Chapter V: Hand Shadows and how to work them. Illustrated (9)

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127. A boat’s crew far from land, with no sail or oars, and with no assistance from wind or stream, or outside help of any kind, can regain the shore by means of a coil of rope. Motion is given to the boat by tying one end of the rope to the after thwart, and giving the other end a series of violent jerks in a direction parallel to the keel. This curious illustration of mechanical principles is from “Ball’s Mechanical Recreations.” (_Macmillan._)

128. It will be found that after a crown and as many four-shilling pieces as possible have been crammed into our pockets, there would still be room for one sixpence and one threepenny-piece in some corner or cranny. We can, therefore, have one crown, one sixpence, one threepenny-piece, and as many four-shilling pieces as our pockets will hold, and yet be unable to give change for a half-sovereign.

129. There were fifteen apples in the basket. Half of these and half an apple, _i.e._, eight were first given, then half the remainder and half an apple, _i.e._, four, then on similar lines two, leaving one in the basket.

130. The Queer Division--

A third of twelve divide
By just a fifth of seven;
And you will soon decide
That this must give eleven--

is solved by LV ÷ V, or 55 ÷ 5 = 11.

131. A motor that goes 9 miles an hour uphill, 18 miles an hour downhill, and 12 miles an hour on the level, will take 8 hours and 20 minutes to run 50 miles out and return at once over the same course.

132. The number of shots fired at a mark was 420 each by _A_, _B_, and _C_. _A_ made 280 hits, _B_ 315, and _C_ 336.

133. If a dog and a cat, evenly matched in speed, run a race out and back over a course of 75 yards in all, and the dog always takes 5 feet at a bound, and the cat 3 feet, the cat will win, because at the turning point the dog overleaps the half distance more than the cat does, and so has a longer run in.

134. When a man caught up a wagon going at 3 miles an hour, which was just visible to him in a fog at a distance of 55 yards, and which he saw for five minutes before reaching it, he was walking at the rate of 3³⁄₈ miles an hour.

135. Three horses, _A B C_, can be placed after a race in thirteen different ways, thus:--_A B C_, _A C B_, _B A C_, _B C A_, _C A B_, _C B A_, or _A B C_ as a dead heat; or _A B_, _A C_, or _B C_ equal for the first place; or _A_ first with _B C_ equal seconds; or _B_ first with _A C_ equal seconds; or _C_ first with _A B_ equal seconds.

136. The 34 points scored against Oxbridge by the New Zealanders can be made up in two ways, either by 8 tries and 2 converted tries, or by 3 tries and 5 converted tries.

The highest possible score on these lines is 10 tries converted, equalling 50 points, and as the New Zealanders’ score, if all tries are converted, becomes four-fifths of this, their actual score was 3 tries and 5 converted into goals.

137. The smallest number, of which the alternate figures are cyphers, which is divisible by 9 and by 11 is 909090909090909090909!

138. Our problem in which it is stated that _A_ with 8d. met _B_ and _C_ with five and three loaves, and asked how the cash should be divided between _B_ and _C_, if all agreed to share the loaves. Now each eats two loaves and two-thirds of a loaf, and _B_ gives seven-thirds of a loaf to _A_, while _C_ gives him one-third of a loaf. So _B_ receives 7d. and _C_ 1d.

139. When, on opening four money-boxes containing pennies only, it was found that those in the first with half of all the rest, those in the second with a third of the others, those in the third with a fourth, and those in the fourth with a fifth of all the rest, amounted in each case to 740, the four boxes held £6. 1s. 8d., and the numbers of pennies were 20, 380, 500, and 560.

140. If two steamers, _A_ and _B_, start together for a trip to a distant buoy and back, and _A_ steams all the time at ten knots an hour, while _B_ goes outward at eight knots and returns at twelve knots an hour, _B_ will regain port later than _A_, because its loss on the outward course will not have been recovered on the run home.

141. If in London a new head to a golf club costs four times as much as a new leather face, while at St Andrews it costs five times as much, and if the leather face costs twice as much in London as in St Andrews, and if, including a shilling paid for a ball, the charges in London were twice as much as they would have been at St Andrews, the London cost of a new head is four shillings, and of a leather face a shilling.

142. When two children were asked to give the total number of sheep and cattle in a pasture, from the number of each sort, and one by subtraction answered 10, while the other arrived at 11,900 by multiplication, the true numbers were 170 sheep, 70 cattle, 240 in all.

143. If a man picks up one by one fifty-two stones, placed at such intervals on a straight road that the second is a yard from the first, the third 3 yards from the second, and so on with intervals increasing each time by 2 yards, and bring them all to a basket placed at the first stone, he has to travel about 52 miles, or, to be quite exact, 51 miles, 1292 yards.

144. When, in the House of Commons, if the Ayes had been increased by 50 from the Noes, the motion would have been carried by 5 to 3; and if the Noes had taken 60 votes from the Ayes it would have been lost by 4 to 3, the motion succeeded; 300 voted “Aye,” and 260 “No.”

145. There are 143 positions on the face of a watch in which the places of the hour and minute-hands can be interchanged, and still indicate a possible time. There would be 144 such positions but for the fact that at twelve o’clock the hands occupy the same place.

146. If in a cricket match the scores in each successive innings are a quarter less than in the preceding innings, and the side which goes in first wins by 50 runs, the complete scores of the winners are 128 and 72, and of the losers 96 and 54.

