Part 5
When this has been done, challenge anyone to divide the apple into six pieces by only two straight cuts, so that there shall be one of the gashes in each piece.
94. ALIKE TO THE EYE
Accent my head, An opening I appear In other fashions said I charm all far and near.
No. CXIV.--A TOY BOOMERANG
Cut out in cardboard a boomerang as nearly as possible of the size and pattern given here:--
[Illustration: BOOMERANG]
Place it flat on the back of the first three fingers of the left hand, sloping them upward; then flick it smartly with the second finger of the right hand. It will fly off and return to your lap. Try it.
95. LONDON BY ANAGRAM
Here are two simple sentences:--
A lamp shines out for thee. Win me best by tears.
Can you recast the letters, so that they form the names of two of the most important buildings in London?
96. HEARD ON THE BRIGHTON BEACH
It was low tide; two children were throwing pebbles into the sea, and sending their excited collie in pursuit of them. The Puzzle Editor, who was on holiday, quickened perhaps by the salt air, bethought him of this appropriate riddle:--What is the difference between that dog and a hungry man?
No. CXV.--IN THE GRIP OF A RADISH
Cut a radish in half, press the lower surface firmly against a plate, as is shown in the diagram:--
[Illustration]
and you can lift the plate, to which it clings as closely as a boy’s wet leather disc to the pavement.
97. FIND THE ANIMAL
A part of me in rain, A part in hail must be, A part belongs to pain, A part in bones we see, A part in gleaming gold, A part in common copper. A part in peace behold, A part in any topper; Two parts are heard in sound, And in our finals found.
No. CXVI.--ELASTIC PAPER
The countryman who cut one hole in his door for the cat and another for the kitten would find it difficult to pass a penny through a hole the size of a shilling cut in a stout piece of paper.
This diagram shows how easily it can be done:--
[Illustration]
Fold the paper across the centre of the hole, place the penny in the fold, and bend the lower corners of the paper upwards. This elongates the opening, and the coin falls through.
98. A SMART ENIGMA
Men commonly say I am clever, Book-learning I never could boast; Yet I turn the leaves inside the cover, And when I am found I am lost.
99. MISSING WORDS
.... is like a ..... or what is most Comparative, a ..... is like a . ...; For when their substances in liquor sink Both properly are said to be in drink.
One of the letters of the two short words is used twice in the longer word.
No. CXVII.--THE NIMBLE SIXPENCE
Place a sixpence on the tablecloth, and over it set a tumbler, as is shown in the picture below.
[Illustration]
How can you pocket the sixpence without removing the glass, or having it removed?
100. A PIED PROVERB
~abdeefiinnnoopprrrsssttuw~
101. SELF-DEFINED
A wordy warfare waged with wit, In youth its joys none need descry; But where our elders take to it Its name points loss of dignity.
No. CXVIII.--HOW TO DRAW A SPIRAL
How can you draw such a spiral as this with very simple appliances?
[Illustration]
This spiral is drawn rapidly without removing the pencil from the paper.
102. FIND THE HERO
My first’s in garb, but not in dress; My next’s in praise, but not in bliss; My third’s in man, but not in miss; My fourth’s in we.
My fifth’s in boar, but not in hog; My sixth’s in cat, but not in dog; My next’s in calm, but not in fog; My eighth’s in we.
My ninth’s in rope, but not in twine; My tenth’s in light, but not in shine; My next’s in four, but not in nine; My twelfth’s in we.
No. CXIX.--FOR HANDY FINGERS
Take a piece of stout paper or thin cardboard, about 10 in. by 8 in., and cut it as is shown below, removing the parts that are shaded in the diagram.
[Illustration]
If you hold this between a plain wall, or other surface, and a strong light, you will, with a little practice, be able to cast a shadow similar to one or other of these Madonna heads, which will vary in intensity and expression with the positions of the paper and the light.
No. CXX.--THE FOUR KINGS
This excellent and easy little card trick will commend itself for fireside use in the long evenings.
Take the four Kings from a pack, and two other cards. Hold the Kings thus, in the form of a fan--
[Illustration]
hiding the two other cards behind the King of Diamonds.
