Chapter V: Hand Shadows and how to work them. Illustrated (2)

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A headless man had a letter to write,
He who read it had lost his sight.
The dumb repeated it word for word,
And deaf was the man who listened and heard.

AN ENIGMA FOR MOTORISTS

I am rough, I am smooth,
I am wet, I am dry;
My station is low,
My title is high.
The King my lawful master is,
I’m used by all, though only his.

No. LXI.--CUT AND COME AGAIN

How long would it take to divide completely a 2 ft. block of ice by means of a piece of wire on which a weight of 5 lb. hangs?

Without a dome, we are within a dome;
Homeless and roofless, we have roof and home.
Though frequent streams may flood our base and roof,
We rest unharmed, and always waterproof.

I’m the most fearful of fates upon earth,
Cut off my head and bright moments have birth,
Lop off my shoulders, and riddle my riddle;
Anything seems to be found in my middle.

No. LXII.--WHERE WILL IT BREAK?

When weak cords of equal strength are attached to opposite parts of a wooden or metal ball which is suspended by one of them, a sharp, sudden pull will snap the lower cord before the movement has time to affect the ball; but a gentle, steady pull will cause the upper cord to snap, as it supports the weight below it.

I may be safe when honest ways prevail,
With no unworthy tricks or jobbery.
Cut off my head and fix it to my tail,
And I become at once rank robbery.

No. LXIII.--CATCHING THE DICE

Hold a pair of dice, and a cup for casting them, in one hand as is shown in the diagram.

Now, holding the cup fast, throw up one of the dice and catch it in the cup. How can you best be sure of catching the other also in the cup?

Here is a metrical Enigma, which appeals with particular force to all married folk, and to our cousins in America:

This is of fellowship the token,
Reverse it, and the bond is broken.

No. LXIV.--WILL THEY FALL?

Build up seven dominoes into a double arch, as is shown in the diagram below, and place a single domino in the position indicated.

Now put the fore-finger carefully through the lower archway, and give this domino quite a smart tip up by pressing on its corner. What will happen if this is done cleverly? Try it.

A monk in a moment, by violence heated,
Endangered the peace of his soul.
To atone for my second, my first he repeated
Just ten times a day on my whole.

No. LXV.--A TRANSPOSITION

Place three pennies in contact in a line as is shown below, so that a “head” is between two “tails.”

Can you introduce the coin with a shaded surface between the other two in a straight line, without touching one of these two, and without moving the other?

Two syllables this word contains:
Reverse them and then what remains?

* * * * *

With cap and pipe and goggles too
The comics hold him up to view,
Reverse his parts you would declare
A dog should not be quartered there.

Though I myself shut up may be,
My work is to set prisoners free.
No slave his lord’s commands obeys
With more insinuating ways.
All find me handy, sharp, and bright,
Where men in wit and wine delight;
While many keep me for their ease,
And turn and twist me as they please.

No. LXVI.--COIN COUNTING

Place ten coins in a circle, as is shown in this diagram, so that on all of them the king’s head is uppermost.

====
= =
= 1 =
==== = = ====
= = ==== = =
= 10 = = 2 =
= = = =
==== ==== ==== ====
= = = =
= 9 = = 3 =
= = = =
==== ====

==== ====
= = = =
= 8 = = 4 =
= = = =
==== ==== ==== ====
= = = =
= 7 = = 5 =
= = ==== = =
==== = = ====
= 6 =
= =
====

Now start from any coin you choose, calling it 1, the next 2, and so on, and turn the _fourth_, so that the tail is uppermost. Start again on any king’s head, and again turn the fourth, and continue to do this until all but one are turned.

Coins already turned are reckoned in the counting, but the count of “four” must fall on an unturned coin.

Can you find a plan for turning all the coins but one in this way without ever failing to count four upon a fresh spot, and to start on an unturned coin?

No. LXVII.--THE BALANCED CORK

The diagram below shows how, using one hand only, and grasping a bottle of wine by its body, the contents can be poured out without cutting or boring the cork, or altogether removing it from the bottle.

Transformed by art, and fond of port,
I blister in the sun;
But when I turn, and face the sport,
Away full tilt I run;
For if I double I am caught,
And that can be no fun.

A man without eyes saw plums on a tree,
He neither took plums nor plums left he.

No. LXVIII.--NUTS TO CRACK

A sharply-pointed knife with a heavy handle is stuck very lightly into the lintel of a door, and the nut that is to be cracked is placed under it, so that when the knife is released by a touch the nut is cracked.

What simple and certain plan can you suggest for making sure that the knife shall hit the nut exactly in the middle without fail?

A SINGULAR ENIGMA

Strange paradox! though my two halves are gone,
I still remain an undivided whole.
But were I double what I am, though one,
I then should be but half, upon my soul!

No. LXIX.--THE FLOATING CORKS

If we throw an ordinary wine cork into a tub of water it will naturally float on its side. It is, however, possible to arrange a group of seven such corks, without fastening them in any way, so that they will float in upright positions.

Place them together, as is shown in the illustration, and, holding them firmly, dip them under the water till they are well wetted. Then, keeping them exactly upright, leave go quietly, and they will float in a compact bunch if they are brought slowly to the surface.