147. When a ball is thrown vertically upwards, and caught five seconds later, it has risen 100 feet. It takes the same time to rise as to fall, and when a body falls from rest, it travels a number of feet represented by sixteen times the square of the time in seconds.

Hence comes the rule that the height in feet of a vertical throw is found by squaring the time in seconds of its flight, and multiplying by four.

148. The carpet which, had it been 5 feet broader and 4 feet longer, would have contained 116 more feet, and if 4 feet broader and 5 longer 113 more, was 12 feet long and 9 feet broad.

149. When, in estimating the cost of a hundred similar articles, shillings were read as pounds, and pence as shillings, and the estimated cost was in consequence £212, 18s. 4d. in excess of the real cost, the true cost of each article was 2s. 5d.

150. If the square of the number of my house is equal to the difference of the squares of the numbers of my next door neighbours’ houses, and if my brother in the next street can say the same of his house, though its number is not the same as that of mine, our houses are numbered 8 and 4. In my street the even numbers are all on one side, in my brother’s street they, run odd and even consecutively, and so 8² = 10² - 6², and 4² = 5² - 3².

151. When two men of unequal strength have to move a block which weighs 270 ℔s., on a light plank 6 feet long, if the stronger man can carry 180 ℔s., the block must be placed 2 feet from him, so that he may have that share of the load.

152. If a man who had twenty coins, some shillings, and the rest half-crowns, were to change the half-crowns for sixpences, and the shillings for pence, and then found that he had 156 coins, he must have had eight shillings at first.

153. If, when coins are placed on a table at equal distances apart, so as to form sides of an equilateral triangle, and when as many are taken from the middle of each side as equal the square root of the number on that side, and placed on the opposite corner, the number on each side is then to the original number as five is to four, there are forty-five coins in all.

154. When the gardener found that he would have 150 too few if he set his posts a foot apart, and seventy to spare if he set them at every yard, he had 180 posts.

155. In order to buy with £100 a hundred animals, cows at £5, sheep at £1, and geese at 1s. each, the purchaser must secure nineteen cows, one sheep, and eighty geese.

156. If John, who is 21, is twice as old as Mary was when he was as old as Mary is, Mary’s age now is 15³⁄₄ years.

157. If in a cricket match _A_ makes 35 runs, and _C_ and _D_ make respectively half and a third of _B_’s score, and if _B_ scores as many less than _A_ as _C_ scores more than _D_, _B_ made 30, _C_ 15, and _D_ 10 runs.

158. The least number which, divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10, leaves remainders 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, is 2519, their least common multiple less 1.

159. A square table standing on four legs, which are set at the middle points of its sides, can at most uphold its own weight upon one of its corners.

160. The division of ninety-nine pennies, so that share 1 exceeds share 2 by 3, is less than share 3 by 10, exceeds share 4 by 9, and is less than share 5 by 16, is 17, 14, 27, 8, and 33.

161. If Indians carried off a third of a flock and a third of a sheep, and others took a fourth of the remainder and a fourth of a sheep, and others a fifth of the rest and three-fifths of a sheep, and there were then 409 left, the full flock was 1025 sheep.

162. When a cistern which held fifty-three gallons was filled by three boys, _A_ bringing a pint every three minutes, _B_ a quart every five minutes, and _C_ a gallon every seven minutes, it took 230 minutes to fill it, and _B_ poured in the final quart, _A_ and _C_ _coming up one minute too late_ to contribute at the last.

163. A man who said, late in the last century, that his age then was the square root of the year in which he was born, was speaking in the year 1892.

164. If when a dealer in curios sold a vase for £119, his profit per cent., and the cost price of the vase, were expressed by the same number, it had cost him £70.

165. The chance of throwing at least one ace in a single throw with a pair of dice is ¹¹⁄₃₆, for there are five ways in which each dice can be thrown so as not to give an ace, so that twenty-five possible throws exclude aces. Hence the chance of _not_ throwing an ace is ²⁵⁄₃₆, which leaves ¹¹⁄₃₆ in favour of it.

166. The policeman who ran after a thief starting four minutes later, and running one-third faster, if they both ran straight along the road, caught him in twelve minutes.

167. At a bazaar stall, where twenty-seven articles are exposed for sale, a purchaser may buy one thing or more, and the number of choices open to him is one less than the continued product of twenty-seven twos, or 134217727.

VERY PERSONAL

168. When Nellie’s father said:--

I was twice as old as you are
The day that you were born.
You will be just what I was then
When fourteen years are gone--

he was 42, and she was 14.

WORD AND LETTER PUZZLES

1. The word square is completed thus:--

MEAD
EDGE
AGUE
DEED

2. The word square filled in is:--

CIRCLE
INURES
RUDEST
CREASE
LESSEE
ESTEEM

_Notice the curious diagonal of E’s._

3. In the incomplete sentence,

SO****AG****LATI****X****ITH

the duplicate letters are filled in thus:--

SOME MEAGRE RELATIVE VEXED EDITH

The two last letters of each word are repeated as the two first of the word that follows.

4. The word square is completed thus:--

WASTE
ACTOR
STONE
TONIC
ERECT

5. By twice building up two Ds into a B we make BULBOUS.

6. The question put on paper to the love-lorn youth, “Loruve?” is, when interpreted, “Are you in love?” and the advice given to him on another slip, “Prove

L
A F
D

and ensure success,” reads into, “Prove a fond lover, and ensure success” (a f _on_ d l _over_).

