Chapter V: Hand Shadows and how to work them. Illustrated (3)

In this short sentence seven geographical names are buried, formed by consecutive letters, which are parts always of more than one word. Can you dig them out?

A TRANSPOSITION

5. What can you make of this? The letters are jumbled, but the words are in due order.

Eltsheothwoedlaniscimtyyesrmh
Tsihptsnrtoniaisoetcra;
Ndaothetdandartssdensitemeb
Ehcatreeltnisitlpace.

6

ALL IN A ROW

Three little articles all in a line
Lead to a thousand, expressing,
If with another all these you combine
What can be never a blessing.

7

ASK A POLICEMAN

Ask a policeman, possibly he knows,
In uniformed array.
If not, an added letter plainly shows
How little he can say.

8

RULING LETTERS

We rule the world, we letters five,
We rule the world, we do;
And of our number three contrive
To rule the other two.

MIND YOUR STOPS

9. How would you punctuate the following sentence?

Maud like the pretty girl that she was went for a walk in the meadows.

10. ANSWER BY ECHO

What were they who paid three guineas
To hear a tune of Paganini’s?

11. BREAKING A RECORD

Only eight different letters are used in the construction of this verse:--

Sad as the saddest end is his,
He hath insensate died.
He sinned, and that his Satan is
That standeth at his side.

Wishing to break this record, we have put together a rhyming verse of similar length, in which only _five_ letters are used. They are these:

(18 times) ^eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee^.
(20 times) ^nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn^.
(18 times) ^tttttttttttttttttt^.
(16 times) ^iiiiiiiiiiiiiiii^.
(15 times) ^sssssssssssssss^.

12. A CATCH SENTENCE

If is is not is and is not is is what is it is not is and what is it is is not if is not is is? Can you punctuate this so that it has meaning?

13. CATCHING A HINT

Passing one day by train through a station I caught sight of two words upon a large advertisement, which seemed cut out for puzzle purposes; and before long I had framed the following riddle:

Bisect my first, transpose its first half, and between this and its second half insert what remains if you take my second from my first. The result is as good to eat as my first and second are to drink.

14. IS IT GRAMMAR?

It is difficult at first sight to grasp the meaning of this apparently simple sentence:--“Time flies you cannot they pass at such irregular intervals.” How does it read?

15. ROYAL MEMORIES

In Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year I went to the South Kensington Museum. As I entered, looking at my watch, I thought of the good Queen. After some hours of quiet enjoyment I came away, again looking at my watch, and was reminded that the Prince Consort was not alive to share the Jubilee joys. At what time, and for how long was I in the Museum?

16. A SEASONABLE MOTTO

CCC
---
SAW

17. AN OLD LATIN LEGEND

+------------------+
| AMANS TAM ERAT |
| HI DESINT HERO |
|AD DIGITO UT MANDO|
+------------------+

What is the interpretation?

18. THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

Does the following statement imply that there is a curative virtue in rose-coloured rays?

“I know that roseate hues preserve.”

19. DOCTOR FELL

“Keep the patients warm and quiet;
Solids are not well;
Let all sops be now their diet,”
So said Doctor Fell.

To what objection was this diet open?

20. DISLOCATED WORDS

These thirty-six letters form an English sentence:--

SAR BAB SAR BAB SAR BAB
SAR BAB SAR BAB SAR ARA

What can it be?

21. BROAD WILTSHIRE

“Igineyvartydreevriswutts.”

Can you interpret this sentence, spoken by a sturdy farmer in the corn market?

22. FIND A RHYME

Try to find a rhyme to Chrysanthemum.

23. ABOUT THE EGGS

Did you hear that pathetic tale of the three eggs?

24. AN ANCIENT LEGEND

+--------------+
|Doun tooth ers|
| A sy |
| Ouw ould bed |
| One by. |
+--------------+

25. A FAMILY PARTY

HERE LIE

Two grandmothers, and their two granddaughters;
Two husbands, and their two wives;
Two fathers, and their two daughters;
Two mothers, and their two sons;
Two maidens, and their two mothers;
Two sisters, and their two brothers;
Yet but ---- in all lie buried here.

How many does the ---- represent?

26. A SIMPLE CHARM

A superstitious couple in the country who heard mysterious noises at night in their house, sought the advice of a “wise woman” in the neighbourhood. She gave them on paper the following charm, which would, she assured them, counteract their evil star, and solve the mystery:--

ground
turn evil star.

What was its significance?

27. MADE IN FRANCE

We are five varied vowels of foreign sound,
Supported by one consonant between us.
Three letters now in four, where may be found
Another trio, quite a silly genus.

28. A PARADOX

What in his mind no man can find
Four symbols will display;
But only one remains behind
If one we take away.

29. THE BARBER’S JOKE

A barber placed prominently in his window the following notice:--

What do you think
I will shave you for nothing and give you a drink.

Attracted by this, a man went into the shop, and was shaved, but instead of receiving any liquid refreshment, he was surprised by a demand for the usual payment.

What was the barber’s explanation?

30. A FLIGHT OF FANCY

+-------------------------+
| G E N U I N E J A M |
| A |
| I C A R U M. |
+-------------------------+

This label, said to have been found among the ruins of old Rome, seems to bear a very early reference to the birth of Icarus, the flying man; or perhaps to some flying machine named after him, but not yet perfected. Can this be so?

31. A SPELL

Two _c_’s, an _h_, an _n_, a _p_,
Three _a_’s, a _u_, an _i_, an _e_,
Tell us what English word are we?

32. JOHNSON’S CAT

Johnson’s cat went up a tree,
Which was sixty feet and three;
Every day she climbed eleven,
Every night she came down seven.
Tell me, if she did not drop,
When her paws would touch the top.