After showing them, place the six cards at the bottom of the pack. Now move the lowest card to the top, and the two next cards to any part of the pack, apparently leaving but one King at the bottom. Ask some one to cut the pack, and all the Kings will be found together. Some appropriate patter will help the effect.
103. PROVERB BY ANAGRAM
Can you recast this sentence--
A defeat whose test is very sure--
so that the same letters form an appropriate proverb?
No. CXXI.--DOMINO SQUARE
Its cells add up in columns and rows to 22, and those of the corner squares add up to 10 and 12 respectively.
┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │ 6 │ 2 2 │ 0 6 │ 5 1 │ ├ ┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │ 1 │ 5 │ 4 │ │ 3 │ 3 │ 6 │ ├───┼ ┼ ┤ ├ ┼ ┼ ┤ │ 3 │ 3 │ 4 │ │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ ├ ┼───┴───┘ └───┴───┼───┤ │ 0 │ │ 0 │ ├───┼───┬───┐ ┌───┬───┼ ┤ │ 2 4 │ 6 │ │ 5 4 │ 1 │ ├───┼───┼ ┤ ├───┼───┼───┤ │ 4 │ 2 │ 6 │ │ 2 5 │ 3 │ ├ ┼ ┼───┼───┼───┼───┼ ┤ │ 6 │ 6 │ 0 0 │ 3 1 │ 6 │ └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
104. PHONETIC MISSING WORDS
’Tis ..... that no one takes a ..... To .... a .... of ....s; A .... may often take a .... To .... away the ....s.
No. CXXII.--THE TALKING HEAD
This, though quite an old illusion, may be a mystery to some of our readers, so we give it a place among our many curiosities.
[Illustration]
The table is placed on the middle of a platform, well away from the background, and the head, which is very much alive, is prepared to answer questions, or to whistle, or to sing, at the will of the audience. “How it is done” will be explained.
105. A QUEER OBSTACLE
I’m in everyone’s way, Yet no one I stop. My four horns each day Horizontally play, And my head is nailed on at the top.
No. CXXIII.--A GENERAL OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
[Illustration]
With a little ingenuity, and by slightly warming the wax, and shredding the matches for some effects, all sorts of comical figures can be contrived, similar in character to this dignified general on his high-stepping charger.
106. AN OLD ENIGMA
(By a former Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin.)
Take five from five, and then Put fifty in the middle; Twice ten times five times ten Will finish off my riddle, And bring it to your ken As fit as any fiddle!
No. CXXIV.--ANOTHER BOOMERANG
Cut out in cardboard a cross similar to that shown in this diagram:--
[Illustration]
Place one of its limbs under the thumbnail of the left hand, and give the next projecting limb a sharp flick with the middle finger of the right hand. The little boomerang will fly sharply forward, and invariably return rapidly on its tracks. Try it.
107. PHONETIC GAPS
Can you fill these gaps with words of similar sound?
No ..... will ..... before the wind A ..... will ... before it; We cannot .... the ...., or find That earthly powers ..... o’er it.
The gaps in line 1 take words that sound alike; so do those in line 2; and so do the other three in lines 3 and 4.
No. CXXV.--A PICTURE CHARADE
Can you fill in the missing words so as to complete this picture charade?
[Illustration]
My first may .... candle ..., My second then ..... ..; My whole in ..... moves ..... ....... an oar or ...
108. SOUND SENSE
We seem to sound a note of lavish bounty; Reverse us, and we indicate a county.
109. A CRYPTOGRAM
~FTHNMLKBRNGSLLCTTN~ ~LLSKMTMXTTLLTSTHN!~
Can you so deal with this as to form a rhyming couplet?
No. CXXVI.--WALNUTS AND COBS
_A good after dinner trick_
Place four walnuts and four cobnuts in a row, as indicated on the diagram.
[Illustration]
Now, moving always two that stand together, transfer them to some other positions along the line, and in four such moves leave them so that the large and small nuts range alternately. It may, of course, be done with large and small coins, or with other things that are at hand.
110. A BURIED PROVERB
Yet I see them all! on golden wings that fly Old memories steal anew; With a tear, with a sigh, with an old, old cry They return in ghostly hue!