7. DOUBLE ACROSTIC ST. JAMES’ GAZETTE

S . . . prin . . . G
T . . . ar . . . A
J . . . abe . . . Z
A . . . t . . . E
M . . . omen . . . T
E . . . mme . . . T
S . . . trik . . . E

8. The completed word square is--

AMENDS
MINION
ENABLE
NIBBLE
DOLLAR
SNEERS

9. The oracular response to a young Frenchman at a _fête_, who inquired how he could best please the ladies--

MEC DO BIC

conceals this sage advice--

Aimez, cédez, obéissez!
Love, yield, obey!

10. The solution to our Letter Fraction Problem is of a verbal character. The original statement 15844

m
--
ot = mo
--
y

is dealt with thus:--

m _on_ ot _on_ y = mo _not on_ y, and so the word monotony solves the equation.

11. The buried beasts are _chamois_, _buffalo_, _heifer_, and _leopard_; and when the Oxford athlete cries--

“Though I jump and row and run,
Cap or cup I never won”

he introduces us to a _porcupine_.

12. The lines--

Fourteen letters here we fix,
Vowels only two are spoken;
All together these we mix
Into what can not be broken--

is solved by _indivisibility_, which has many an _i_, like a peacock’s tail.

13. The English word of thirteen letters in which the same vowel occurs four times, the same consonant six times, another twice, and another once, is _Senselessness_.

14. The condensed proverb “WE IS DO” reads at its full length as “Well begun is half done.”

15. This is the completed word square:--

WASHES
ARTERY
STORMS
HERMIT
ERMINE
SYSTEM

16. Dr Whewell’s puzzle lines--

O O N O O.
----------
U O A O O I O U,
O N O O O O M E T O O.
U O A O I D O S O
I O N O O I O U T O O!

read thus:--

OH SIGH FOR NO CIPHER

You sigh for a cipher, O, I sigh for you,
Sigh for no cipher, O sigh for me too.
You sigh for a cipher, I decipher so,
I sigh for no cipher, I sigh for you too!

17. This is the completed diamond:--

P
POR
CORES
FORCEPS
PORCELAIN
REFLECT
SPACE
SIT
N

18. The medley--

Tan HE Edsa VEN in
It N Gja SmeTs AsgN
aD Az Rett De

is read by taking first the capitals in their order, and then the small type. It comes put out as “The Evening Standard and Saint James’s Gazette.”

19. The statement, I can travel first-class on the G.E.R. from 2222222244444500, reads into--from 22 to 2 to 22 to 4 for 44 4d; or, in plain terms, from 1.38 to 3.38 for 14s. 8d. This works out at about 3d. a mile, the usual allowance for first-class, for two hours, at about 29 miles an hour.

20. A CURIOUS OLD INSCRIPTION

Read the inscription backwards, and it resolves itself into the lines familiar to us in our childhood:--

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady ride on a grey horse.
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
She shall have music wherever she goes!

21. The reason why the invitation to Jack to sample the Irish stew at Simpson’s was to be kept in mind by the catch words--

Join me at and
i
s,

is because if you join _me_ and _at_, and note that _and_ is _on i_, which is _on s_, you arrive at the suggestive sentence--_meat and onions_.

22. The labourer’s quaint letter, which ran “Cepatomtogoatatrin,” was, in plainer English, “Kept at home to go a tatering.”

23. Our double acrostic comes out thus:--

PROBLEM--PUZZLES

P ........a....... P
(T) R ................ U (E)
O ................ Z
B ........o....... Z
L .......eve...... L
E ........v....... E
M ................ S

24. The Hidden Proverb is--

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

25. The “deed done” in our Will puzzle is the making in Roman numerals of “Codicil.” The lawyer was to set down, a hundred, to add nothing, to set down five hundred, then one, then another hundred, and then one more, and, finally, fifty, and accordingly he wrote upon the parchment the one word CODICIL.

26. The word square is--

EDITOR
DESIRE
ISLAND
TIARAS
ORNATE
REDSEA

27. The notes of music A. G. A. E. A. over the grave of a French musician, who was choked by a fish bone, are in the French notation, “La sol la mi la,” which reads into “La sole l’a mis 1à.”

Similarly the inscription over the porch of Gustave Doré’s house C. E. B. A. C. D. is equivalent to “Do, mi, si, la, do, re,” which may be taken to represent “Domicile à Doré.”

28. When his best girl said to Jack Spooner, “We can go to-morrow at 222222222222 LEY STREET,” he understood her to mean, “We can go to-morrow, at two minutes to two, to two twenty-two, to 222 Tooley Street.”

C
---------- spells _contents_ (c on ten ts!).
TTTTTTTTTT

30. We can treat the word _disused_ so as to affirm or to disallow the use of its initial or final d, for we can write it _d is used_, or _disuse d_!

31. The title of the book shaken up into

EIOOOU
BCNNRRSS

is “Robinson Crusoe.”

32. If the letter M only is inserted in the proper places in the line--

A DEN I I CAN DOCK

it will read: _Madmen mimic and mock_.

33. The quotation from Shakespeare--

OXXU8 MAAULGIHCTE
NOR

is by interpretation:--“Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.”