33. THE EXPANDING NINES

Some of us may perhaps remember Titania’s promise to Bottom in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_:

“I have a venturous fairy, that shall seek
The squirrel’s hoard, and fetch thee new nuts.”

Here is a little puzzle so fresh and curious that it will tempt the fancy of those who find it added to our hoard:

A third of six behind them fix,
A third of six before;
Thus make two nines, when all combines,
Exactly fifty-four.

34. ACROSS THE MOAT

Form a square with four matches. Outside this, at an equal distance all round, form another square with twelve matches, just so far away that the space between them cannot be spanned by a match. With two matches only, form a firm bridge from the outer to the inner square.

35. IS IT BANTING?

We start when the ninth hour is past,
Then there’s an end of you.
A vengeful goddess shows at last
What antifat will do.

36. QUITE A FAMILY PARTY

The telephone-bell roused Mrs P.W. from her after-luncheon nap, and her husband’s voice came to her ears, from his office in the city:--“I am bringing home to dinner my father’s brother-in-law, my brother’s father-in-law, my father-in-law’s brother, and my brother-in-law’s father.”

“Right!” she replied, knowing his quaint ways, “I shall be prepared.” For how many guests did she provide?

37. THE WILY WAYFARER

“Give me as much money as I have in my hand,” said Will Slimly to the landlord of a country inn, “and I will spend sixpence with you.” This was done, and repeated twice with the cash that was still in hand, and then the traveller was penniless. How much had he at first, and how much did the landlord contribute to Will’s refreshment?

38. A CLEVER CONSTRUCTION

How can four triangles of equal size be formed with six similar matches?

39. A KNOTTY POINT

When first the marriage knot was tied
Between my wife and me,
My age as oft repeated hers
As three times three does three;

But when ten years and half ten years
We man and wife had been,
Her age came then as near to mine
As eight does to sixteen.
What age was hers, what age was mine,
When we were wed, from this divine.

40. A DIVISION SUM

“Take this half-crown,” said the vicar at a village festival, “and divide it equally between those two fathers and their two sons, but give nothing of less value than a penny to either of them.”

The schoolboy, who was a sharp lad, changed the half-crown, and divided it equally among them. How was this possible?

41. A CROOKED ANSWER

Tom (_yawning_) to Nell--“I wish we could play lawn-tennis!”

Nell (_annoyed_).--“Odioso ni mus rem. Moto ima os illud nam?”

Can you make head or tail, in Latin or in English, of her reply?

42. THE PEELER’S SMILE

Two policemen stood behind a hedge, watching for motor-car scorchers. One looked up the road, the other looked down it, so as to command both directions.

“Bill,” said one, without turning his head, “what are you smiling at?” How could he tell that his mate was smiling?

43. THE NIMBLE NINES

Twenty-seven with three nines
You and I can score;
Anyone one on other lines
Can extend them more.
Who can write them to be seen
Equal only to sixteen?

44. A TRYING SENTENCE

That that is is that that is not is not is not that it it is.

45. SHORT AND SWEET

What is this?

A L L O.

46. SUPPLY THE CONSONANTS

AN ENGLISH PROVERB

i e a o a a a e a a i

47. IT LOOKS BLACK

| | | | | | | | | | | | |

Add thirteen more strokes, and make--what?

48. THE CORONER’S CHOICE

Can a coroner, after signing his name, write his official position in more ways than one?

HOW MANY PIPS?

Here is a good and simple card trick. Ask anyone to choose three cards from a pack, and to place them face downwards on the table. Then, beginning to count with the number of pips on each card laid down, let him place other cards upon these, one heap at a time, until in every case he counts up to 15, adding mentally 1 as he places down each card.

When he has completed the three heaps, take from him the remaining cards, and count them. Their number, less 4, will always be the number of pips on the three chosen cards. An ace counts 11, and a court card 10.

Thus, if he has chosen a 7, a 10, and an ace (11), he must cap these with 8, 5, and 4 cards respectively. There will then be 32 cards left, and 32 - 4 = 28, which is the sum of 7, 10, and 11.

ROUND THE MONKEY

Now for a few words about an old friend, familiar to most of us. If a monkey sits on a post holding one end of a string, and continually moves to face a man who holds the other end, and who walks round the post, does that man walk round the monkey?

R. A. Proctor, the astronomer, treated the question thus, some years ago in _Knowledge_:--“In what way does going round a thing imply seeing every side of it? Suppose a man shut his eyes, would that make any difference? Or suppose the man stood still, and the monkey turned round, so as to show the man its front and back, would the stationary man have gone round the monkey?”

We commend this ancient and puzzling subject of controversy to our readers. Our own opinion is that the man _does_ walk round the monkey, in the commonly accepted meaning of the words, but “who shall decide when doctors disagree?”

BURIED ANIMALS

Here are a few cleverly buried animals:

“Come hither, mine friend,” said the monk, eyeing him kindly, “be a very good boy, step through the furze bravely, and seek the lost riches.”

_Ermine_; _monkey_; _beaver_; _zebra_; _ostrich_.

We, as electricians, proclaim the electric motor cab a boon to London.

_Weasel_; _baboon_.

QUESTIONS WELL ANSWERED

What could not the cruet stand?
Seeing an apostle spoon.

Why did the barmaid champagne?
Because the stout porter bitter.

A TABLE OF AFFINITY

When it was reported that M. de Lesseps and his son were to marry sisters, the _Rappel_ suggested these possible complications. Lesseps the younger will be his father’s brother-in-law, and his wife will be her own sister’s sister-in-law.

If Lesseps the elder has a son, and Lesseps the younger has a daughter, and these marry, then the daughter of Lesseps the younger will be her father’s sister-in-law, and the son of Lesseps the elder will be the son-in-law of his brother. The son of the second marriage will have two grandfathers, Lesseps the elder and the younger, so that old Lesseps will become his own son’s brother.

