Part 6
In youth exalted high in air, Or bathing in the streamlet fair, Nature to form me took delight And clothed my body all in white; My person tall and slender waist On either side with fringes graced; Till me that tyrant Man espied, And dragg’d me from my mother’s side. No wonder that I look so thin, The monster stripp’d me to the skin; My body flay’d, my hair he cropp’d, And head and foot both off he lopp’d; And then, with heart more hard than stone, Pick’d all the marrow from my bone. To vex me more, he took a freak To slit my tongue, and make me speak. But that which wonderful appears, I speak to eyes and not to ears. All languages I now command Yet not a word I understand.
172. A YOUNG SHAVER
Happy in the possession of a KEEN KUT, the newest form of safety razor, and meeting a friend whose chin bore painful traces of a less trusty blade, an undergraduate who had a turn for puzzles propounded this riddle: “What is the difference between my razor and yours?” Can you answer it?
173. DECAPITATIONS
The ship rode in an ....... bay, Asleep ...... the master lay. A ..... and rugged man was he And, like a .... at home at sea. Like swooping ... he caught his prey Whene’er an .. came his way. But while due . the needle kept He in his cabin lay and slept.
The missing word in the first line has seven letters; its first letter is cut off to form the second missing word, and this process is repeated throughout the seven lines.
174. A CHARADE
When the tempest roars the loudest Oft my first a shelter proves. Say what fair one, though the proudest, Spurns my next from one she loves? When the storms of life are past Earth provides my whole at last.
175. SHUFFLE THE LETTERS
One syllable, I help to turn the scale Of party strife or faction; Recast me, and two syllables avail To stop all further action.
176. FILL IN THE VOWELS
Lines to an owl:--
~HNLDTWRSTHGLMWL~ ~THLVSTTHTTHLVSTTHWL~ ~RNLDKSRHLLWTN~ ~SLSTSSLMNSNDSLN~ ~SMRNFLNNLVSTG~ ~RFRHTNGHWLSTKNW~
As a hint, the last line is:--
Or of your hooting howls to know.
177. ARMY ANAGRAMS
Here is an excellent little exercise for patient or quick-witted solvers:--
I’m free to-day, the _old sire_ said, _O no cell_ now have I to dread; For this one happy day to me _Are glen_ and hill and forest free. I, if I will, can ride, or fish, _A pit can_ enter, if I wish, In search of chalk or sand. In peace alone I now can dine, And sing to Anna’s _lute at nine_, Nor fear a reprimand.
Each word or group of words in italics forms, when the letters are shuffled and recast as an anagram, a military title. Can you decipher them?
178. A CHARADE
My first transposed becomes a name Which may quite mean be reckoned, Two syllables combine the same, With one or two for second.
My whole when fields are fresh and green, And softly blows the wind, Where the first signs of spring are seen Within the woods we find.
179. AN ANAGRAM ENIGMA
Silent long is the wood-bird’s song, Bare is the woodland bough; For waving trees in wintry breeze Have “no buds now.”
Can you recast the three words at the end, so that their letters form a word descriptive of the scene?
180. A QUESTION OF TIME
A farmer with children sixteen Killed the fattest young lamb of his flock. To divide it these children between, What must be the time by the clock?
181. A DONKEY DRIVE
To the far end of any train Hitch on a pair of neddies; Then you will hear, like steps of Cain, The threat that in their tread is.
182. EATING BY ALPHABET
Take all the alphabet and cast Its final letter out; Then set the first where was the last, And this you bring about: Without a cook, without a fire, A dainty dish which men desire.
183. A CHARADE
My second with my first we greet; My whole in earlier days Gave understanding to the feet That moved in tragic plays.
184. PROVERB ANAGRAM
Here is another proverb in anagram:--
Behest on thy lips, Society!
Can you recast it, and so recover the proverb, with which it is quite in keeping?
185. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
An epidemic of anagrams broke out in a public school, and eight of the prefects, having turned their Christian names into other words, fashioned from them this sentence, which contains them all in order.
“I, thy Tom, am sober and lie or live in dew, but her brain sinned.”
Can you decipher them?
186. AN ENIGMA
In any coward’s company you find That I have place. Cut off my head, and from your mind All wrong erase.