34. The phonetic nightmare--

Ieukngheaurrhphthewempeighghteaps--

is merely the word _unfortunates_. It can be justified thus by English spelling of similar sound taken letter by letter:--

u--iew in view; n--kn in know; f--gh in tough; o--eau in beau; r--rrh in myrrh; t--phth in phthisis; u--ewe; n--mp in comptroller; a--eigh in neigh; t--ght in light; e--ea in tea; and s--ps in psalm.

35. The word square is completed thus:--

FARM
AREA
RENT
MATE

36. A QUAINT INSCRIPTION

The millers leave the mill,
The wherrymen lower their sail;
The maltsters leave the kiln,
For a drop of the White Swan’s ale.

37. A POET’S PI

TONDEBNIOTOCHUMFOARYHUR
OTDIRECTTHAWHOTERSOFKLSYA;
TIKATESTUBALIGHTSTILLETRUFLYR
OTBOWLALLNFESLEAVARFWYAA

is disentangled thus:--

Don’t be in too much of a hurry
To credit what other folks say;
It takes but a slight little flurry
To blow fallen leaves far away.

38. BURIED PLACES

The five buried places are Deal, London, Esk, Perth, and Baden. The word is Ourangoutang.

39. It is no offence to conspire in the evening, because what is treasonable is _reasonable after t_!

40. The bit of botany--

Inscribe an _m_ above a line,
And write an _e_ below,
This woodland flower is hung so fine
It bends when zephyrs blow--

is solved by,

m
-,
e

_an em on e_, the delicately hung wind-flower.

41. A PIED PROVERB

The pied proverb, is “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”

42. The Drop Letter Proverb--

E..t. .e.s..s .a.e .h. .o.. ..i.e, is--_Empty vessels make the most noise_.

43. The English word of five syllables, which has eight letters, five of them vowels--namely an a, an e, twice i, and y--is _Ideality_.

44. TORMENT may be turned into RAPTURE, using four links, changing only one letter each time, and varying the order of the letters, thus: TORMENT, _portent_, _protest_, _pratest_, _praters_, RAPTURE.

45. The pied sentence--

a a c e e e f f h h i i i i i m n n o o o p r r s s t t t t t

can be cast into the proverb--

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”

46. The English sentence, when the letter _o_ is added, reads:--

“Good old port for orthodox Oxford dons.”

One vowel in an English word is found,
Which by eight consonants is hedged around--

is solved by _Strengths_.

48. The letters AAAAABBNNIIRSSTT form the word _Antisabbatarians_.

49. The quotation from Shakespeare,

KINI

stands for “A little more than kin, and less than kind.”

50. The two English words which have the first six letters of the alphabet among their ten letters are _fabricated_ and _bifurcated_.

51. SHIFTING NUMBERS

The letter _A_ stands at the head of the letters of the alphabet. For _bed_ 3 of these are used; for _goal_, 4; for _prison_, 6; for _six_, 3; for _three_, 5. The letter _A_ is not used in the spelling of the name of any number from 1 to 100, but it makes up, with the other vowels, the number 6.

52. The prodigal’s letter to his father, “Dear Dad, keep 1000050,” in reply to a suggestion for safeguarding some of his prospects, was written in playful impudence; and its interpretation is, “Dear Dad, keep cool!” for the figures in Roman numerals are COOL.

53. BURIED POETS

The poets’ names buried in the lines--

The sun is darting rays of gold
Upon the moor, enchanting spot;
Whose purpled heights, by Ronald loved,
Up open to his Shepherd cot.

And sundry denizens of air
Are flying, aye, each to his nest;
And eager make at such an hour
All haste to reach the mansions blest.

are Gray, Moore, Byron, Pope, Dryden, Gay, Keats, and Hemans.

54. When _A. B._ gave up the reins of government, and _C.B._ took office in his place, the two verbs, similar in all respects, except that the one is longer by one letter than the other, which expressed the change, were _resigns_--_reigns_.

Underdone mutton and onion make between you and me,
A glutton a little seedy after a capital tea.

First a _c_ and _a t_, last _a c_ and a _t_,
With a couple of letters between,
Form a sight that our eyes are delighted to see,
Unless in their sight it is seen--

is solved by _Cataract_. The first line reads, First a _c_ and _a t_, last _a c_ and a _t_, that is _cat_ and _act_.

57. Cuba.

58. The Rebus T S is solved by the words _tones_ and _tans_, _t_ before _one s_, or _t_ before _an s_.

59. The phonetic phrase--

INXINXIN--

is, _Ink sinks in_!

A GOOD END

60. Finis (F IN IS).

=PART III.=

CONTENTS

PAGE

WORD PUZZLES, MISSING WORDS, LETTER PUZZLES III-1

ANAGRAMS, PICTURE PUZZLES III-48

PALINDROMES III-108

SOLUTIONS III-111

WORD PUZZLES

No. I--AN EARLY CRYPTOGRAM

The use of some sort of grille was not uncommon in olden days among the many methods then employed for secret correspondence. Here is an early and interesting specimen:--

An important despatch would appear to be a mere confusion of letters, until it fell into the right hands, and this perforated key was laid over it, when the intended instructions were at once revealed, and read in the openings of the tracery.

No. II.--A MANIFOLD MONOGRAM

Here, by seven straight lines and one circle, a manifold monogram is formed.

Within its borders we find a circle, a square, a parallelogram, a triangle, the vowels a, e, i, o, u; the consonants, C, D, H, K, L, M, T, W; and other forms and figures.