MARY QUITE CONTRARY

Mary had a little lamb,
With feet as black as soot;
And into Mary’s bread and milk
He put his little foot.
Now Mary was an honest girl,
And scorned a hollow sham;
So the one word that Mary said
Was mother to the lamb!

MACARONIC VERSE

LATIN

“Is acer,” sed jacto his mas ter at te,
“Cantu passus sum jam?” “Notabit,” anser de;
“Mi jam potis empti, solis tento me,
For uva da lotas i vere vel se!”

ENGLISH

“I say, sir,” said Jack to his master at tea,
“Can’t you pass us some jam?” “Not a bit,” answered he,
“My jam pot is empty, so listen to me,
For you’ve had a lot as I very well see!”

HAM SANDWICHES

We most of us know the good old double-barrelled riddle, “Why need we never starve in the desert?” “Because of the sand which is there.” “How did the sandwiches get there?” “Ham settled there, and his descendants bred and mustered.” This clever metrical solution is by Archbishop Whately:--

A traveller o’er the desert wild
Should ne’er let want confound him,
For he at any time can eat
The sand which is around him.
It might seem strange that he should find
Such palatable fare,
Did we not know the sons of Ham
Were bred and mustered there.

A GOOD MOTTO

We know that Latin motto, with its clever double meaning, suggested for a retired tobacconist, “_Quid rides_”--why do you smile?--or _quid_ rides. Here is another, proposed many years ago, for a doctor of indifferent repute:--

Take some device in your own way,
Neither too solemn, nor too gay;
Three ducks suppose, white, grey, and black,
And let your motto be “Quack! Quack!”

ON ONE NOTT

There was a man who was Nott born,
His sire was Nott before him;
He did Nott live, he did Nott die,
His tombstone was Nott o’er him.

ON JOHN SO

So died John So,
So, so, did he so?
So did he live, and So did he die,
So, so, did he so?
So let him lie!

STRANGE SIGHTS

The importance of proper punctuation is very happily illustrated by the following lines:--

I saw a peacock with a fiery tail
I saw a blazing comet pour down hail
I saw a cloud enwrapped with ivy round
I saw an oak tree swallow up a whale
I saw the boundless sea brimful of ale
I saw a Venice glass fifteen feet deep
I saw a well full of mens’ tears that weep
I saw wet eyes among the things that I saw
Were no sore eyes nor any other eye-sore.

A QUAINT INSCRIPTION

There is a curiously constructed inscription over the door of the cloister of the Convent of the Carmelites at Caen, which runs thus:--

D di Si scap ac ab as
um vus mon ulare cepit tris.
T sæ Dæ ul in in an

The lines are in honour of one Simon Stock of that order, and they may be freely rendered:--

W ho Si first beg pr
hen ly mon an his eaching.
T wi De howled to sc t

NONSENSE VERSE

IMPROMPTU, BY AN OLD DIVINE

If down his throat a man should choose
In fun to jump or slide,
He’d scrape his shoes against his teeth,
Nor soil his own inside.
Or if his teeth were lost and gone,
And not a stump to scrape upon,
He’d see at once how very pat
His tongue lay there by way of mat,
And he would wipe his feet on that!

EDGAR POE’S RIDDLE

Edgar A. Poe addressed the following puzzle-valentine to a lady, adding, “You will not read the riddle, though you do the best you can do:”--

For her this rhyme is penned whose luminous eyes,
Brightly expressive as the twins of Leda,
Shall find her own sweet name, that nestling lies
Upon the page, enwrapped from every reader.
Search narrowly the lines--they hold a treasure
Divine--a talisman--an amulet
That must be worn at heart. Search well the measure.

The first letter of the first line, the second of the second, the third of the third, and so on spell the lady’s name--Frances.

AN ILLUSION OF TYPE

A curious optical illusion is illustrated by printing a row of ordinary capital letters and figures which are symmetrical, thus:--

If we glance at them casually it does not strike us that their upper parts are smaller than the lower, but if we turn the paper upside down we are at once surprised to see how marked the difference really is.

AN EXCHANGE OF COMPLIMENTS

At a tavern one night
Messrs More, Strange, and Wright
Met, good cheer and good thoughts to exchange.
Says More, “Of us three
The whole town will agree
There is only one knave, and that’s _Strange_!”

“Yes,” says Strange, rather sore,
“I’m sure there’s one _More_,
A most terrible knave, and a bite,
Who cheated his mother,
His sister, and brother.”
“Oh yes,” replied More, “that is _Wright_!”

ΗΚΙΣΤΑ ΛΙΨ

HE KISSED HER LIPS

(_According to the daily Press, a good old-fashioned kiss lately lost favour in some quarters._)

Though a billiard player’s miss
Cannot meet or make a kiss;
Though a modern school of misses
Be not in the cue for kisses;
Chloe’s lips are not amiss,
Kismet! _I have_ met a kiss.

QUESTIONS WELL ANSWERED

We must not fail to register these two Questions Well Answered, which it is hard to match for excellence:--

Q.--Why did the fly fly?

A.--Because the spider spied her!

And

Q.--Why did the lobster blush?

A.--Because it saw the salad dressing!

The following puzzling lines were the outburst of the wanton wit of a lover, in his effort to play off one lady against another, and so retain two strings to his bow:--

I don’t want the one that I don’t want to know
That I want the one that I want;
But the one that I do want wants me to go
And give up the one I don’t want.

Why I don’t want the one that I don’t want to know
That I want the one that I want,
Is because, if the one that I want can’t be so,
I shall want the one I don’t want.

Charles Lamb was responsible for the following ingenious perversion of words, when the Whig associates of the Prince Regent were sore at not obtaining office:--

Ye politicians tell me pray
Why thus with woe and care rent?
This is the worst that you can say,
Some wind has blown the wig away,
And left the hair apparent!