A PARADOX

I start with five thousand, and take nothing off,
Yet really in doing so nine-tenths I doff;
And it proves with no strain upon numbers or reason,
That the smaller are larger in size and in season.

No. LXX.--A LIGHT, STEADY HAND

As an exercise of patience and dexterity, try to balance a set of dominoes upon one that stands upon its narrow end:--

This is no easy matter, but a little patience will enable us to arrange the stones in layers, which can with care be lifted into place and balanced there.

With letters three indite my name,
Add one to show what I became,
Or try to tell what brought me fame.

No. LXXI.--WHAT IS THIS?

We expect to puzzle our readers completely by this diagram:--

It is simply the enlargement by photography of part of a familiar picture.

Eight letters respond to the quest
Of all for enjoyment athirst;
Two articles lead to the rest,
And the last of the rest is the first.

When letters five compose my name
I’m seldom seen but in a flame.
Take off one letter, then you see
That winter is the time for me.
Another take, and I appear
What many must be year by year.

No. LXXII.--TAKING THE GROUND FROM UNDER IT

Place a strip of smooth paper on a table so that it overhangs the side, as is shown in the diagram. Stand a new penny steadily on edge upon the paper.

Take hold of the paper firmly, and give it a smart, steady pull. If this is properly done it will leave the penny standing unmoved in its place.

A shining wit pronounced of late
That water in a freezing state
Is like an acting magistrate.
What was the quibble in his pate?

By something formed I nothing am,
Yet anything that you can name.
In all things false, yet ever true,
And still the same but never new;
Like thought I’m in a moment gone,
Nor can I ever be alone.

No. LXXIII.--A READY RECKONER

Two men, standing on the bank of a broad stream, across which they could not cast their fishing lines, could not agree as to its width. A bet on the point was offered and accepted, and the question was presently decided for them by an ingenious friend who came along, without any particular appliances for measurement.

He stood on the edge of the bank, steadied his chin with one hand, and with the other tilted his cap till its peak just cut the top of the opposite bank.

Then, turning round, he stood exactly where the peak cut the level ground behind him, and, by stepping to that spot, was able to measure a distance equal to the width of the stream.

When you and I together meet,
Then there are six to see and greet.
If I and you should meet once more,
Our company would be but four.
And when you leave me all alone
I am a solitary one.

No. LXXIV.--THE CLIMBING HOOP

Paste or pin together the ends of a long strip of stiff paper so as to form a hoop, and place on the table a board resting at one end upon a book. Challenge those in your company to make the hoop run up the board without any impulse.

They must of course fail, but you can succeed by secretly fastening with beeswax a small stone or piece of metal inside the hoop, as is indicated in the diagram.

Invisible yet never out of sight,
I am indeed a centre of delight.
In quiet times I help to make things right,
Yet act as second in the fiercest fight.

No. LXXV.--THE SEAL OF MAHOMET

This double crescent, called the Seal of Mahomet, from a legend that the prophet was wont to describe it on the ground with one stroke of his scimitar, is to be made by one continuous stroke of pen or pencil, without going twice over any part of it.

Though I mingle with thieves,
And with all that deceives,
And never keep clear of depravity
Though possessed by a devil,
Or seen in a revel,
I do keep my centre of gravity.

There’s not a bird that cleaves the sky
With crest or plume more gay than I,
Yet guess me by this token:
That I am never seen to fly
Unless my wings are broken.

No. LXXVI.--MOVE THE MATCHES

Arrange 15 matches thus--

--------| --------| -------|
| | | | | |\ |
| | | |-------| | \ |
| | | | | | \ |
|-------- |-------- |-------

Remove 6 and what number will be left?

Split into three and mixed,
With Dives I am found.
Split into two and fixed
On four legs, flat or round.
In my most kindly sense unbroken,
Warm hearts and helpers I betoken.

I am high, I am low,
I am thick, I am thin,
I can keep out the snow,
But may let the rain in.

HIDDEN FRUIT

Go range through every clime, where’er
The patriot muse appears
He deeds of valour antedates,
His ban an army fears.

By midnight lamp each poet soul
Is plumed for flight sublime;
Pale monarch moon and shining stars
Witness his glowing rhyme!

Incited by the muse man goes
To grapple with his wrongs;
The poet cares not who makes laws,
If he may make the songs.

Can you discover ten fruits in these lines?

No. LXXVII.--LINES ON AN OLD SAMPLER

The last of you before the end
Close to an inn we first must find,
If nothing follows all will tend
To hints that rankle in the mind.

No. LXXVIII.--DOMINO DUPLICITY

By the following ingenious arrangement of the stones a set of dominoes appears to be unduly rich in doublets:--

+-------+ +-------+
| 1 1 | | 3 3 |
+---+---+---+-------+---+---+---+
| 1 | 1 5 | 5 0 | 0 3 | 3 |
| +---+---+---+---+-------+ |
| 6 | 6 | 5 5 | 0 | 0 6 | 6 |
+---+ +-------+ +-------+---+
| 6 | 6 | 4 4 | 4 | 4 6 | 6 |
| +---+---+---+---+-------+ |
| 2 | 2 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 5 | 5 |
+---+-------+ | +-------+---+
| 2 | 2 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 5 | 5 |
| +-------+---+---+-------+ |
| 0 | 0 1 | 1 3 | 3 2 | 2 |
+---+---+---+-------+---+---+---+
| 0 0 | | 2 2 |
+-------+ +-------+

It will be noticed that the charm of this arrangement is that the whole figure contains a double set of quartettes, on which the pips are similar.