MISSING WORDS

1. PICKING AND STEALING

What tempting ...... beguiled the boy to sample
Fruit that hung ...... on the parson’s trees?
...... upon ...... shall make him an example
When the stern ...... has brought him to his knees.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

No. III.--A BOOK AND ITS AUTHOR

What well-known book and its author may be represented thus:--

2. A SWARM OF MISSING WORDS

No less than eight different words, spelt with the same six letters, are available to fill the gaps in the following lines:--

Man of the dark room, ...... none I find
Upon these ...... of likeness to my features.
...... then nought, O man of evil mind,
Who ...... thus to libel fellow-creatures?

Evil thus done ...... upon the doer,
The ...... in thy conduct, Sir, are many;
...... thy life, and let thy crimes be fewer,
Or all thy ...... of good won’t fetch a penny!

No. IV.--ON THE SHUTTERS

Upon the shutters of a barber’s shop the following legend was painted in bold letters:--

NO. I
JOHN MARSHALL
IN ATTENDANCE
FROM 8 A.M. DAILY
BARBER AND
HAIR CUTTER
THE BALD CRY ALOUD
FOR HIS CREAMS
AS DISPLAYED IN THIS WINDOW
WHICH MAKE HAIR GLISTEN
CLOSES AFTER 8 P.M.

One evening about 8.30, when it was blowing great guns, quite a crowd gathered round the window, and seemed to be enjoying some excellent joke. What was amusing them when one shutter blew open?

3. NO HEART!

False Kate! ... .... . ......’s nest,
.. ..... the Upas tree,
I will not budge, ... .... to rest,
.. .... . coward be.

No, not .... ... enough their sting
To drive me back to thee;
None swifter meet thy beckoning
.... ... the hills I flee.

... .... frosts less my love would quell.
Rather than seek thy side,
Of ... .... horse I love so well
I’ll ... .... hoofs and hide!

The number of letters in each word of the missing phrases is indicated by dots, and the seven letters in each case are those that spell also “no heart,” which we give as a title and clue.

No. V.--A PHONETIC MAXIMUM

How far phonetic spelling may be pushed, is illustrated by the following swarm of variations given in a book published at Enfield in 1829:--

Scissars -- ers -- irs -- ors -- urs -- yrs
Scisars -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „
Sciszars -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „
Scizars -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „
Scizscars -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „
Scizzars -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „ -- „

Or the word may start with Sis, Siss, Siz, Sys, Syss, Syzz, Syzs, Syz, Cis, Ciss, Ciz, Cisz, Cysz, Cyz, Cyzz. By substituting “z” for the final “s” we may double the number, and reach a total of 1224.

4. UNNATURAL HISTORY

’Neath ...... Indian seas fierce battles spread
’Twixt ...... hermit-crabs and other shellfish!
With horrid ...... when their foes are dead,
These crabs declare their shells ......, so selfish!

Each missing word has the same six letters.

No. VI.--SOLVITUR AMBULANDO

On this chequered floor, paved with slabs each a foot square, the palindrome word ROTATOR can be traced in various ways.

+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=| O | T | A | T | O |=R=|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+

If a man walks over it, taking one slab at every step, and never lengthening his strides, how many steps will he take in tracing every possible variation of the word, and how many such variations are there?

No. VII.--A CURIOUS CHRONOGRAPH

A bachelor clergyman, whose initials were I.E.V., had built a fernery with the profits of his tracts on the deceased wife’s sister question. He dated it on a mural tablet thus:--

If the Roman numerals are extracted from this inscription, and added together, they amount to 1884, the desired date.

Though ------ secure and ------ in his cage,
Our Polly, when ------, will fly into a rage.

Each missing word has the same six letters.

All courtly honours are but light
As grains that from a ------ fly;
And he who wears the ------ bright
May haply in a ------ die.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

I’d rather from a ------ eat,
I give my sacred word,
Than dine in slums where ------ meet,
And ------ pedlars herd.

Each missing word has the same six letters.

No. VIII.--AN OLD SAMPLER

In the drawer of a cabinet that had belonged to my grandmother I came upon an old sampler, beautifully worked in scarlet cross-stitch. Its very curious legend runs as follows:--

A much married ....... of Cadiz
Once ....... some riotous ladies.
To ....... him they chucked
A ......., but he ducked,
Which ....... these rude ladies of Cadiz.

The five missing words are spelt with the same seven letters.

9. THE LASS AND HER LOVER

A lass and her lover were ------ by the sky
Not to ------ too far where no shelter was nigh.
She lingered behind, and ----- -- old church,
St. ------ by name, and was left in the lurch.
She tried a short cut through a park on the grass,
But sternly the ------- forbade her to pass;
Then helplessly stood the disconsolate maid,
When the lad she was soon to --- --- to her aid.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

No. IX.--THE LANDLORD’S PUZZLE

The following curious Missing Words Puzzle is to be seen on a card which hangs in the bar of an inn in the Isle of Man:--

It is to be read thus:--

I had both _money_ and a _friend_, by both I set great store,
I lent my _money_ to my _friend_, and took his word therefor,

_and so on to the end_.

When ------- smiles, and sunbeams play
On flowers that ------- and deck the green,
------- can match the scene so gay
------ they crown the May-day queen?

The missing words are spelt with the same seven letters.

