep into 4 pens at the fair, and added, “I wish you could put an odd number into each pen, as there is luck in odd numbers, but that is impossible,” he did not take into account the shrewdness of the shepherd, who very cleverly folded them thus:--
+---------------------------------+
| * * * |
| +-------------------------+ |
| | * * | |
| | +-----------------+ | |
| | | * * | | |
| | | +---------+ | | |
| | | | * * | | | |
| * | | | * | | | * |
| | | | * * | | | |
| | | +---------+ | | |
| | | * * | | |
| | +-----------------+ | |
| | * * | |
| +-------------------------+ |
| * * * |
+---------------------------------+
Each fold or pen has by this arrangement an odd number of sheep within the hurdles that form its outer boundaries, and in this sense the farmer’s wish was satisfied.
We are familiar, most of us, with what is called Macaronic verse or prose, in which the letters and syllables of Latin words can be read so as to form English sentences.
It would seem to be too much to expect that there could be any connection in meaning between these Latin and English words, but there is one striking exception to this general rule. “Non est” means exactly “it is not,” and “No nest” conveys precisely the same idea, when a bird finds that its home has been destroyed.
No. LXII.--LEAP-FROG
Here is an interesting puzzle which can be worked out with coins or counters on a corner of a chess or a draughtboard.
At starting only the central point is vacant. A piece that is moved to a vacant spot must leap over two other pieces if it goes along the solid black lines, and can only move over one of the dotted diagonals at a time to an adjoining point. Try, on these lines, to enable the frog, now in the second hole of the lowest row, to reach the centre in the fewest possible moves, leaving its own original point vacant, and at the last surrounded by the words “leap-frog” as they now stand.
Moves can only be made to vacant places.
LXIII.--MUSIC HATH CHARMS
Transpose two letters, and the lad
Who grinds his organ in the Strand,
Can sing “my music is not bad,
I wake it with a master hand!”
How did he justify this ambitious claim?
No. LXIV.--GRIST FOR THE MILL
If the letters P E A R S O N S are printed on small wafers or buttons, and set at hap-hazard and out of order on the points which they now occupy, a very pretty game of patience will result from the attempt to restore them to their places.
Any letter can be pushed along one of the lines to a vacant place, and those on the mill sails can be moved to or from the central spot. There is no fixed limit to the number of moves, but the puzzle is to restore, in as few moves as possible, the broken and disordered word to its proper reading round the mill.
No. LXV.--YOUR WATCH A COMPASS
We are indebted to Sam Loyd, the famous American problem composer and puzzle king, for the following very practical curiosity, which is so closely akin to a puzzle that it is well worth giving for the benefit of our readers when they are out on holiday. If you are uncertain as to your bearings, lay your watch flat on the palm of your hand so that the hour-hand points in the direction of the sun. The point exactly midway between the hour-hand and the figure 12 will be due south at any time between 6 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon. During any other hours our rule will give the _north_ point, and in the southern hemisphere the rules will be reversed.
In the days of Pope Pio Nono someone extracted from the Papal title “Supremus Pontifex Romanus” an anagram, which cut at the very foundation of the faith. It ran thus: “O non sum super petram fixus”--“O I am not founded on the rock.”
This held its place as a clever topical anagram, until in a moment of happy inspiration a son of the Church discovered that if the first words are recast and rearranged, a splendidly appropriate motto for the then reigning pontiff leaps to sight, “Sum Nono, super petram fixus,” “I am Nono, founded on the rock!”
No. LXVI.--A MYSTIC SQUARE
This is an arrangement of numbers in 9 cells, so that no cell contains the same figure as appear in any other, and the two upper rows, the two side columns, the two long diagonals, and the four short diagonals all add up to 18:--
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| | | |
| | 5 + 5| 2 |
| 1 + 1 + 1 |5 + 5 + -----| 2 + - |
| | 5 | 2 |
| | | |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| | | |
| | | 4 + 4 |
| 3 + 3 | 6 | 4 + ----- |
| | | 4 |
| | | |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
| | | |
| 7 + 7 | 9 + 9 + 9| 8 |
| 7 + ----- |9 + ---------| 8 + - |
| 7 | 9 | 8 |
| | | |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+
Though not, strictly speaking, a Magic Square, this is a most ingenious fulfilment of the conditions of the puzzle.