Many men of many minds,
Many birds of many kinds,
Some are dun, and some are gray--
Which is this one? tell me, pray!
See him where the water shines,
But not perching on the pines.

No. LXXIX.--MORE DOMINO DUPLICITY

+-------+ +-------+ +-------+ +-------+
| 2 2 | | 0 0 | | 1 1 | | 3 3 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 2 | 2 3 | 3 0 | 0 | | 1 | 1 6 | 6 3 | 3 |
| +---+---+-------+ | | +-------+---+---+ |
| 6 | 6 | 3 | 3 1 | 1 | | 4 | 4 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 |
+---+ | +-------+---+ +---+-------+ | +---+
| 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 1 | 1 | | 4 | 4 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| +---+---+-------+ | | +-------+---+---+ |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 2 | 2 | | 2 | 2 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
+---+ | +-------+---+ +---+-------+ | +---+
| 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 2 | 2 | | 2 | 2 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| +---+---+---+---+ | | +-------+---+---+ |
| 4 | 4 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | | 1 | 1 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
+---+-------+ | +---+ +---+---+---+ | +---+
| 4 | 4 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | | 1 | 1 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
| +-------+---+---+ | | +-------+---+---+ |
| 3 | 3 6 | 6 1 | 1 | | 0 | 0 3 | 3 2 | 2 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 3 3 | | 1 1 | | 0 0 | | 2 2 |
+-------+ +-------+ +-------+ +-------+

This again shows how the stones can be placed so that an ordinary set of dominoes seems to be unduly rich in doublets.

We know how, by the addition of a single letter, our _cares_ can be softened into a _caress_; but in the following Enigma a still more contradictory result follows, without the addition or alteration of a letter, by a mere separation of syllables:--

None can locate the subject of my riddle.
For all the world would seek its place in vain;
Cut it asunder almost in the middle,
And in our very midst its place is plain.

An aching void, an absolute negation,
Into the opposite extreme it breaks;
With just a gap to mark their new relation
Each letter still the same position takes.

No. LXXX.--TWO MORE PATTERNS

Here are two more perfect arrangements of a set of dominoes in quartettes, so that the pips and blanks are similarly grouped and repeated:--

+---+-------+-------+-------+---+ +---+-------+-------+-------+---+
| 3 | 3 0 | 0 5 | 5 2 | 2 | | 0 | 0 2 | 2 3 | 3 1 | 1 |
| +---+---+---+---+---+---+ | | +---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
+---+ | | | | | +---+ +---+ | | | | | +---+
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 | | 4 4 | 5 | 5 0 | 0 |
+---+ | | | | | +---+ +-------+ +-------+ |
| 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 6 6 | 5 | 5 6 | 6 |
| +---+---+---+---+---+---+ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
+---+ | | | | | +---+ +---+ | | | | | +---+
| 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+ | +---+---+---+---+---+---+ |
| 6 6 | 5 5 | 4 4 | | 2 | 2 1 | 1 4 | 4 3 | 3 |
+-------+-------+-------+ +---+-------+-------+-------+---+

CHARADES

SIR WALTER SCOTT’S CHARADE

Sir Hilary fought at Agincourt,
Sooth! ’twas an awful day
And though in olden days of sport
The rufflers of the camp and court
Had little time to pray,
’Tis said Sir Hilary muttered there
Two syllables by way of prayer.

“My first to all the brave and proud
Who see to-morrow’s sun;
My next with her cold and quiet cloud
To those who find a dewy shroud
Before the day is won.
And both together to all bright eyes
That weep when a warrior nobly dies!”

No. LXXXI.--COUNTING THEM OUT

Arrange twelve dominoes as is shown in this diagram, and start counting _in French_ from the double five, thus u, n, _un_; remove the stone you thus reach, which has _one_ pip upon it, and start afresh with the next stone, d, e, u, x, _deux_; this brings you to the stone with two pips; then t, r, o, i, s, _trois_, brings you to that with _three_, and so on until _douze_ brings you to twelve.

+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

Always remove the stone as you hit upon each consecutive number.

Now who can re-arrange these same stones so that a similar result works out in _English_, thus--o, n, e, _one_ (remove the stone), t, w, o, _two_, and so on throughout?

A FAMILY CHARADE

A man with fourscore winters white
Sat dozing in his chair;
His frosted brow was quite my first,
Crowned with its silver hair.

My whole, when playing at his feet,
Sly glances upward stole;
My second, standing at his side,
Was father of my whole.

No. LXXXII.--TRICKS WITH DOMINOES

In this diagram the word EACH is formed by the use of a complete set of stones, placing every letter in proper domino sequence.