’Tis said of William, while his forces rested
On Albion’s ------, when Harold had been bested,
He made the ------ of his ------ fuse
Saxon spear-heads, to fashion into shoes.

Each missing word has the same six letters.

No. X.--DECAPITATED WORDS

The decapitated words are in italics:--

The ship rode in an _eastern_ bay,
Asleep _astern_ the master lay,
A _stern_ and rugged man was he,
And, like a _tern_, at home at sea.
Like swooping _ern_ he caught his prey
Whene’er an _R.N._ came his way;
But while due _N._ the needle kept
He in his cabin lay and slept.

The ern, or erne, is the sea-eagle.

Happiness, brighter than ------, is dead;
Life’s battle, sterner and ------ now,
Heals the sore ------ that love left as it fled,
------ remembrance of long broken vow!

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

13. AN AUTHOR’S EPIGRAM

Press critics fall on me like sharks;
“A shameless ....... of odds and ends,
No ....... original,” and more remarks
In adverse mood. But stay, my friends,
He ....... best who hath his record clean;
My faults are published, yours are yet unseen!

The missing words have the same seven letters.

...... are his ......, fashion-forms of grace
In ...... deftly hinted.
...... soft as ......, crowned by Beauty’s face,
In ...... hues are tinted.

The six missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

No. XI.--AN ANCIENT ANAGRAM

On the front of a church, in the Largo Remedios, at Braga, in Portugal, there is an inscription which, with its letter-perfect Anagram, runs as follows:--

| |
-+----------------------------+-
| BEATUS IOANNES MARCUS |
| CHRISTI DOMINI DISCIPULUS |
| ---- |
| ANAGRAM |
| -------------- |
|IS IN MUNDO PIUS EST MEDICUS|
| TUIS INCOLIS, BRACHARA |
| -----*----- |
-+----------------------------+-
| |

which may be rendered--“Blessed John Mark, disciple of Christ the Lord.” _He in this world is the holy healer of thy people Braga!_

When Kate --- -------- ----- -------- displayed
----- ----- --- hide a tear;
“All love is dead --- --------,” he said.
“------- I’ll ----- --------!”

The missing word and groups of words are spelt with the same seven letters.

Some grinding at the ------ must toil,
Down-trodden ------ of to-day;
While other children of the soil
In vast ------ their wealth display.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

No. XII.--STRIKE A BALANCE

This diagram shows that the odd numbers of the 9 digits add up to 25, and the even numbers to 20.

+----------------------+
/| |\
+-+----------------------+-+
| | 1 | |
| | 3 2 | |
| | 5 4 | |
| | 7 6 | |
| | 9 8 | |
| | -- -- | |
| | 25 20 | |
| | ======== | |
+-+----------------------+-+
\| |/
+----------------------+

Can you arrange the 9 digits in two groups in which the odd numbers and the even will add up to exactly the same sum?

Betrayed by faithless friends, in ------ mood
Man ------ his fellows as the ------ brood.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

18. HONEST INDIAN

With divers ---- his ---- is scarred,
He hangs a bangle in his nose;
Such marks secure his ---- regard,
Exalt his fame, and ---- his foes.

Each missing word is spelt with the same four letters.

No. XIII.--HKISTA!

MRS LR’S SR
MR LR KRS.
“BLR MR LR!”
MRS LR HRS.

How do you read these lines and their title?

19. ON THE OCEAN WAVE

------- who, as we ------- roll,
------- for me the foaming bowl,
And ------- off unfriendly spray
With oilskin cape, thou shalt not say
“In vain I’ve ------- my favours here.”
I’ll think of thee when port is near!

The four missing words are spelt with the same seven letters.

20. THE ZENANA MISSION

With high ------ for hearts and hands,
These ------ ------ for distant lands.

The three missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

The ------- of his speech did not
------- his audience a jot.
They greeted all he said thereafter
With -------, smiles, and open laughter.

The missing words have the same seven letters.

To convent shrine at break of day
With ----- together nuns repair;
Mid gleaming ----- they kneel and pray,
And chanted ----- allays each care.

Spelt with the same five letters.

No. XIV.--IN MEMORIAM

The following puzzle-epitaph was engraved on a tombstone in Durham Cathedral:--

Here once, as a hag is bedizened with paint,
A ----- ----- ----’- in the garb of a saint.

The three missing words are spelt with the same five letters.

24. IN PRAISE OF SUSSEX

Sussex! No ----- of a bygone age
Ride through thy ----- to-day with shield and -----,
And ----- no horseflesh so they may engage
To save some damozel from harm or fear.

Who now would give a thought to ----- or peaches?
He truly farms who ----- a golden store;
And, though he cannot ----- the simplest speeches,
----- down expense, and savings has galore!

Each missing word is spelt with the same five letters.

No. XV.--A FRENCH WORD SQUARE

Here is an excellent French Word Square of seven letters:--

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|R|E|N|E|G|A|T|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|E|T|A|L|A|G|E|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|N|A|V|I|R|E|S|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|E|L|I|D|A|N|T|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|G|A|R|A|N|C|E|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|A|G|E|N|C|E|R|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|T|E|S|T|E|R|A|
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

This is a worthy companion to the English seven-letter squares on “Problem” and “Palated,” which are given on other pages.

----- in the ----- far away,
Remote alike from heaven and hell,
The silent -----, so poets say,
Who shape the ends of mortals dwell.

Each missing word has the same five letters.