UP-TO-DATE ANAGRAMS
Good up-to-date anagrams are:--Chamberlain, “Rich able man,” and Pierpont Morgan, “Man prone to grip.”
No. LXVII.--A SWARM OF WORDS
In each of the five crosses of this mystic figure the same letters are to be inserted where there are asterisks, so that seven different English words are formed, which can be read altogether in 64 different ways and directions.
*
*
* * D * *
*
*
* +---/*\---+ *
* | * | *
* * D * *|* * D * *|* * D * *
* | * | *
* +---\*/---+ *
*
*
* * D * *
*
*
There will then be in all the five crosses 320 readings of these seven words, three of them having 80 variations and four of them having 20, and only three different letters are used.
SEASONABLE ANAGRAMS
| |
-+---------------------------------------+-
| “_A Merry Christmas and a Happy |
| New Year._” |
|My prayer and wishes reach many a part.|
| _or_ |
|Many a sad heart can whisper my prayer.|
-+---------------------------------------+-
| |
No. LXVIII.--AFTER SOME SAD REVERSE
We admit this most miserable picture of a discontented outcast into our bright pages, to “point a moral,” if it does not “adorn a tale.”
Can our readers gather from it the lesson, that when things seem to be at the worst, a turn of fortune’s wheel may set them on their legs again, and change the merest melancholy to the merriest mirth? A reverse of another sort will set things right. Turn the page round!
A lady, to whom the momentous question had been put with some diffidence, handed to her lover a slip of paper, telling him that it embodied her reply. Nothing was written but the word “stripes,” which seemed at first to be of sinister omen; but to his relief and joy the fateful letters presently resolved themselves into a message of direct encouragement, and never was an anagram more welcome than this which bade him “persist.”
No. LXIX.--THE EXPLOSIVE RAFT
With eight large wooden matches form a miniature raft, as is shown in the diagram:--
Place the little raft on a wine-glass, and apply a lighted match to one of its corners. The tension on its parts will cause the whole construction to fly asunder as soon as the pressure on any point is removed.
A NOTABLE HISTORIC ANAGRAM
It is very remarkable that the letters which form the sentence--
“The Jubilee Day of Victoria, Queen and Empress,” also exactly spell--
_Joys are never quite complete if a husband die._
No. LXX.--A PICTURE PUZZLE
Much is bad, and much is sad,
And life has many woes.
May we keep clear from year to year
Of what this picture shows!
Can you interpret it?
CONTRADICTION BY ANAGRAM
Logica, Latin for logic, can be resolved into the strangely contradictory anagram, _caligo, darkness_; and, in seeming support of this perversion, our word logic can be turned into _I clog_!
Here are two good anagrams connected with the land of the Pharaohs:--
David Livingstone,
“Go and visit Nile, D.V.”
Cleopatra’s Needle on the Thames Embankment,
“An Eastern emblem; then take me to Cheops’ land.”
Danes should be _dark men_, according to the anagram of “Denmark.”
No. LXXI.--PATCHWORK PICTURES
This is good fun for old and young as a round game. Each player draws on the upper part of a slip of paper some fancy head and folds it back, leaving just enough in sight to guide his left-hand neighbour, who takes it and adds a body. Again the slips are handed on for the final addition of legs of any sort, some continuation being always indicated.
Then these completed patchwork pictures are thrown into a central bowl, shaken up, drawn out, and passed round for inspection and merry comment. The folds are the dotted lines.
A HOUSEHOLD WORD
The wounded and sick soldiers whom Florence Nightingale nursed so tenderly in the Crimea would have acclaimed her beautiful anagram--“Flit on, cheering angel!”
No. LXXII.--A WINTER NIGHT’S DREAM
Mr Jolliboy, chubby and active, had been dancing until the small hours at a house in the suburbs, which was the home of sweet Lucy, the lady of his love.
The full moon shone down upon him as he walked happily to his own modest quarters, and the “man in the moon” seemed to smile and wink at him most knowingly.
Letting himself in presently with his latch-key, Mr Jolliboy was soon in bed and fast asleep, when in his dreams the full moon shone again, showing at one moment a likeness of his own round face, at another two smiling profile views of his Lucy, and at times all the three mixed.