We may assume that this was the germ of the riddle “What is the difference between the Prince of Wales, a bald-headed man, and a monkey?” One is the _heir-apparent_, the second has no _hair apparent_, and the third is a _hairy parent_.

GRAMMAR OF A SORT

When is whiskey an adverb?
_When it qualifies water._
When does a cow become a pronoun?
_When it stands for Mary._

Can the conjunction “and” be used otherwise than as a connecting link?

Yes, as in the puzzle sentence, “It was and I said not or,” which, if no comma is placed after “said,” no one can read easily at sight.

A TONGUE TWISTER

The tragedy “William Tell” was to be played many years ago at the old Drury Lane Theatre, and an actor, familiarly known as Will, asked the exponent of the part of Tell, on the eve of its production, whether he thought the play would tell with the critics and the public.

The following question and answer passed between them, in which only two different words were used, in an intelligible sequence of twenty-five words:--

_Will._--“The question has arisen Tell, ‘will Will Tell tell?’ Will Tell tell Will ‘will Will Tell tell?’”

_Tell._--“Tell _will_ tell Will ‘will Will Tell tell?’ ‘Will Tell _will_ tell!’”

THE LADY AND THE TIGER

Many of our readers will enjoy this very clever rendering of a well-known Limerick:--

There was a young lady of Riga,
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They returned from the ride
With the lady inside,
And the smile on the face of the tiger!

Puella Rigensis ridebat,
Quam tigris in tergo vehebat;
Externa profecta,
Interna revecta,
Sed risus cum tigre manebat!

ANOTHER TONGUE TWISTER

Six sieves of sifted thistles,
Six sieves of unsifted thistles,
And six thistle sifters.

To be repeated six times rapidly and articulately.

NOVEL DEFINITION OF A MAN’S HAT

Darkness that may be felt.

IS IT LATIN?

The following cryptic notice was posted recently on the green baize notice-board of a West-End Club:--

O nec ango in ab illi
Ardor pyram id contestata
Potor ac an non.
Si deis puto nat times
Ora res tu sed.

For some time its message was a mystery, until the sharp eyes of a member deciphered in what seemed to be real Latin, and was made up of Latin words, this English sentence, appropriate to the place:--“One can go in a billiard or pyramid contest at a pot or a cannon. Side is put on at times, or a rest used.”

FOR THE CHILDREN

A QUESTION

How much wood would a wood-chuck chuck,
If a wood-chuck could chuck wood?

THE REPLY

The wood that a wood-chuck would chuck
Is the wood that a wood chuck could chuck,
If the wood-chuck that could chuck would chuck,
Or a wood-chuck could chuck wood!

A QUAINT CONCEIT

The Capitol was saved of old
By geese with noisy bill;
More sage than silly, birds so bold
Should have a mission still.

Time was when roving on the loose,
A goose would raise my dander;
But now I feel each proper goose
Should have her propaganda!

A LACK OF HOPS!

A man fond of his joke, and speaking of Lenten fare to a friend in a letter, wrote:--

I had a fish
In a dish
From an Archbish----

leaving it to his ingenuity to complete the broken line. The reply was a clever solution to the puzzle:--

I had a fish
In a dish
From an Archbish----
’Op is not here
For he gave me no beer!

FOR THE CHILDREN

The following simple calculation will be amusing to children:--If an even number of coins or sweets are held in one hand, and an odd number in the other, let the holder multiply those in the right hand by 2, and those in the left hand by 3, and add together the two results. If this is an even quantity the coins or sweets in the right hand are even, and in the left odd; if it is odd the contrary is the case.

PETER PIPER’S WIFE

(_To be read or said rapidly._)

Betty bit a bit o’ butter,
Bitter bit!
But a better bit o’ butter
Betty bit!

PHONETIC VERSE

“_A haunt each mermaid knows_”

Eh horn teach myrrh made nose,
Buy seize wear awl groat ales;
Hear chilled wrens port inn rose,
Seek your gain steals oar wails.

Sum son there yell oh hare,
Sums whim threw sigh leant baize;
Sow form sand fay says fare
Shy never knight sand daze.

PORSON’S EPIGRAM

Porson wrote a Latin epigram on a Fellow of one of the Colleges who always pronounced the _a_ of Euphrates short. This was wittily translated thus:--

With fear on the Euphrates shore
The wild waves made him shiver.
But he thought to pass more quickly o’er,
So he _abridged_--the river!

ALL THE ALPHABET

All the letters of the alphabet are used in these lines, which have such an easy flow:--

“God gives the grazing ox his meat,
And quickly hears the sheep’s, low cry.
But man, who tastes his finest wheat,
Should joy to lift His praises high.”

A FRENCH TONGUE TWISTER

A French mother, as she gives to her child a cup of tea to allay its cough, says:--

“Ton thé t’a-t-il oté ta toux?”

(Thy tea, has it removed thy cough?)

This sentence, repeated rapidly, is warranted to tire the nimblest tongue.

QUEER QUESTIONS AND QUAINT REPLIES

Why does the cannon ball?
Because the Vickers Maxim
(the vicar smacks him!)
Why is the river Itchen?
Because there is a current in its bed.

WAS IT SCANDAL?

Dick and Harry meet in a dim hotel passage:--

_Dick._--Did you hear that story about No. 288?

_Harry_ (_all ears_).--No; what was it?

_Dick._--Oh, it’s too gross, too gross entirely!

_Harry._--Tell away. I’ll try to stand it.

_Dick._--Well; 288 _is_ two gross, isn’t it?

AN INCONSEQUENT ECHO

Byron in his “Bride of Abydos” is responsible for the following strangely inconsequent echo:--

Hark to the hurried question of Despair,
“Where is my child?” and Echo answers,
“Where?”