In all our ------ the mechanician’s skill
Now compasses the rogue with artful wile.
The patent ------ and the “tell tale” till
Beset his way who ------ the path of guile,
Besotted youth, who ------ to defy
The rule of right, beware his awful fate
Who, sitting down to eat a stolen pie,
------ the eighth commandment on the plate!

Spelt with the same six letters.

No. XVI.--A QUAINT EPITAPH

This epitaph, most of it in some sort of dog Latin, tells its own pathetic tale on its tablet.

The .... with .... importunate
To rule his .... may try;
His .... is so unfortunate
That .... they may reply!

The missing words are spelt with the same four letters.

28. “TURN AGAIN WHITTINGTON!”

In all the pomp of ---- and chains
He lords it o’er the town;
The ---- of his hopes he gains
Who ---- with half-a-crown.

Each missing word has the same four letters.

No. XVII.--A TRAGIC CALENDAR

29. A SAUCY JADE

A writer quite devoid of tact,
She valued ------ more than fact.
A wayward ------ she made her muse
On ------ and noble heaped abuse.
Dealt ----- on ------ to prince or peer,
Her ----- wit a paltry jeer.

Each missing word is spelt with the same six letters.

30. MISSING WORDS

Of all destructive country pests
The farmer ..... ..... least;
He cannot yet the puzzle .....
How to suppress the beast!

The missing words have the same five letters.

No. XVIII.--A DIAMOND PALINDROME

Within the four corners of this Mystic Diamond the Palindrome, NAME NO ONE MAN, can be traced in 16,376 different directions, in straight lines, or at right angles, starting from the centre or from the borders.

N
NaN
NamaN
NamemaN
NamenemaN
NamenonemaN
NamenooonemaN
NamenoonoonemaN
NamenoonenoonemaN
NamenoonemenoonemaN
NamenoonemamenoonemaN
NamenoonemaNamenoonemaN
NamenoonemamenoonemaN
NamenoonemenoonemaN
NamenoonenoonemaN
NamenoonoonemaN
NamenooonemaN
NamenonemaN
NamenemaN
NamemaN
NamaN
NaN
N

31. TO THE FRESH AIR FUND
OH THE ------ OF THE ------.

The ------ of darkest London are radiant with ------,
You can ----- it in their ----- little faces.
So wherever you ------ let it be your heart’s ------
To ease the ----- and sorrows of all -----.

The missing words in the title and those in the first and third lines each contain six letters. Those in the second four, and in the fourth five.

No. XIX.--SHAKESPEARE RECAST

If you start with the right letter in this combination, and then take every third letter, a well-known quotation from Shakespeare will be formed.

32. THE FLIRT THAT FAILED

She ...... in vain, “Men are ......, and as shy
As ...... in October,” she says with a sigh.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

When good men lapse the ....... grins,
When one ....... he swears,
And strives to set his former sins
Against his ....... prayers.

Each missing word is spelt with the same seven letters.

No. XX.--A DOUBLE ACROSTIC

An old Italian bird we know
Whose heart is ever touched by snow.

1. None can press me without pain
Pressure is against the grain.
2. I am a king without my head.
3. Here is another king instead.

It is fair to our readers to say that some knowledge of Latin and French is needed for dealing with this very excellent Acrostic, of which a full explanation is given with the solution.

34. THE GIPSY LAD

His hands and face were -----, and sad
Upon the ----- a gipsy lad
Lay; as the breeze his temples fanned
He counted ----- on either hand.

Each missing word has the same five letters.

35. THE OLD DIVINE

In yon grey ----- an old divine
Taught me my ----- to decline,
And verbs with ----- of mood and tense;
But while I plodded on apace
I had to keep the ----- of grace,
And close his prayers with loud -----.

Each missing word is spelt with the same five letters.

36. BANZAI!

No reckless ------ of the sword,
He ------ his fatherland to save.
Fighting for freedom, not ------,
Now ------ of the eastern seas.

The four missing words contain six letters.

No. XXI.--HIDDEN PROVERBS

Five familiar proverbs are hidden in this square of 169 letters.

R E N O W N E D T H A N W
S Y O U R C A K E A N D A
S T E T O B E F E A R H R
E A R K S S P O I L E A F
L E O O H E R S N T D V O
O T M O T L I N O H T E U
N O S C A L A G M E H I R
S N I Y G O R S O B A T S
E N G N E N O T S R N P A
I A O A M O O T S O A E W
R C D E V I L A H T D A S
O U O Y N O I L D A E C A
T C I V R E H H T A H E Z

The proverbs are arranged in a regular sequence.

37. OF DOUBTFUL WORTH

A fair ------, though ------ and frayed,
The critic ------ to own,
And it might interest the trade
If ------ by some one known.

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

In his ------ days, as when he was young,
The ------ indulges in ------ of tongue.

Each missing word is spelt with the same six letters.

No. XXII.--AN ALPHABETICAL TOAST

Lord Duff, who evidently had a turn for puzzles, proposed this alphabetical toast, which became popular among the Jacobites.

A.B.C. A blessed change.
D.E.F. Down every foreigner.
G.H.J. God help James.
K.L.M. Keep Lord Mar.
N.O.P. Noble Ormond preserve.
Q.R.S. Quickly resolve Stuart.
T.U.V.W. Truss up vile Whigs.
X.Y.Z. Exert your zeal.