Here, changed by a few touches, are the three moon-faces to be seen in one moon!
When the great Tichborne trial was still dragging its slow length along, a barrister with a turn for anagrams amused himself and his learned friends by constructing the following really remarkable specimen:--Sir Roger Charles Doughty Tichborne, Baronet, “Yon horrid butcher Orton, biggest rascal here.”
No. LXXIII.--POINTS AND PICTURES
Among the many openings for pleasant fun in the home circle, there is none which appeals more easily to young and old than the good old puzzle of drawing off-hand some fanciful figure, based on five dots placed at random, which must fall on the face, hands, and feet of the subject chosen.
This spirited specimen shows how well it may be done, and similar efforts, more or less successful, will provoke much amusement. Try it with pencil or pen and ink.
ANOTHER BOAT-RACE ANAGRAM
Among the many points which have to be taken into account by those who in successive years are responsible for the selection of the Oxford eight, there is one which is thus neatly expressed by an anagram:--
“The Oxford and Cambridge annual boat-race.”
_Much extra load on board can bring a defeat._
No. LXXIV.--A NERVOUS SHOCK
This is the astounding portrait of himself, which presented itself to our scientific professor in his dreams. What very poor justice it does to the real lines of his benevolent and shrewd old countenance will be seen in a moment if this weird picture is reversed.
HOLIDAY HAUNTS
_Divination by Name_
Whenever we are making our plans, some of us for a holiday abroad, some for a few weeks at the seaside, there is a special interest in these descriptive anagrams:--
Davos Platz, Engadine.
“Stop, gaze, and live!”
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
“A sweet open summer’s resort.”
A very appropriate anagram that exactly describes its subject is this:--Cleopatra’s Needle, London--“An old lone stone replaced.” Very suggestive, too, are these short ones, which assure us that skeletons are “not sleek,” and that editors are “so tired!”
No. LXXV.--HOGARTH’S PUZZLE
A soldier, a dog, and a door can be thus drawn by only three strokes of a pen:--
It is said that this originated with Hogarth, who made a bet with his boon companions that he would draw a soldier, a dog, and a door in three strokes. For the bayonet he drew a pike.
No. LXXVI.--A REBUS
Why is this “Joker” like a poor joke?
Because he is _in an E_ (inane).
Here are three ingenious instances of what may be called answers by anagram:--
What is the protector of “wealth?”
_The law._
Where would a “cart-horse” be unhandy?
In an _orchestra_.
What is the “Daily Express?”
_Pressa die lux._
Concise daily light.
(u is used for y.)
It is curious that Mary, a name so sweet and simple, has as its anagram “army.” The conflicting thoughts suggested by these two words are very happily harmonised by George Herbert in his quaint style:--
“How well her name an army doth present,
In whom the Lord of Hosts doth pitch His tent!”
No. LXXVII.--THREE SQUARES
Here is quite a simple method of arranging nine matches so that they represent three squares.
The figure also includes at its sides two equilateral triangles.
A ROYAL ANAGRAM
Victoria the First, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and Empress of India. These letters also spell exactly:--
Fit for a bard I claim inspiréd strain:--
The sad and even tenor of a quiet reign.
POLITICAL ANAGRAMS
Here are two very perfect specimens:--
Earl Beaconsfield.
An able force is led_,
or,
_A free lance is bold_.
No. LXXVIII.--A TRANSPARENCY
When the plebiscite was taken in France to decide whether Napoleon III. should be Emperor, the number of votes cast in his favour was 7,119,791. Against him there were 1,119,000 votes.
If these numbers are written down quite plainly, as is shown above, with a dividing line, and without the three cyphers, and the paper or card on which they are strongly marked is reversed and held up against the light, the very word with which they were concerned, “empereur,” stands out with startling distinctness.
It can be drawn on thin cardboard with good effect.
AN IMPERIAL ANAGRAM
A sa Majesté impériale le Tsar Nicolas, souverain et autocrat 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.
This curiously apposite anagram was formed letter by letter from the surnames of the Oxford and Cambridge crews:--
April first nineteen hundred and five. How all warm, as arms, strong as light or dark blue crew’s, all ply oars on very smooth Thames! Oh! shall Cam’s boat lose?