A well-conducted echo would assuredly have seconded the cry of Despair by repeating the final syllables “my child!”

AN APPROPRIATE ANSWER

Why did the Razorbill raise her bill?
To let the sea urchin see her chin!

CRICKET LATIN

Bene audax.
_Well bowled!_

MACARONIC VERSE

Here is a modern specimen of Macaronic verse:--

Luce metat ipse sutor
(Cantas Orci madentes!)
“Qua forum an empti putor
Potor tria quarto pes!”

Which reads into English thus:--

Lucy met a tipsy suitor
(Can’t a saucy maiden tease!)
“Quaff o’ rum an empty pewter
Pot, or try a quart o’ peas!”

MACARONIC PROSE

LATIN

Puris agem, suetis a sylva bella vi olet indue mos is pura sueta far, amar vel verre ex que sit.

ENGLISH READING

Pure is a gem, sweet is a silver bell, a violet in dewy moss is purer, sweeter far, a marvel very exquisite.

THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT

These quaint lines were once addressed to a very tall barrister, named Long, when he was briefless:--

“Longè longorum longissime, Longe, virorum,
Dic mihi, te quæso, num Breve quicquid habes?”

MOORE’S RIDDLE

Thomas Moore, the poet, is responsible for the following rude riddle, and its reply:--

Why is a pump like Viscount Castlereagh?

Because it is a slender thing of wood,
That up and down its awkward arms doth sway,
And coolly spout, and spout, and spout away,
In one weak, washy, everlasting flood!

BIGGAR AND BIGGER

Mrs Biggar had a baby. Which was the bigger? The baby was a little Biggar!

Which was the bigger, Mr Biggar or the baby? Mr Biggar was father Biggar!

Mr Biggar died; was the baby then bigger than Mrs Biggar? No, for the baby was fatherless!

MAGIC CARD SQUARE

Place the sixteen court cards from an ordinary pack in the form of a square, so arranged that no row, no column, and neither of the diagonals shall contain more than one card of each suit, and one of each rank.

As the solution presents no difficulty, but merely calls for patience and attention, we will leave it to the ingenuity of our readers.

THE ANNO DOMINI PUZZLE

A Scottish tradesman had made, as he supposed, about £4,000, but his old clerk produced a balance-sheet which plainly showed £6,000 to his credit. It came upon the old gentleman as quite a disappointing shock when presently the puzzle was solved by the discovery that in the addition the year of Our Lord had been taken into account!

A PUBLIC SINK

The following ingenious play upon words dates from the days when a promise was made that the Thames pollution should cease in five years:--

In shorter time, kind sir, contrive
To purify our drink;
For while your figure is a Five
Our river is a Cinq!

ENGLISH AS SHE IS SPOKE

“Mr Smith presents his compliments to Mr Brown, and I have got a hat that is not his, and he has got a hat that is not yours, so no doubt they are the expectant ones!”

PICKING FROM _PUNCH_

This play upon words appeared many years ago in the pages of _Punch_, and is worth preserving:--

To win the maid the poet tries,
And sonnets writes to Julia’s eyes.
She likes a verse, but, cruel whim,
She still remains _averse_ to him.

FRENCH ALLITERATION

“Si six scies scient six cigares, six cent six scies scient six cent six cigares.”

_To be said trippingly without a trip._

If 6 saws cut 6 cigars, 606 saws cut 606 cigars.

MIND YOUR STOPS!

Here is a good illustration of the nonsense that may easily result from the misuse of punctuation:--

Every lady in the land
Has twenty nails on each hand;
Five and twenty on hands and feet,
This is true without deceit.

A NOVEL DERIVATION

“Yes,” said an Eton captain of the boats to his uncle, the admiral, “I can quite believe that the British Jack Tar takes his name from that Latin verb, which is so suggestive of a life on the ocean wave, _jactari_, to be tossed about.”

AN AERATED BISHOP

A bishop of Sodor and Man found himself entered in the visitor’s book of a French hotel as “L’évêque du siphon et de l’homme!”

A HAPPY THOUGHT

They cannot be complete in aught
Who are not humourously prone;
A man without a merry thought
Can hardly have a funny bone.

OUGH!

Though the tough cough and hiccough
Make me hoarse,
Through life’s dark lough I plough
My patient course.

CUM GRANO SALIS

I know Eno, you know too,
Fact is we all three know.
We know Eno, he knows you.
You know I know Eno!

OLD AND SOUND ADVICE

NICHOLAS, 1828.

He who a watch would wear
This must he do;
Pocket his watch, and watch
His pocket too!

COLD-DRAWN CONCLUSIONS

Why is a lame dog like a blotting-pad?

A lame dog is a slow pup.

A slope up is an inclined plane.

An ink-lined plane is a blotting-pad!

THE LAST OF MARY

Mary had a little lamp,
Filled with benzoline;
Tried to light it at the fire,
Has not since benzine!

A BURIED WORD

It is difficult to imagine that the very incarnation of what is wild and forbidding is buried in those words of peace and promise, “On Christmas Eve you rang out Angel peals,” until we find in them the consecutive letters “ourangoutang!”

EVE’S APPLE

How many apples were eaten by Adam and Eve? We know that Eve 81, and that Adam 812, total 893. But Adam 8142 please his wife, and Eve 81242 please Adam, total 89,384. Then again Eve 814240 fy herself, and Adam 8124240 fy himself, total 8,938,480!

U C I D K

(_You see I decay!_)

“Surely, good sir, you follow me?
It is as plain as A B C.”
“Repeat it in a treble clef,
For I am rather D E F!”

BURIED BY ACCIDENT

Quite unconscious that he was burying a cat in his melodious lines Moore wrote:--

“How sweet the answer Echo makes
To music at night...!”