111. DOUBLETS
Here is another exercise in Doublets, from Lewis Carroll’s book on the subject:--
Turn ELM into OAK by seven links, introducing the name of another tree as one of them.
No. CXXVII.--A PICTURE RIDDLE
Can you read in this picture the question of our riddle?
[Illustration]
112. TWO POSERS
1.
My dear Mr Bird, We are giving a ball; First second we third, Pray give us your all.
2.
Second, I did my first and last, Till I became my whole; And told the tale of my repast, A sad and greedy soul.
No. CXXVIII.--BUY A BROOM
Here is an excellent example of how a characteristic figure may be contrived by shredding, warming, and uniting a few wax matches:--
[Illustration]
Many similar figures can be made by handy fingers.
113. A CHARADE
My whole, industrious, wends his way His daily task to meet; Behead, transpose, and lo! a sound Of music soft and sweet; Behead again, I make my way With swiftness past belief; Again, and where the fields are gay My bounty brings relief.
No. CXXIX.--JEU DE PARQUET
(_For the children_)
An old book, published more than 100 years ago, gives the following samples of patterns which may be formed with very simple materials:--
[Illustration]
All that is needed for this pastime is a set of 128 coloured triangles, 64 of each colour, with which an endless variety of patterns can be arranged by the exercise of taste and ingenuity.
114. LINES BY AN OLD OXBRIDGE DON
’Tis an absurdity to say Women should try for a B.A. To College honours forward looking; They’d best confine themselves to cooking!
How could a Girton girl retort, using the same words?
115. LESS AND MORE
Eight letters (start with b) Three syllables contain; Take one away, and see Four syllables remain!
116. BURIED BEASTS
Can you dig out nineteen beasts that are buried in these lines?--
Ireland’s lot heals slowly. Troubles came long ago--at times in battalions--to attack and harass her. Ambitious democrats now countermine famous enthusiasts nearly akin to heroes. Anarchy enables cowards to sow hot terror and all amazement.
117. PALINDROMIC VERSE
Can you recast the following sentences so that their words form a verse of four lines, which makes good sense, with lines that rhyme alternately, when read from either end?:--
Fading slowly day dies, mournful winds sigh, Stars are waking brightly; owlet holding high revel flies hooting, breaking nightly silence.
118. AN ANAGRAM IN THE MAKING
“The Observatory at Greenwich, in England,” has been turned into an excellent anagram, which starts--_On landing here begin_--Can you complete it?
119. AN ENIGMA
No man at all am I And, if you turn me round, To hear my warning cry Not any men are found.
120. ASK A SAILOR
How can our sailors fare the best When times are harder? How do they greet with merry jest An empty larder?
121. AN ENIGMA
I lose my head when I am here, Transpose me I am three; Look in a book, you find me there, And with me her and he.
122. MISSING WORDS
Jack did ....... that he could square The circle to a .......; His friends ....... that a brain so rare Required attention ........
The missing words are spelt with the same seven letters.
123. A HUMAN PRODIGY
My father is my son, And I’m my mother’s mother; My daughter and sister are one, I’m grandam to my brother!
How was this?
124. A CHARADE
Catch my first with nimble wit, Add a simple word; Then my whole may help a bit Opportunely heard.
125. A PARADOX
My mate and I from home did start, Some little space we were apart. When we had run a mile or more We kept our distance, as before; Shade of Colenso! could this be, When twice as fast as I ran he?
126. AN ENIGMA
(_From Lewis Carroll’s Papers_.)
A monument all men agree Am I in all sincerity, Half cat, half hindrance made. If head and tail removed should be, Then most of all you strengthen me. Replace my head, the stand you see On which my tail is laid.
127. A CHARADE
I’m known to the poorest and worst, And my worth by a child may be reckoned; The least thing in nature is double my first, And my whole is just half of my second.
128. WHAT IS IT?
My first without its head and tail Is one and undivided; My second shows its teeth, is frail, And as a rule one-sided. The two to hold my first avail, My busy toil provided.
129. BURIED TOWNS
In each of these sentences a town is buried:--
His sister played the piano while we sang.