No. LXXIX.--FOR THE CHILDREN
Here is an excellent and amusing pastime for the winter evenings. Cover a square of stout cardboard with glazed black paper, and divide it as is shown in this diagram:--
With a little ingenuity and some sense of fun, any number of grotesque figures can be constructed with the pieces, such as those which we give here as samples. Try it.
The truth that there is often much in common between puzzles and politics is borne out by the following up-to-date anagram:--This Eastern question--“Is quite a hornet’s nest.”
Quite a good anagram, appropriate to the name of a great author, and one of his works runs thus:--
Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist.
“Now C. D. strikes till vice hears.”
Confessions of an Opium-Eater
The same letters recast spell--
_If so man, refuse poison at once!_
No. LXXX.--JUDGING DISTANCE
(For the Children)
Can you, without measuring, say which two of these posts are farthest apart?
A JAPANESE ANAGRAM
“Oyama is Field-Marshal.”
_Fame aid his loyal arms!_
A TOPICAL ANAGRAM
“North Sea outrage.”
_A ghost near route!_
APPROPRIATE ANAGRAMS
Madame Rachel.
_Deal me a charm._
A. Tennyson.
_Any sonnet._
A FOURFOLD ANAGRAM
“Notes and Queries”
_A question sender._
_Enquires on dates._
_Reasoned inquest._
_I send on a request._
No. LXXXI.--HIT IT HARD
Place the two parts of a common wooden match-box, empty, and in good condition, in the position shown below.
Now challenge any one to break them with a smart downward blow of the edge of the hand. What will happen? Try it.
It is well to take care that no people are sitting, or children standing, near the box, as it might fly into their faces.
An amusing sequence and a note of warning run through these three anagrams:--Sweetheart, “There we sat;” Matrimony, “Into my arm;” One hug, “Enough.”
No. LXXXII.--A RE-“BUS”
The driver of a London ’bus the other day broke out into florid language as he nearly collided with a brand new motor omnibus.
One of the travesties of “motor-’bus” which he hurled at his rival is depicted in this diagram. What was it?
A PRIZE ANAGRAM
This letter-perfect anagram could not be more apposite if the words had been chosen from a dictionary:--“Abdul Hamid Khan, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.”--“Inhuman despot, that maketh Armenia bloodful.”
The words in italics in--
One lovely _May morn it_ chanced that I set
My all on a new speculation;
But the venturesome step I can never regret,
For my prize has surpassed expectation,
find in _Matrimony_ their anagram, which is also the solution of the lines.
No. LXXXIII.--ROUSING DEAD DOGS
A GOOD OLD PUZZLE
These dogs are dead, we all should say;
Give them four strokes, they run away!
A MEAL OF ANAGRAMS
Mute hen.
Your posset.
Try our steak.
One solid lamb.
Steamed or tossed.
Mince sole.
This is solved thus:--
The Menu.
Oyster soup.
Roast turkey.
Boiled salmon.
Dressed tomatoes.
Lemon ices.
Each corresponding sentence is a perfect anagram.
_Earl of Beaconsfield_ is spelt with the same letters as the sentence “O able dealer in scoff!”
If a lion with an ear for music were to hear the sound of an “oratorio,” he might say, as an answer by anagram, _I roar too_!
No. LXXXIV.--LIKE A BLACK SWAN
(_Nigroque simillima cygno._)
Here is quite a good “shadowgraph.”
With a strong light and a little practice, any one may easily produce this effect with the shadow thrown by arms and hands.
ANSWERS BY ANAGRAM
What is Russia?--Russia _is ursa_ (a bear).
What did a Prime Minister say of the _Saturday Review_?
That _it was a very rude_ periodical.
BEANS AND BACON
What appropriate advice might be given by anagram to those who support the “Shakespeare-Bacon” controversy?
_Soak cheaper beans._
No. LXXXV.--CHEQUERS AND STRIPES
Here is a particularly charming domino puzzle:--
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| 2 | | | | 3 | | | | 3 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| 2 | | | | 1 | | | | 3 |
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| | | 1 | | | | 3 | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | 4 | | | | 4 | | |
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| 1 | | | | 3 | | | | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| 5 | | | | 5 | | | | 5 |
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
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Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle BookChapter XI: Part II (1)
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