+-------+-------+ +---+-------+ +---+-------+---+ +---+ +---+
| 6 5 | 5 3 | | 1 | 1 5 | | 1 | 1 1 | 1 | | 5 | | 0 |
+---+---+-------+ | +---+---+ | +-------+ | | | | |
| 6 | | 0 | | 5 | | 6 | | 2 | | 4 | | 3 |
| | +---+ | | +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| 0 +-------+ | 0 | | 2 | | 6 | | 4 +-------+ 3 |
+---+ 0 2 | | +---+---+ | | | | 4 3 | |
| 0 +-------+ | 4 | 4 2 | | 6 | | 4 +-------+ 3 |
| | +---+---+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| 0 | | 4 | | 2 | | 6 | | 2 | | 4 | | 3 |
+---+---+-------+ | | | | | +-------+ | | | | |
| 0 5 | 5 5 | | 6 | | 6 | | 3 | 3 2 | 2 | | 1 | | 1 |
+-------+-------+ +---+ +---+ +---+-------+---+ +---+ +---+

There are also the same number of pips in each letter. Can you construct another English word under the same conditions? As a hint, the word that we have in mind is plural.

Upon my face is not a single hair,
Although my beard uncut is growing there.
Men call me Shelley, though I can’t converse,
To me all tongues alike would be a curse.
I in my house must night and day abide,
And though quite well must keep my bed, outside.
For me no bell shall toll a funeral knell,
I’m doomed, like Shelley, dead to have no shell.

This amusing Charade is from the pen of a wise and witty Irish Bishop:--

True to the trumpet call of fame and duty
The soldier arms, and hastens to depart;
Nor casts one look behind, though love and beauty
Whisper _my first_ in tones that thrill his heart.

The war is o’er, with wealth and honour laden
The hero seeks the well-remembered Hall:
He woos and wins the unreluctant maiden,
And bids _my second_ o’er her blushes fall.

He takes her hand--a mist of rapture thickens
Before her eyes. Such bliss succeeding pain
O’ertasks her strength, and fainting nature sickens,
Until _my whole_ is rudely snapt in twain.

No. LXXXIII.--THE HOUR GLASS

This very beautiful specimen of a knight’s tour on the chess-board takes its name from the figure formed by the tracery at its centre.

An endless number of symmetrical patterns of varied design can be formed, by a knight’s consecutive moves, with patience and ingenuity.

No. LXXXIV.--A STAR’S TOUR

Here is a pretty and very regular specimen of a knight’s tour on the chess board.

It is one of many variations which produce in the tracery a central star.

MAKE IT KNOWN

My first she was a serving maid,
Who went to buy some tea;
How much she bought my second tells,
As all may plainly see.

Now when the answer you have found
Tell it to others too;
My whole will then to maids and men
Explain what ’tis you do.

No. LXXXV.--THE MARBLE ARCH

Here is a remarkably symmetrical specimen of a knight’s tour on the chess board.

It takes its name from the central archway, which this arrangement forms.

My fourth is just ten times my first
When that takes on my second;
My third and second when reversed
Double my first are reckoned.
All this is empty, though my pen
So full may seem to show it;
Reverse my first and second, then
My whole becomes a poet.

O’er distant hills the rising moon
The evening mist dispersed:
And beaming radiant in the sky
She plainly showed _my first_.

A horseman guided by her light,
Approached with headlong speed
And as he rode _my second_ said
To urge his flagging steed.

His lady waited at the gate,
Though trysting hour was past.
She was _my whole_, because her lord
Was then _my third_ and last.

No. LXXXVI.--ANOTHER TOUR AMONG STARS

In No. LXXXIV we gave a pretty illustration of a knight’s tour, with a central star.

Here is a good course which shows in its symmetrical tracery a pair of stars.

No. LXXXVII.--THE WINDMILL

Among the countless fanciful variations of the knight’s tour that are possible, some have been so designed that more than a merely symmetrical pattern is involved.

Here is, for example, an excellent suggestion of the sails of a windmill with their central fittings.

A TROPICAL CHARADE

My first’s a liquid or a solid snare,
My all is hot, or in a maiden’s hair;
My second just a track.
Transpose my first, and they will both declare
My all is now a black.

No. LXXXVIII.--LAZY TONGS

Here is a very distinctive specimen of the knight’s tour, in which the design reminds us of the old-fashioned lazy-tongs, which stretched out and then back, by opening or shutting their handles on finger and thumb.

A FLORAL CHARADE

My first must be below the ground,
To do its proper duty;
Within my second may be found
Chaps that can boast no beauty;
Some simple garden holds the two combined,
Old-fashioned emblem of a candid mind.

No. LXXXIX.--CHESS ARITHMETIC

This beautiful symmetrical knight’s tour involves in its accomplishment a pretty problem in arithmetic:--

If we follow the course of the knight step by step, and number consecutively the squares on which it rests at each move, we find that there is a constant difference of 32 between the numbers on any two of these squares that correspond in position on opposite sides of the central line.

My first can be no joke to crack,
My second I adore;
Reverse her name, and you will see
Just what that maiden is to me.
My whole is grown where boys are black
Upon a sultry shore.

No. XC.--A SHORT KNIGHT’S TOUR

This short symmetrical knight’s tour can be tested on a corner of the chessboard:--

The knight can start from any square, and, taking the course indicated, return on the twentieth move to the starting point.

BY GEORGE CANNING

Though weak my first is reckoned,
And game made of my second;
Yet both bade hosts defiance
When joined in close alliance.