Another quaint and ingenious use of separate letters is recorded of the well-known preacher, Henry Ward Beecher.

Years ago, before his reputation had become world-wide, he was asked to give a lecture without charge, and assured that it would increase his fame. His reply was characteristic and very much to the point: “I will lecture for F.A.M.E.--fifty and my expenses!”

39. MISSING WORDS

(1) A cylindrical lock
Where no key can be found,
(2) An instrument treble
And ringing in sound.
(3) In story-land ranging,
(4) Now chopping and changing;
(5) Broken up, reunited,
Quite whole I am found.

Words, spelt with the same eight letters are indicated in these lines. There are two words in (1).

No. XXIII.--A MORAL PRECEPT

The following obscure legend was worked on an old sampler, in the red cross-stitch that found favour when our grandmothers were girls:--

This was evidently some excellent moral precept, but it hung on its frame, a mere puzzle on the school-room wall, until an expert word juggler came that way, and solved the mystery by reading it off thus:--

“Eliza be thou true, constant in everything. Love sways us, and art.”

In the following lines the first missing word has two letters, and the letters are carried on, with one more added each time, and in varied order, throughout the verses, either in single words or in groups of words:--

A lover of .. unkind fair
Were less than ... did he not ....
“Mine is no ..... life, I swear,
It dwells in this ...... alone.
Grant me thy love, like ....... chaste
.. ...... lest thou live unwooed,
..... .. . lowly life to waste
The treasures of sweet ..........”

No. XXIV.--SHAKESPEARE’S MANTLE

Ingenious cryptic efforts have been made to prove that Bacon was the author of Shakespeare’s plays, but it has been reserved for us to reveal, by a convincing cryptogram, the modern wearer of his mantle.

The secret is disclosed by a line of capital letters shown below:--

Mac B eth.
Oth E llo.
Comedy of Er R ors.
Merchant of Ve N ice.
Coriol A nus.
Midsummer Night’s D R eam.
Merry Wives of Win D sor.

Measure for Mea S ure.
Much Ado about Not H ing.
Antony and Cleop A tra.
All’s Well that ends W ell.

41. MISSING WORDS

Till a man is as ----- of a ----- as his palm is,
We ----- him from earning his ----- in our armies.

The missing words are spelt with the same five letters.

42. THE PAUPER’S PLAINT

Pale penury that ------ social bands,
And any link that ------ worth to fame,
Take ye the blame for my inactive hands,
I ------ in vain to build upon the sands,
Without a ------ who can make a name?

The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.

No. XXV.--CAPITAL SHORT CUTS

The following example of the use of phonetic capitals and figures is fresh and original. It contains more than eighty such symbols in its twenty-four lines:--

A MAID OF ARCADY

A rosy maid of R K D
Is L N in her bower;
Brisk as U C A honey B,
And sweet as N E flower.

Does she S A herself 2 please
(XQQ the saucy miss),
She sings an L E G 2 TT,
Or blows an M T kiss.

“B mine, I say, U bonny J,
B 4 I CC mine L;
When you are gay my hopes D K,
In T sing U X L.”

Without ado she takes the Q,
Her II B 9 and B D,
“O, sir, I do not N V U
I C that U R C D.

“X S of spirits--O D V--
Begins 2 U U U up;
The cure must B a dish of T
With K N in the cup!”

“O L N U I C R true,
Y need I C Q less?
I’ll never D V 8 from U,
But end my cares with S.”
(_caress_).

43. MISSING WORDS

Mr Backslide, afflicted with weakness of mind,
-------- over to Lushington’s inn, where he dined.
He -------- the pledge he had taken as handy,
And emptied forthwith a -------- of brandy.

Each missing word has eight letters.

A ------ sat in his ------ grey,
Watching the moonbeams ------ play
On a keg that in the bushes lay,
And these were the words of his song:--
“Thou ------ the weak, thou ------ the strong,
To thee the ------ of bad deeds doth belong.”
And the leaves with a ------ took up the sad song.

Each of these missing words is spelt with the same six letters.

No. XXVI.--SIMPLE SCHOLARSHIP

Three hungry scholars came to a wayside inn, and saw this sign over the door:

One of them eager to show his ready wit, translated these Latin words of welcome roughly into English verse:--

“Good cheer we provide,
Our service is sure;
Their savours abide
Though meats don’t endure!”

The complacent smile faded from his face as a village schoolboy, who had overheard him, broke in with the real rendering of the words:--“Place to rest at or dine; O rest a bit, or eat a bit!”

In these lines, where the dots occur, insert words, each of which is longer by one letter than the one before, and so complete the poem. The same letters are carried on each time in varied arrangement:--

Nature . love .. every land,
On burning plain, by wooded rill;
Where ... is girt by coral strand,
Or .... rears her castled hill.

Then ..... from me the tale to hear,
How, true to one ......, the bee
Once ....... out keeps, year by year,
The ........ by her instinct given,
Which teach her, wheresoe’er she roam,
In every clime beneath the heaven,
To build the same ......... home.

No. XXVII.--WAS IT VOLAPÜK?

A schoolmaster in the Midlands, who was a bit of a wag, wrote this on the blackboard, as a novel exercise for the boys of Standard VI. Can you decipher it?

Here is another ingenious specimen of missing words, spelt each of them with the same five letters:--

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Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle BookChapter V: Hand Shadows and how to work them. Illustrated (9)

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