187. A DOUBLE ACROSTIC
(From _Punch_, 1875)
My first elect among the few, Chooses my second to expose his view.
1. Of various colours, changed at will, I sit or stand for good or ill.
2. I rule alone from noon till night, And when I am not am is right.
188. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Why should a man in a rage go to a “shooting gallery?” Each word has its complete anagram.
189. QUITE A BEATITUDE
Let her be or beat her, Give her little ease; Then in safety seat her All among the bees!
190. CLEARING IT UP
“We,” cried my first and second, “Are not quite satisfied.” “The story may be reckoned Imperfect,” fourth replied. Said third, “The fact indeed I tell,” And so at last all ended well.
191. PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
“I dare not admit faint women.”
Can you recast these words so that their letters form a well-known proverb?
192. A CHARADE
My first and second are as best they should be, My third in Latin mouth is what it would be. My whole would soon be ashes if it could be.
193. MISSING WORDS
Since Spooks, a ...... man is he, ...... this haunted house to me, In ...... funk I ...... round, And fear a ghost in every sound!
The missing words are spelt with the same letters.
194. WHAT IS IT?
What is that which is found in the centre of Australia and of America, and in no other place?
195. GRANDFATHER’S TURN
“It’s grandfather’s turn,” cried the children at a Christmas party where jokes and riddles have been rife.
With a quiet twinkle in his eye, the old man said, “Do you know why is the fourth of July?” Not one of them could understand or answer his question, which seemed to lack finish and grammar. Can you?
196. A CHARADE
My _first_ is never far away, My _next_ in Latin found; My _third_ may rage by night or day; _All_ make melodious sound.
197. MISSING WORDS
Through the ...... trees Softly coo the doves; Let a ...... breeze ...... youthful loves!
198. AN ENIGMA
At starting, half your income take, Then for my second write; And let your table help to make The total cosy quite.
199. A CHARADE
My whole is a circle complete, Beheaded I fall to your feet. Behead me again and I fry, Or am baked in a savoury pie.
200. ANAGRAM WORDS
Can you recast these short sentences into six single words?
See a pug dog. Red paper. Fat reward. Stay, O morn. Set on a dish.
201. AN ENIGMA
If my whole by my second and first you divide, One more than ten thousand it gives. In the land of my birth I have dwindled and died, In museums my memory lives.
202. A PARADOX
Though never present, I appear, Of perfect form a token; And all that centres round my ear Is heard, though never spoken.
203. BEST WHEN BEHEADED
Behead me twice, and it shall be That I my perfect self regain; Restore both heads and you shall see That most perfect I remain.
204. MISSING WORDS
Grant, lady, grant your ..... his whim, And give the coming ..... to him, For this will ..... his jealous heart, Stricken so sore by Cupid’s dart. If not he ..... his hands of you, To seek fresh ..... and pastures new.
205. A SEASONABLE PUZZLE
(_Quite an ice one_)
“Yes, yes, I know,” said Jack to Jill, “That thirty-two is freezing-point; And I can tell you, if you will, Exactly what is squeezing-point!”
206. ILLUMINATING FIGURES
To fifty add a third of one, A third to five attach; You have the means, when this is done, To kindle any match.
207. MISSING WORDS
The untrained .......... in the City Is robbed by .......... without pity.
The missing words are spelt with the same ten letters.
208. A CHRISTMAS CRACKER
Comes Christmas merry? Hungry birds; no bright berries; rents high, not paid; long bills; empty barns; no peace and prosperity.
How can we amend this gloomy forecast?
209. ANAGRAM FLOWERS
Six common plants are concealed by anagram in the following sentence. The letters which spell each plant follow each other, but are in disorder.
O rise love it lad never let this lamb chase trains.
210. AN ENIGMA
My first is quite a sin by name, My third its simple cure; My second puts an end to fame, My whole of ease is sure.
211. A PARADOX
Cut off my head, it is unshaken, Cut off my tail, you turn it round; But if both head and tail are taken, Unconquered still I hold my ground.
212. WHAT ARE THEY?
Why should we quarrel, First and Third, With nought between us but a word?
Let Third leave Second unessayed To heal the breach these letters made.
If your solution be but fair You find my whole disjointed there.