As Lubin did my first, and, scythe in hand,
Espied his Phyllis by the hedgerow stand,
He called out to my next, in cheery tones and clear,
“Tell me, sweet all, you’ll fetch a pot of beer.”

No. XCI.--THE STOLEN PEARLS

A dishonest jeweller, who had a cross of pearls to repair for a lady of title, on which nine pearls could be counted from the top, or from either of the side ends to the bottom, kept back two of the pearls, and yet contrived to return the cross re-set so that nine pearls could still be counted in each direction, as at first. How was this done?

A WORD OF WARNING

Says William to his thriftless wife,
“To _first_ unless you try,
Your wasteful ways will spoil our life.”
Her’s is a curt reply.

_Second_ and _third_ her answer give;
Full soon their fortunes fall,
Each of the hapless pair must live
And wander as my _all_.

A FINE CHARADE BY PRAED

Come from my first, ay, come;
The battle dawn is nigh,
And the screaming trump and the thundering drum
Are calling thee to die.
Fight, as thy father fought,
Fall, as thy father fell:
Thy task is taught, thy shroud is wrought,
So forward and farewell!

Toll ye my second, toll;
Fling high the flambeau’s light,
And sing the hymn for a parted soul
Beneath the silent night.
The helm upon his head,
The cross upon his breast,
Let the prayer be said, and the tear be shed
Now take him to his rest!

Call ye my whole, go call
The lord of lute and lay,
And let him greet the sable pall
With a noble song to-day.
Ay, call him by his name,
No fitter hand may crave
To light the flame of a soldier’s fame
On the turf of a soldier’s grave!

My first has cause in dread to hold
The foggy month November.
My next, when given to knights of old
Was held to mean “remember!”

With one line many do my first,
With two it can but meet;
My second, as its breakers burst,
Around my whole may beat.

She was my first; one happy day
She was my second,
And shewed my all. Now can you say
How this is reckoned?

My first it may a seaman save,
Or cause a fighter’s fall;
My next reminds us of the wave,
Or of unseemly brawl.
My whole is rather pert than brave,
And like a rubber ball.

Seen with a stolen spoon, my first was reckoned
Bad as my whole in moral tone.
Whether a number or alone my second
Touched by my third is turned to stone.

NOT A CATECHISM

My first a friend, companion, guide,
Is loving, staunch, and cheery;
My second has a cleansing side,
My third denotes a theory.
My whole, good luck! is held by few
To bore and make us weary.

My first is an insect,
My second a border;
My whole puts the face
Into tuneful disorder.

My first seldom crosses your path,
Though wheels and a body it hath;
My next from a clown
Much applause will bring down,
My whole was Goliath of Gath.

My first he sat upon my whole
And used it as my second.
His halves akin in Latin and
In English may be reckoned.

A PHONETIC FLORAL CHARADE

My first comes often to our mind
When for a saint we look.
My second sees the greetings kind
Of Bobby and the cook.
My whole in hothouse you may find,
Or pictured in a book.

Man cannot live without my first,
By day and night ’tis used;
My second is by all accursed,
By day and night abused.
My whole is never seen by day,
And never used by night,
’Tis dear to friends when far away,
But hated when in sight.

BY AN OXFORD OAR

I am my first, my second thou mayest be
In classic shades, where gently roll
The crystal waters of my whole
To seek the sea.

My first is worn by night and day,
And very useful reckoned;
London, or Bath, or Bristol may
With truth be styled my second.
Now if you cannot find me out
You lack my whole without a doubt.

My first now marks the soldier’s face,
Who was my next’s defender;
But when my whole attacked the place
It drove him to surrender.

My first is away from Paris, and may
Come round with a rap at your portal;
My second is Spanish, but quickly will vanish
If it turns to a nod from a mortal.

Often my first a B begins,
One always starts my second.
My all, though free from grosser sins,
Of little worth is reckoned.

My first is a kind of butter,
My second is a sort of cutter;
My whole, whether smaller or larger,
Was always a kind of charger.

My first is but lately promoted
To a place in our language, and quoted.
My second it lives in the sea.
On the hill-tops it flourishes free.
My whole I should certainly call
A delectable dainty for all.

AN ENIGMA-CHARADE

Take in my first, and you will find
It helps you to make up your mind.
Write to my second, and behold
You see into the secret told.

A QUAINT CHARADE

BY CHARLES JAMES FOX

My first is expressive of no disrespect,
But I never call you by it when you are by;
If my second you still are resolved to reject,
As dead as my whole I shall presently lie.

My first reversed will plainly show
An apple in its embryo.
Reverse my second, and we see
That which in sight can never be.
Replace them both, and write me down
Six letters that will spell a town.

My first is equal to the rest,
My second not so much;
My whole is better than the best,
Beyond compare nonsuch.

AN ITALIAN POET’S LOVE SONG

Hear me, my all: oh, be my first!
My second is a single;
If you say yes, then in my third
Our happy lives shall mingle.

A PARADOX

My first a simple verb, or half a verb, may be;
Almost the same my next, or half the same, we see.
My whole may weigh a ton or more, and yet be light,
Dull, and bereft of motion; swift, exceeding bright.