A LAWYER’S PROPOSAL

Fee simple and the simple fee,
And all the fees in tail,
Are nothing when compared with thee,
Thou best of fees, fe-male!

A BROAD GRIN

“Sesquipedalia verba,” words a foot and a half long, were condemned by Horace in his “Ars Poetica.” Had he known English, what would he have said of “smiles,” a word so long that there is a mile between its first and last letters?

SWISS HUMOUR

A Swiss lad asked me, as I stopped quite breathless on an Alpine height, “Do you prefer ‘monter’ to ‘descendre?’” I declared a preference for downhill, but he most convincingly replied, “I prefer ‘mon thé’ to ‘des cendres!’” (my tea to cinders).

QUESTIONS WELL ANSWERED

Why did the penny stamp?
_Because the threepenny bit._
Why did the sausage roll?
_Because it saw the apple turn-over._

MEN OF LETTERS

A budding author something new
Submitting, signed himself X Q.
The editor the essay read,
And begged he might be X Q Z!

PUZZLES ON THE PAVEMENT

An angry street arab, who seems to have caught the infection of our letter puzzles, was heard recently to call out to a gutter-snipe, “You are a fifty-one ar!” (LIAR.)

PHONETIC ANSWERS

Why may you pick an artist’s pocket?--Because he has _pictures_.

What is the solace for a mind deprest?--_Deep rest_.

A FLIGHT OF FANCY

There was a man from Yankeeland
Who round a walnut tree
Did run so fast--that lissome man--
His own back he could see!

BURNS IN SABOTS

“Guigne a beau de qui sabot de
Nid a beau de t’elle?”

DOG LATIN

Here are all the elements of a rat hunt, expressed in Latin words:--“Sit stillabit,” sed amanto hiscat, “sta redde, sum misi feror arat trito unda minus, solet me terna ferret in micat.” They read into English, if differently pointed, thus:--Sit still a bit, said a man to his cat, stay ready, some mice I fear, or a rat try to undermine us, so let me turn a ferret in, my cat.

EARLY RITUAL

It is said that at first Adam thought Eve angelical, but there came a time when they both took to vestments.

LEST WE FORGET

If a man says that he forgets what he does not wish to remember, does he mean to say that he does not remember what it is that he wishes to forget; or that he is able to forget that which he does not wish to remember?

QUAINT ANGLO-FRENCH QUESTION AND REPLY

Pas qu’il ma, ou qu’il pas?

_Marwood!_

SOME POPULAR DEFINITIONS

_Cricket._ _Lawn Tennis._ _Football._
Lords Ladies Legs
Stumps Jumps Bumps.

REAL DOG LATIN

Pax in bello.

_The dogs of war._

A QUAINT EPITAPH

Here in S X I lies.
Killed by X S I dies.

A PHONETIC REPLY

What is the French for teetotaler?--Thé tout à l’heure!

A FREE RENDERING

Varietas pro Rege.

_Change for a sovereign!_

A FREE TRANSLATION

“Splendide mendax.”

Lying in State.

A WORD AND A BLOW

When Dunlop, in playful mood, said that no one could make a good pun on his name, a smart bystander at once exclaimed, “Lop off the end, and the thing is done!”

DOG LATIN (FOR SCHOOLBOYS)

Mitte meos super omnes ad candam aut esse homines mortui.

The Dog Latin may be rendered thus: “Send my overalls to the tailor to be mended.”

HIS L. E. G.

Some printer’s devil must have been at work when the proof-reader found “The Legend of the Cid,” set up in type as “The leg end of the Kid!”

SOLUTIONS

No. V.--THE MAKING OF A MAGIC SQUARE

The perfect Magic Square, for which we have given the construction of two preparatory squares, is formed by placing one of these over the other, so that the numbers in their corresponding cells combine, as is shown below.

PREPARATORY SQUARE NO. 1.

*
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 1| 3| 5| 2| 4|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 5| 2| 4| 1| 3|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 4| 1| 3| 5| 2|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 3| 5| 2| 4| 1|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 2| 4| 1| 3| 5|
+--+--+--+--+--+

PREPARATORY SQUARE NO. 2.

*
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 5|15| 0|10|20|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|10|20| 5|15| 0|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|15| 0|10|20| 5|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|20| 5|15| 0|10|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 0|10|20| 5|15|
+--+--+--+--+--+

THE PERFECT MAGIC SQUARE.

+--+--+--+--+--+
| 6|18| 5|12|24|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|15|22| 9|16| 3|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|19| 1|13|25| 7|
+--+--+--+--+--+
|23|10|17| 4|11|
+--+--+--+--+--+
| 2|14|21| 8|20|
+--+--+--+--+--+

No less than 57,600 Magic Squares can be formed with twenty-five cells by varying the arrangement of these same figures, but not many are so perfect as our specimen, in which sixty-five can be counted in forty-two ways. These comprise each horizontal row; each perpendicular row; main diagonals; blended diagonals from every corner (such as 6, with 14, 17, 25, 3; or 15, 18, with 21, 4, 7); centre with any four equidistant in outer cells; any perfect St George’s cross (such as 18, 22, 1, 15, 9); and any perfect St Andrew’s cross (such as 6, 22, 13, 5, 19).

No. XII.--A CENTURY OF CELLS

Here is the solution of the ingenious Magic Square of 100 cells with 36 cells unfilled. The rows, columns, and diagonals all add up to 505.