I saw Nell out here last evening.
The general rode a large black mare.
I have ordered a cab at half-past one.
Meet me in the lane at half-past nine.
Can you dig them out?
130. A GOOD ANAGRAM
“The leaning tower of Pisa, in Tuscany, Italy.” The first seven words of its anagram are “A funny spot in a sweet city.” Can you complete the anagram by adding four more appropriate words?
131. MISSING WORDS
When they found that catacomb Near the ....... at Rome ’Twas the ....... discussion of the season; But the ....... effect Of the skeletons select Deprived the poor Professor of his reason!
132. A CHARADE
My first is pretence, My second a dandy; When fogs are most dense My whole will be handy.
133. A DECISIVE ANAGRAM
Can you prove by anagram that, whatever may be true of other plays accredited to Shakespeare, Bacon had certainly no hand in “Much Ado About Nothinge,” if we adopt the old spelling of the final word?
134. RATHER OBSCURE
Use all your wits to guess my all, Can any guess it right? Transposed, and never seen at all, It still is felt in sight. Behead, transpose, then let it be, And you at last a clue may see.
135. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
Can you recast “Insanitary” and “Sanitary Reform” so as to form two very appropriate anagrams?
136. A CHARADE
Let my second cut my first When I come to table; Though I cannot quench your thirst Eat me--you are able.
137. MISSING LETTERS
whtmrslndsosdlyswr? whtdyssdrksdysthtwrslrm? lssknyskthndfr, llshllcllwrhrssndhrm. whycllsblldstlkthtghstlyrt llgllntctsgrndndmntyprt?
Can you supply the missing letters?
138. A CHARADE
To me when whole, for I am sweet, The moon fresh brightness brings; Cut off my tail, I’m blunt, but meet To sharpen other things.
Behead me twice, and I have led Soldiers to face the foe; Headless and tailless, one remains Though all the rest may go.
139. 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.
140. A CHARADE
When on charades intent I take my pen, To seek some hidden goal, Over my first my second comes, and then Quite overcomes my whole.
141. A PRIZE CRYPTOGRAM
The following cryptic lines were sent as a reliable tip before a race in which Petronel was to run:--
“Tell me, Ben, who tore it Seek a plant for it, see Bob.”
Can you discover their hidden meaning?
142. AN ENIGMA
I have no form, I have no friend, From me all come, in me all end. And it is strange but very true That I am here and nowhere too.
143. FACING BOTH WAYS
Can you fill in this broken sentence, first to describe a curse, and then to proclaim its cure:--
A sed end ought eat ease ain.
using 16, and then 17, extra letters.
144. A CHARADE
My first is a cover, My second a city; The whole you discover With this if you’re witty.
145. BURIED RIVERS
The deaf and dumb girl began gesticulating with a message, and her delivery was ever neat, with graceful pose in every attitude.
Four rivers are buried here.
146. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
If the “shingle” on the beach at Brighton could speak, what would be its boast?
147. A SIMPLE RECIPE
She is as deaf as any post, Incurable I fear; She is my guest, I am her host, How can I make her hear?
148. THE PLAINT OF THE REJECTED
_A May-Day Dirge_
Refused, rejected as before! Yes,[A] ... .. I know of yore. ..... of youth, and deadly foe To genius. Eastward then I go With ..... undaunted, and my name Through ..... shall yet resound with fame; And subjects shall be mine by scores From far ..... to Ganges’ shores.
[A] More than one word.
149. “BETA IN GREEK MEANS LETTER B.”
The clever play-writer who suggested these words as a phonetic excuse for wife-beating might in another fashion invite a man to beat his wife by merely calling him. What would he say?
150. A REBUS
storm? an umbrella with all a th me who alls mud.
151. BONES OF A PALINDROME
NRNRMMHDLVLDHMMRNRN.
Can you, keeping these consonants in their order, fill in vowels so as to form a sentence which is a perfect palindrome, and reads alike from either end?