My first is found in fruit,
You take it for my second;
My whole in church to suit
Attentive ears is reckoned.

My _first_ is frugal, lean, and thin,
My _second_ leads to eve,
My _whole_ is hidden by a skin,
But not of sheep or beeve.

VERY PERSONAL

My first to us may point ’tis clear,
And what I say is true, sir!
My next to her your thoughts will steer,
My whole it is in view, sir!

My second in my first can speed
Across United States;
My third from Q’s pen we can read,
My whole has water-rates;
My first and second drive my first along,
My third and second drive a mind all wrong.

To puzzle solvers can I shine,
And so my first is writ.
With this my second did combine
To make a happy hit.
My whole, with both fixed in a line
Firm as I can, did fit.

A RUSTIC CHARADE

My first and second are my third,
My third my first and second may be;
My whole, if right you read the word,
May never have a wife or baby.

Let my second cut my first
Into slices thin;
Seek in Shakespeare for my whole,
Injured by his kin.

A FIRM GRIP

I may give you my first with my second,
Or my second may give with my first;
The one act as friendly is reckoned,
The other will rank with the worst.
If my whole through my second creeps over my first,
It will cling as a bond that no effort can burst.

My first is called a sin in name,
My third its simple cure;
My second puts an end to fame,
My whole in ease is sure.

In my first ’tis sweet to tarry
’Mid my second’s realms of bliss.
In the two, though none can marry,
All are subject to a kiss.

My first, which washes half a nation’s gums,
From foreign climes within my second comes:
And though, my whole, thine is no teacher’s part,
Thou art not science, but thou teachest art!

My first on country hedges grows,
My next is found in garden rows,
My third to make it more transpose,
My whole is one of London’s shows.

My first the best solver can never find out,
My second is looked for in vain;
My third may hide all from our view round about,
My whole must be weak, or in pain.

SORROW’S ANTIDOTE

My first does affliction denote,
Which my second is destined to bear;
My whole is the sweet antidote
That affliction to soothe and to share.

I see a sign of music not reversed, and then
My second and my third both pass beyond my ken.

My first has my second my third his mouth;
My whole was a tribe in the sunny south.

“QUOD” ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM

My second makes my ending,
My first is its reverse;
My whole bad men is sending
From court to quarters worse.

My first, though won and never lost,
Reversed is now before ye:
My second turns as red as blood
Upon a field of glory.
My whole is plain, yet you’ll confess
It is a wonder if you guess.

I get my second when I take my first,
And then my upright character is lost;
My whole gives quarters to a rat reversed,
Or is a refuge for the tempest tost.

My first is almost a cropper;
My second is often a propper;
My whole was entirely a whopper.

A FLORAL CHARADE

My first by poet’s eye was seen
Sad watching at the gates of heaven.
My next in tints of tender green
By Dickens with quaint art was given.

My first is nothing but a name
My second is more small;
My whole is of such slender fame
It has no name at all.

When second is of whole a fourth,
And first a fifth of second,
Then first by second multiplied
To make my whole is reckoned.

A CHARADE WITH A MORAL

My first is black, my second red,
My whole no man should take to bed.

My first upon their prey can dart,
My next can ne’er be down;
My whole performs a saucy part
In country or in town.

My first makes hills unpleasant
To every cyclist’s wheel.
My next is where they take you to
If in the streets you steal.
My whole is what I most dislike
When in the dumps I feel.

My first is the voice of heart-sorrows or joys,
My second, bar one, have been all of them boys,
My whole is made ill by the harsh raven’s noise.

QUITE SELF-CONTAINED

My first is in my second,
My third contains an ass;
And when my whole is reckoned
You see it is in glass.

Safe on Lucinda’s arm my first may rest,
And raise no tumult in Alonzo’s breast.
My second can the want of legs supply
To those that neither creep, nor walk, nor fly;
My whole is rival to the fairest toast,
And when most warmly welcomed suffers most.

My second, my first can control,
If his understanding is reckoned.
My second may not be my whole,
But my whole must be always my second.

AN OLD COCKNEY CHARADE

My first’s a little thing that hops,
My second comes with summer crops,
My whole is good with mutton chops.

A STRIKING CHARADE

My first I gently strike, and lo!
It soon becomes my second.
Indeed if this should not be so
My whole it is not reckoned.

PLANTING PEAS

“I think,” said Ted, “it will be wise
To set the peas this way;
For here they will face friendly skies,
And sun shines all the day.”

“Your first is good,” the gardener said,
“Peas thrive in sun and shower;
So now, good second, dig the bed
Where all can see them flower.”

Can you fit a word of two syllables to this Charade?

My first is found where wit and wine
Combine to grace the festal board;
My second where sad captives pine,
In dungeon of some tyrant lord.
My whole is ready for the doomed,
Twice tried by fire ere once consumed.

A BRAIN TWISTER

My first is half my second
And my third is half my first
My second and my third are good
To quench a mighty thirst.

RIDDLES AND CONUNDRUMS

1. Woman is my end, was my beginning, and you will find her in my midst.

I am an uncle, but it is not nice
To be saluted as an uncle twice.

Why not?