+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|91| 2| 3|97| 6|95|94| 8| 9|100|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|20|82|83|17|16|15|14|88|89| 81|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|21|72|73|74|25|26|27|78|79| 30|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|60|39|38|64|66|65|67|33|32| 41|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|50|49|48|57|55|56|54|43|42| 51|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|61|59|58|47|45|46|44|53|52| 40|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|31|69|68|34|35|36|37|63|62| 70|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|80|22|23|24|75|76|77|28|29| 71|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
|90|12|13|87|86|85|84|18|19| 11|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+
| 1|99|98| 4|96| 5| 7|93|92| 10|
+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+---+

Notice that the top and bottom rows contain all the numbers from 1 to 10 and from 91 to 100; the two rows next to these range from 11 to 20 and from 81 to 90; the two next from 21 to 30 and from 71 to 80; the two next from 31 to 39 and 60 to 70, excluding 61, but including 41; and the two central rows the numbers run from 42 to 59, with 40 and 61.

No. XXIII.--TWIN PUZZLE SQUARES

The following diagram shows how the twin Magic Squares are evolved from our diagram:--

+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+
|1|5|6| |2|3|7|
+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+
|2|6|7+====+3|4|8|
+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+
|3|7|8| |4|5|9|
+-+-+-+ +-+-+-+

The sums of the corresponding rows in each square are now equal, and the sums of the squares of the corresponding cells of these rows are equal. The sums of the four diagonals are also equal, and the sum of the squares of the cells in corresponding diagonals are equal. The sum of any two numbers symmetrically placed with respect to the connecting link between the 7 and the 3 is always 10.

No. XXX.--THE UNIQUE TRIANGLE

The figures to be transposed in triangle A are 9 and 3 and 7 and 1.

/\ /\
/ \ / \
/ 5 \ / 5 \
/ \ / \
/ 4 6 \ / 4 6 \
/ \ / \
/ 3 7 \ / 9 1 \
/ \ / \
/ 2 1 9 8 \ / 2 7 3 8 \
------------------ ------------------
A B

Then in triangle B, the sum of the side is in each case 20, and the sums of the squares of the numbers along the sides is in each case 126.

No. XXXI.--MAGIC TRIANGLES

The subjoined diagram shows the order in which the first 18 numbers can be arranged so that they count 19, 38, or 57 in many ways, down, across, or along some angles, 19 in 6 ways, 38 in 12, and 57 in 14 ways.

Thus, for examples--

7 + 12 = 14 + 5 = 4 + 15 = 19

7 + 11 + 14 + 6 ------- = 38

7 + 14 + 4 + 5 + 12 + 15 = 57

No. XXXIV.--MAGIC HEXAGON IN A CIRCLE

The figures in the Magic Hexagon must be arranged as is shown in this diagram:--

126
5 2 7 3 8 5
8 2 4 6 3 7
114 114
4 6 9 1 8 2
3 1 9 7 5 4 1 9 6
1 3 7 9 8 6 7 3 4
8 2 3 9 1 9
126 126
6 4 4 1 8 2
5 5 6 7 2 5
114

It will be seen that the sum of the four digits on each side of each triangle is twenty, and that, while their arrangements vary, the total of the added squares of the numbers on the alternate sides of the hexagon are equal.

No. XXXVI.--A CHARMING PUZZLE

✦ ✦ ✦

✦ ✦ ✦

✦ ✦ ✦

To pass through these nine dots with four continuous straight lines, start at the top right-hand corner, and draw a line along the top of the square and _beyond its limits_, until its end is in line with the central dots of the side and base. Draw the second line through these, continuing it until its end is below and in line with the right-hand side of the square; draw the third line up to the starting-point, and the fourth as a diagonal, which completes the course.

No. XXXVII.--LEAP-FROG

On a chess or draught-board three white men are placed on squares marked _a_ and three black men on squares marked _b_ in the diagram--

+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|_a_|_a_|_a_| |_b_|_b_|_b_|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Every _a_ can move from left to right one square at a time, and every _b_ from right to left, and any piece can leap over one of another colour on to an unoccupied square. They can reverse their positions thus:--

If we number the cells or squares consecutively, and notice that at starting the vacant cell is No. 4, then in the successive moves the vacant cells will be 3, 5, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 7, 6, 4, 2, 3, 5, 4. Of the moves thus indicated six are simple, and nine are leaps.

No. XXXVIII.--SORTING THE COUNTERS

The counters are changed in four moves only, moving two at a time as follows:--

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| ○ | ● | ○ | ● | ○ | ● | ○ | ● | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | ● | ● | ● | ● | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

Move 2 and 3 to 9 and 10.

„ 5 and 6 to 2 and 3.

„ 8 and 9 to 5 and 6.

„ 1 and 2 to 8 and 9.

No. XXXIX.--A TRANSFORMATION

To change the ten-pointed star of wooden matches into one of five points without touching it, let a little water fall into the very centre, as it lies on quite a smooth surface, and in a few moments, under the action of the water, it will gradually assume the shape shown in the second diagram, of a five-pointed star.

This is a very simple and effective after-dinner trick. Small matches move best.

No. XLI.--FAST AND LOOSE

The twelve counters or draughtsmen lying loosely at the bottom of a shallow box can be arranged so that they wedge themselves together and against the side thus:--

Place one for the moment in the centre, and six round it. Hold these firmly in their places with the left hand, and fix the other five round them, as is shown in the diagram. Then remove the temporary centre, and fill in with it the vacant place. All will then be in firm contact, and the box may be turned upside down without displacing them.

No. XLIII.--FOR CLEVER PENCILS

This diagram, shows how a continuous course is possible without taking pencil from paper, or going twice over any line.

We have purposely left spaces wide enough to make the solution perfectly clear.

No. XLVIII.--A BOTTLED BUTTON

The diagram below shows how the thread within the bottle is severed so that the button falls, without uncorking the bottle or breaking it.

Nothing is needed but a lens to focus the rays of the sun, which pass through the glass without heating it, and burn the thread.

No. XLIX.--CLEARING THE WAY

In order to cause the coin to fall into the bottle without touching coin, match, or bottle, let a drop or two of water fall upon the bent middle of the match.