213. A CRYPTIC ADDRESS
“Next week,” wrote Funniboy from Naples to his friend, “I am going to ‘plant onions, etc.’ Let me hear from you.” How did his friend gather his destination from these words?
214. AMONG THE GHOSTS
In haunted house to sleep I tried My dread _first_ was my chum. “With _second_ of my _first_,” I cried, “My _whole_ I should become.”
215. AN ENIGMA
My first is possessive and second; My second possessive and first. Such banks most attractive are reckoned By those for rich treasure athirst.
216. BONES OF A PALINDROME
~RPLVLSLVLPR~
Can you insert the missing letters, and complete the palindrome so that it reads alike from either end?
217. A WORD AND A BLOW
“Now, dad,” said Tom Pickles to his father in the Christmas holidays, “take this bottle in your left hand, and when I say ‘three!’ try how far you can blow the cork into it.”
The cork, smaller than the neck of the bottle, was placed just inside, and as Tom cried, “One, two, three!” his father gave a lusty blow. What was the result?
218. A GOOD RIDDLE
When are acorns as strong as oaken posts?
219. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME
PTTPBTNTNTBPTTPBTNTNTBPTTP.
Can you add the vowels, and make a palindrome that reads alike from either end?
220. MISSING WORDS
The ..... of Shakespeare and of song Have fair and dainty features; But she I ..... my hopes upon Excels those lovely creatures. From ..... she ..... her name so dear, She lives on ..... and honey; She cannot ..... but she can steer, And Madeline has money.
221. A NOVEL ANAGRAM
A politician used a high-flown phrase, which implied inaccurate wording, though some spoke of it as dust thrown in people’s eyes. Can you recover the _two long words_ which he used, by anagram, from this sentence?
Axiomatic intelligence, or dust.
222. A CHARADE
My first your bosom friend, or man or maid, Whom you can trust, secure and unafraid.
My second, sounded double, tells of fate, Or sounded single puts an end to hate.
My whole a hall’s arched roof, or soft or hard, That lies beyond the gate with ivory barr’d.
223. IS THIS TRUE?
Woman without her man would be helpless.
224. SOME ANAGRAMS
Can you recast these short sentences so that each of them forms a single word?
A moment’s cure. The old rocks. Cod is nice. It lures a cat.
225. AN ENIGMA
Without my head I circulate With speed and inclination; Without my tail, at any rate, I still have circulation.
Transpose three letters, in unbroken state, I then receive the ashes of the great.
226. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Many will remember how often the great tenor, Sims Reeves, was prevented from singing by his delicate throat. An excellent anagram can be evolved from his name which, with some exaggeration, proclaims this. Can you discover it?
227. MISSING WORDS
Consuming lust for ....., now so rife, Like ..... ..... mars both love and life.
228. FROM BEDLAM
Here are the bones of a palindrome sentence that might be spoken by some unhappy criminal lunatic. Can you clothe them with their vowels, so that the sentence reads alike from either end?
~MNCLVDDVLCNM.~
229. FRUITS AND FLOWERS.
And as trim bees rise or go, A long aim I’d say, a libel O!
Fruit and flowers are hidden here in anagrams, each in its order separately.
230. ANSWERS BY ANAGRAM
NOW ONE OLD FORT.
What place is this?
RABID OWL.
Change this bird into a beast.
231. CHARADE
By W. M. Praed
Alas, for that forgotten day When chivalry was nourish’d, When none but friars learn’d to pray, And beef and beauty flourish’d; And fraud in kings was held accursed, And falsehood sin was reckon’d, And mighty chargers bore my _first_, And fat monks wore my _second_!
Ah, then I carried sword and shield And casque with flaunting feather, And earn’d my spurs in battle-field, In winter and rough weather; And polish’d many a sonnet up To ladies’ eyes and tresses; And learn’d to drain my father’s cup, And loose my falcon’s jesses!
But dim is now my grandeur’s gleam, The mongrel mob grows prouder; And everything is done by steam, And men are kill’d by powder; And now I feel my swift decay, And give unheeded orders; And rot in paltry state away With sheriffs and recorders.
232
My _first_ you oft savagely pierce through and through; My _next_ harbours nonsense, and wisdom, and dust; But, oh! what disaster might chance to accrue, Should my _whole_, from my _second_, step into my _first_!