3. If a tailor and a goose are on the top of the Monument, which is the quickest way for the tailor to get down?

4. My first is almost all, so is my second, and also my whole?

Those who have me do not desire me,
And yet they never wish to lose me,
Those who gain me have me no longer.

6. Why may a barrister’s fees be said to be cheap?

Two brothers are we, great burdens we bear,
By which we are heavily prest:
We are full all the day to endure wear and tear,
But empty when able to rest.

8. Peter Portman was so proud of his small feet that a wag started the following riddle: “Why are Portman’s feet larger than any others in his club?”

There is a word of letters four,
Take two away, and four remain;
Take three away, and five before
Your eyes you see as plain as plain.

To one syllable adjusted,
Running on the ground,
I have two, no longer trusted,
If you turn me round.

11. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

12. What do they do with peaches in California?

13. What is the utmost effort ever made by a piebald horse at a high jump?

“In my first my second sat,
Then my third and fourth I ate.”

Under my first my second stood,
That’s your riddle: mine’s as good!

15. What are the differences between a gardener, a billiard-marker, a precise man, and a verger?

16. Which can see most, a man with two eyes, or a man with one?

17. When you do not know the time, and “ask a policeman” what o’clock it is, why are you like the Viceroy of India?

18. What is the question to which “yes” is the only possible reply?

19. What is that which will go up a pipe down, but will not go down a pipe up; or will go down a pipe down, but not up a pipe up, and yet when it has gone up a pipe or down a pipe, will go up or down?

20. Why was London for many years a wonderful place for carrying sound?

21. Why is a motor-car like swimming fish?

22. Who can decipher this?

1/6d. me a bloater.

23. Why is a moth flying round a candle like a garden-gate?

To half a dozen add half a score,
And you will plainly see
Just twenty, neither less nor more--
Now say, how can this be?

25. If I caught a newt why would it be a small one?

26. How can a lawyer’s fee be paid with only a threepenny piece?

27. When does the cannon ball?

28. Why should children go to bed soon after tea?

29. Which may weigh the most, Scotsmen or Irishmen?

30. Why cannot we have our hair cut?

31. Divide a hundred and fifty by half of ten, add two-thirds of ten, and so you will find a town.

32. The following riddle is from the pen and fertile brain of Archbishop Whately, who, it is said, offered in vain £50 for its solution:--

When from the Ark’s capacious round
Mankind came forth in pairs,
Who was it that first heard the sound
Of steps upon the stairs?

33. If Moses was the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, who was the daughter of Pharaoh’s son?

34. I am a word of three syllables, and in all my fulness I represent woman. Rob me of five letters and I am a man. Take away but four, I am woman again. Remove only three, and I resume my manhood. What am I?

35. A cyclist on a night journey punctures his tyre, and finds that he has forgotten his outfit for repairs. After wheeling the disabled machine uphill for about two miles he registers a vow. What is it?

Some more than the mere whole my whole contains;
Remove that whole, and some of it remains!

37. Why were Younghusband’s pack-horses in Thibet like up-to-date motor cars?

The public credit and the public shame
Differ in everything except in name.

39. Why is a telescope like a miser?

40. If I were in the sun, and you were out of it, what would it be?

I’m a word of four letters akin to the snow,
Just half of my first my third letter will show.
One fifth of my fourth my first you may call,
Of my second ’tis best to say nothing at all.

42. What is the chief and most natural thing for politicians to desire to do when for the time they are out in the cold, awaiting a change of Government?

43. I am long lasting, beginning at my end, ending with no beginning, and my end and my beginning between them will bring you to an end.

With both feet crossed sit steady on a stool,
Then uncross one, and try to find a fool.

A RABBIT RUN

45. How far can a rabbit run into a square wood, with sides that each measure a mile, if it keeps on a straight course and does not break cover?

Often talked of, never seen,
Ever coming, never been,
Daily looked for, never here,
Still approaching in the rear.
Thousands for my presence wait,
But, by the decree of Fate,
Though expected to appear
They will never see me here.

47. I received my first because I was rash enough to say my second to my third, when seeking re-election at my whole.

How is it, in this charming weather,
You and I can’t lunch together?

With a head, and without a head,
With a tail, and without a tail,
With a head without a tail,
With a tail without a head,
With a head and tail,
Without a head and tail.

50. “Ask me another,” she said, when he pressed her to name the happy day. “I will,” he replied. “Why is the letter ‘d’ like the answer which I seek from you?”

SWIFT’S RIDDLE

Two thirds of an ass, and a hole in the ground,
Will dress you a dinner worth many a pound.

TOM HOOD’S RIDDLE

52. Here is a riddle for which Tom Hood was responsible. Can you solve it?

Twice to thine,
Once to mine,
With Congou make a gift divine.

53. Hold up your hand and you will see what you never have seen, never can see, and never will see. What is this?

54. Can you tell the difference between the Emperor of Russia and an ill-shod beggar?

55. Why did Eden Philpotts?

56. We have heard much of man’s imagined connection with the monkey, through some missing link. What evidence can we gather from early records of, at any rate, some verbal kinship with the patient ass?

57. My first is gold, my second is silver, my third is copper, and my whole is tin.

58. What is highest when its head is off?

59. What word is there of six letters which can be so read that it claims to be spelt with only one?

60. If a good oyster is a native, what is a bad one?

61. Why is John Bright?

62. If I walk into a room full of people, and place a new penny upon the table in full view of the company, what does the coin do?