Very soon, under the action of the water, the two ends of the match will open out so that the coin which was resting on them falls between them into the bottle.

No. LII.--BILLIARD MAGIC

The diagram we give below shows the ingenious trick by which the plain white, if struck gently with a cue, will, aided by the tumbler, pot the spot white ball without in any way disturbing the red.

The balls to start with are an eighth of an inch apart, and there is not room for a ball to pass between the cushions and the red. Place the tumbler close to spot white.

No. LIII.--THE NIMBLE COIN

The most effective way to transfer the coin from the top of the circular band of paper into the bottle is to strike a smart blow with a cane, or any small stick, on the inside of the paper band. There is not time for the coin to be influenced in the same direction, and it falls plumb into the neck of the bottle.

No. LVIII.--WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

When the boy shown in this picture blows hard at the bottle which is between his mouth and the candle flame, the divided air current flows round the bottle, reunites, and extinguishes the flame.

No. LX.--VIS INERTIÆ

If, by a strong pull of my finger, I launch the draughtsman that is on the edge of the table against the column of ten in front of it, the black man, which is just at the height to receive the full force of the blow, will be knocked clean out of its place, while the others will not fall. This is another illustration of the _vis inertiæ_.

No. LXI.--CUT AND COME AGAIN

A block of ice would _never_ be divided completely by a loop of wire on which hangs a 5 ℔ weight. For as the wire works its way through, the slit closes up by refreezing, and the weight falls to the ground with the wire, leaving the ice still in a single block.

No. LXIII.--CATCHING THE DICE

It is quite easy to throw the upper of this pair of dice into the air and catch it in the cup, but the other is more elusive. As you throw it upward with sufficient force you will also throw the die that has been already caught out of the cup.

The secret of success lies in dropping the hand and cup rapidly downwards, quitting hold at the same moment of the die, which then falls quietly into the cup held to receive it.

No. LXIV.--WILL THEY FALL?

When the single domino shown in the diagram in front of the double archway, is quite smartly tipped up by the forefinger carefully inserted through the lower arch, the stone which lies flat below another _is knocked clean out_, while none of the other stones fall, another practical illustration of _vis inertiæ_.

For this very curious trick, club dominoes, thick and large, should be used. Some patience and experience is needed, but success at last is certain.

No. LXV.--A TRANSPOSITION

You will be able to place the shaded coin between the other two in a straight line without touching one of these, and without moving the other, if you place a finger firmly on the king’s head and then move the shaded coin an inch or two to the right, and flick it back against the coin you hold. The other “tail” coin will then spring away far enough to allow the space that is required.

No. LXVI.--COIN COUNTING

After reaching and turning the coin which you first call “four,” _miss three coins_, and begin then a fresh set of four; repeat this process to the end.

No. LXVIII.--NUTS TO CRACK

Hold a cup of water so that it will wet the handle of the knife, then remove it, and place the nut exactly on the spot where the drop of water falls from the handle.

No. LXXI.--WHAT IS THIS?

The photographic enlargement is simply a much magnified reproduction of Mr Chamberlain’s eye and eyeglass, exactly as they appear in the picture which we give below, taken from its negative. A strong condensing lens will reproduce the original effect, which can also be obtained by holding the enlargement at a distance.

No. LXXV.--THE SEAL OF MAHOMET

This double crescent may be drawn by one continuous line, without passing twice over any part, by starting at _A_, passing along the curve _AGD_, from _D_ along _DEB_, from _B_ along _BFC_, and from _C_ along _CEA_.

No. LXXVI.--MOVE THE MATCHES

If fifteen matches are arranged thus--

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

and six are removed, ten is the number that remains, thus--

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

or one hundred may remain, thus:--

-------| -------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| |------- |-------

No. LXXVII.--LINES ON AN OLD SAMPLER

This diagram shows the arrangement in which seventeen trees can be planted in twenty-eight rows, three trees in each row:--

No. LXXXI.--COUNTING THEM OUT

Here is an arrangement of dominoes which enables us to count out the first twelve numbers, one after the other, by their spelling:--

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

Start with the double five, and, touching each stone in turn, say o, n, e, _one_; remove the stone with one pip, and go on, t, w, o, _two_; remove the two, and say t, h, r, e, e, _three_, and so on till you reach at last the twelve.

Playing cards can be used, counting knave, queen, as eleven, twelve. It makes quite a good trick if you place the cards face downwards in the proper order, and then, saying that you will call up each number in turn, move the cards one at a time to the other end, spelling out each number as before, either aloud or not, and turning up and throwing out each as you hit upon it. If you do not call the letters aloud it adds to the mystery if you are blindfolded.

No. LXXXII.--TRICKS WITH DOMINOES

This is the other combination of stones and their pips which fulfils the conditions, and forms the word AGES.

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

+-------+-------+ +---+-------+ +---+-------+---+ +---+ +---+
| 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 |
+-------+-------+ +---+ +---+ +---+-------+---+ +---+ +---+

In both cases a complete set of stones is used, which are arranged in proper domino sequence, and everyone of the eight letters carries exactly forty-two pips.

No. XCI--THE STOLEN PEARLS

The dishonest jeweller reset the pearls in a cross so that its arms were a stage higher up. It will be seen that by this arrangement nine pearls can still be counted in each direction.

ENIGMAS

1. Self-assassin, a neddy. Saw an ass in an eddy!

2. To get her: Together.

3. A candle.

4. Liquorice.

5. A book.

6. One solver proposes _raven_, croaking before a storm; once an object of worship; seldom seen; forbidden in Leviticus as food; alone with Noah when its mate was sent forth; weighing about 3 lbs; the name of a small South Carolina island, having as its first and last letters R and N; the Royal Navy.