152. A NICE POINT
“Can you tell me,” said an undergraduate to his tutor, who was great at Ecclesiastical Law, “whether the Pope would be allowed to bury the Archbishop of Canterbury?” As some slight stress was laid on the syllables _Canterbury_, the tutor for a moment suspected some trick, but being assured that it was quite a serious question, promised to consider the point. What should he reply?
153. A BURIED PROVERB
While there are very many as kind as this, they know no task unkind. Can you dig a proverb out from this sentence?
154. IN THE OPEN
Kate gathers me where children three, Tom, Jane, and Mary, chatter; He leads the way, and then we see The other two come at her!
155. A BURIED QUOTATION
(_From Shakespeare_)
Strange weather! What could equal it? Yesterday sunshine and soft breezes, to-day a summer cyclone raging noisily; then other changes, as floods of fiercest rain eddy beneath the blast.
156. PALINDROME ON A BEETROOT
Fill in the necessary vowels, and form thus with these consonants in their present order a perfect palindrome:--
~RDRTPTPTRDR~
It must read alike from either end.
157. A CHARADE
My _first_ we all do when we fail; My _next_ is heard in rain or hail; My _fourth_ a sheep of gender male; My _third_ is one without its tail; My _whole_ for foreign countries sail.
158. AMBIGUOUS
On the outer wall of a Western college this was written: “Young women should set a good example, for young men .... ...... ....!” What three words will give a most ambiguous sense to the inscription?
159. AN ENIGMA
I’m but a little letter, still I have my duties to fulfil; If off you take My tail, and make An alteration in my lot, Though I seem shorter I am not.
160. DIABOLUS!
Says Tom to Bill, “Pray tell me, sir, Why is it that the devil, In spite of all his naughty ways, Can never be uncivil?”
Says Bill to Tom, “The answer’s plain To any mind that’s bright; Because the ... .’ ........, sir, Cannot be ... .’ .....!”
Can you supply the missing words?
161. MISSING WORDS
Beneath the ..... which shade the lawn Her bicycle she mounted, And with a ....., ere she had gone An hour, ten ..... she counted. It rained, it snowed, but nought could stop her, Till in the ..... she came a cropper!
162. AN INSCRIPTION WITH A POINT
On the comparatively new organ at Ober Ammergau, on a brass plate above the keyboard, is the following Latin inscription:--
QVI CHRISTI LAVDES CANTANT SANCTÆ PASSIONIS SVÆ VIRTVTE IN IPSO ET PATRE VNVM SINT
which may be freely rendered--“May those who sing the praises of Christ be, by virtue of His Sacred Passion, one in the Father and in Him.”
These lines contain a hidden point, beyond their obvious interpretation. Can you discover it?
163. BY ANAGRAM
A woman’s name Of foreign fame, Hers was a noble mind. Now, sir, transpose, And I suppose No smaller thing you’ll find.
164. A FRENCH CHARADE
Pour avoir mon _premier_ Femme qui cache mon _dernier_ Manque souvent mon _entier_.
165. A CHARADE
Let go! let go! you naughty first, Or you will make my second; A stream of words will then outburst, Swift as my whole is reckoned.
166. OUT OF DATE
My first is first when cruisers charge in line, And oft in frosty skies is seen to shine.
Don’t spare my second if you would suggest To an impulsive child the way that’s best.
My sporting whole, though now neglected grown, Travelled by tube before the tube was known.
167. AN ENIGMA
First of men we lead a measure, Last we end the same. Starting merrily, our pleasure Is to finish lame.
168. TESTED BY DICTATION
Tom, home for the holidays, and in teasing mood, declared that he could give his sister quite a simple sentence of seven common words of one syllable, which she could not produce with her new typewriter. What was his sentence?
169. ASCRIBED TO VOLTAIRE
This French charade, ascribed by some to Lady Waterford, and by others to Voltaire, has neat points:--
Mon premier est un tyran, mon second un horreur, Mon tout est le diable lui-même. Mais si mon premier est bon, mon second ne fait rien, Et mon tout est le bonheur suprême.
170. AT THE GUILDHALL
Sydney Smith, when questioned as to the value and satisfaction of a City feast, said: “I cannot wholly value a dinner by the .... ... ..” Can you supply the finish of his witty reply?
171.