63. Jones, who had made it, and put it into his waistcoat pocket, lost it. Brown picked it up, and lighted his cigar with it. Then they both went to the train in it, and ran all the way.

64. Why cannot a deaf and dumb man tickle nine people?

65. When did “London” begin with an _l_ and end with an _e_?

66. I sent my second to my first, but many a whole passed before he came back to me.

67. Which weighs most, the new moon or the full moon?

68. Here is a puzzle which is unique and most remarkable, and which seems to be impossible, though it is absolutely sound:--

There is an English word of more than two letters, of which “la” is the middle, is the beginning, and is the end, though there is but one “a” and one “l” in the word. What is it?

69. Why is a bee like a rook?

A DARK REBUS

O
B =e= D

A MONKEY PUZZLER

If a monkey is placed before a cross, why does it at once get to the top?

A RIDDLE BY COWPER

I am just two and two, warm and cold,
And the parent of numbers untold;
Lawful, unlawful, duty, fault,
Often costly, worthless bought.
A priceless boon, a matter of course,
Willingly yielded, taken by force.

The answer has been defined as “two heads and an application.”

HOW’S THAT, UMPIRE?

73. How can the Latin exhortation “Macte!” which may be roughly rendered “Go on and prosper!” be applied at cricket to a batsman at a critical moment?

BY TAPE MEASUREMENT

74. Are you good at topography? If so, can you discover and locate, from this description of its surroundings, a town within 30 miles of London?

Half an inch before the trees, and half a foot and half a yard after them, lead us to an English town.

75. We know how, by the addition of a single letter, our cares can be softened into a caress; but in the following enigma a still more contradictory result follows, without the addition or alteration of a letter, by a mere separation of syllables:--

None can locate the subject of my riddle,
For all the world would seek its place in vain;
Cut it asunder almost in the middle,
And in our very midst its place is plain.

An aching void, an absolute negation,
Into the opposite extreme it breaks;
With just a gap to mark their new relation
Each letter still the same position takes.

76. MULTUM IN PARVO

What two letters describe in nine letters the position of one who has been left alone in his extremity?

77. A CHANGE OF SEX

“Oh! would I were a man,” cried a schoolmistress, “that I might always teach boys.”

We boys overheard her, and placed her with us. What did we thus turn her into?

78. A STRIKING MATCH PUZZLE

How can you make a Maltese cross with less than twelve unbent and unbroken matches?

Have we any reason to suppose that in very early times there were less vowels than we have now?

80. A FRENCH RIDDLE

As Susette was sitting in the cool shadow of an olive grove at Mentone, Henri came up and said to her, with his best bow, “Je sais que vous n’avez pas mon premier, mais que vous êtes mon second, et je vous donnerai mon tout!” What did he hold out to her?

On a church close to an old ruined priory, near Lewes, there is a weathercock in the shape of a fish, probably an emblem of the faith. What moral lesson does this relic of early days convey to us?

Take five from half of ten,
Set fifty in the middle,
Add twice five hundred then
To finish up the riddle,
And make it with your pen
As fit as any fiddle.

83. A PARADOX

“For the want of water we drank water, and if we had had water we should have drank wine.”

Who can have said this, and what did they mean?

84. WHAT IS IT?

The poor have two, the rich have none,
Millions have many, you have one.

A thousand and one,
And a sixth part of twenty;
Some may have none,
But others have plenty!

86. GREAT SCOTT!

“Charge, Chester, charge! on, Stanley, on!”
Were the last words of Marmion.
Now, had I been in Stanley’s place
When Marmion urged him to the chase,
You would have thought, unless you knew,
That Scottish fray was Irish stew!

Shade of Sir Walter! What does all this mean?

I may be half of ten,
I may be nearly nine;
If eight contains me then
Two-thirds of six are mine.
A third of one, a fourth of four,
I am an eighth of many more.

88. QUITE A BEATITUDE

Let her be, or beat her,
Give her little ease;
Then in safety seat her
All among the bees.

Sharpen your wits till they are keen,
Then see if you can guess
What word it is that I have seen,
And spell it with an s!

90. RATHER PERSONAL

Take part of a foot,
And with judgment transpose.
You will find that you have it
Just under your nose.

NUTS TO CRACK

CRAZY LOGIC

1. Can you prove, by what we may call crazy logic, that madman is equal to madam?

A BIT OF BOTANY

2. A rat with its teeth in the webbed feet of its prey was what the squirrel saw one summer’s day, when he ran down from the tree-tops for a cool drink in the pond below his nest. Can you find out from this the name of the water-plant that was floating in the shade?

SIX SUNKEN ISLANDS

3. He set down the answer to that sum at random.
By bold policy Prussia became a leading power.
A great taste for mosaic has arisen lately.
The glad news was swiftly borne over England.
At dusk, year after year, the old man rambled home.
The children cried, hearing such dismal tales.

In each of these lines the name of an island is buried.

BURIED GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

4. We could hide a light royal boat with a man or two; the skipper, though, came to a bad end.

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Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle BookChapter V: Hand Shadows and how to work them. Illustrated (2)

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