233. DECAPITATION
My whole describes the action of a gale, Decapitation makes an organ play. Behead again, it sounds o’er hill and vale; Again, it tells of what we do not pay. Take nothing off, it is an eagle’s sail. Again behead, and half a string denote; Again, and lo! a horse’s head and tail; And last of all on music’s notes I float.
234. A BURIED PROVERB
Society--how her enthusiasts worship at her Juggernaut car. Cases exist here, proving how illogical are these eagle-sighted, place-hunting beings, scoffing at hereditary position, yet striving to get her smile.
A well-known proverb is buried in this sentence. Can you dig it out?
235. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What should we put on a bird’s tail to catch it without a _steel trap_?
236. AN ENIGMA
By Praed
Across my _first_, with flash and roar, The stately vessel glides alone. And mournful on the crowded shore There stands an aged crone, Watching my _second’s_ parting smile, As he bids farewell to his native isle.
My _whole_ comes back to other eyes, With beauteous change of fruit and flowers, But dim to her are those bright skies, And sad those joyous hours; For, alas! my _first_ is dark and deep, And my _second_ cannot hear her weep.
237. THE ARAB AND HIS ASS
THE SEQUEL
When morning dawned, and the tide was out, The pair crossed over ’neath Allah’s .........., And the Arab was happy beyond a doubt, For he had the best donkey in all that §.
You are wrong! They were drowned in crossing over, Though the donkey was bravest of all his ....; He luxuriates now in perpetual clover, And his master has gone to the prophet’s em⏞.
238. MISSING WORDS
A ..... ..... on ....’. strands Caught Pat’s heart in her meshes; He left the ..... in Cupid’s hands, And watched her ..... her tresses; Tresses of ..... coloured gold, Veiling, like any frock, A tail which, as it did unfold, Gave to poor Pat a shock.
239. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Where can you be “in a stone-pine garden”?
240. MISSING WORDS
No ..... sympathy was ever shown, Than when ..... news from Kingston ..... was known.
The three missing words are spelt with the same five letters.
241. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What bodily discomfort follows an _ague-fit_?
242. A TANGLED SQUARE
Can you readjust the 16 letters in this square so that they form a perfect word square?
I E I T I S A S A S I S E D E D
243. RIVERS IN ANAGRAM
What European rivers are concealed in these eight anagrams:--Set in red robe Henri Le Roi O sell me red pine nerves biter.
244. A PIED PALINDROME
Rearrange these letters so that they form a palindrome, or sentence that reads alike from either end:--
F PPPP RRRR SSSS TT EEEEII OOOO
245
What political parrot cry can be evolved by anagram from this sentence, which condemns it?
O fool! O musty cry! O lurid woe!
246. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
What statesman’s name was a “terrible poser?”
247. A PROVERB IN ANAGRAM
Can you recast the letters of this sentence into a well-known English proverb?
Yea, a glad sun rose red.
248. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Has there been a poet of unusual _solemnity?_
249. ANAGRAM ENIGMA
No, no, I hardly ever touch The thing which many love so much. It has a place within these lines, But is taboo where Delia dines.
250. HE SQUARED THE CIRCLE
“Yes,” said young Biceps of St Boniface, who had failed to satisfy the examiners, “they have ploughed me in Euclid, and yet if I had half a chance I could teach them how to square a circle!”
“Bravo, Biceps!” cried his chum, who was helping him to drown dull care in fruity port, “don’t keep the great secret to yourself!” And so he told him--what?
251. TO EXTRACT A CIRCLE FROM A GIVEN SQUARE
When his friend had recovered from the shock of the atrocity described in our last, he retaliated by assuring Biceps that he could extract a circle from a given square. What was his method?
252. MISSING WORDS
He said, “You ......” when one lied, He said, “Don’t ......” when one sped, His glass held ...... at his side; He can ...... what he denied. As all your wits “entranced” you bend To find the key omit the end.
253. A CHARADE
My captive _second_, sulking in my _first_, Might surlily bemoan his fate accurst; Bemoan, or as alternative you find My _whole_ the word that fits his state of mind. For meet enclosure, you can take a score Of captive _seconds_, first deducting four.
254. A CIPHER ADVERTISEMENT
~THGLBDWNWSLLLDSTFTHLT,~ ~MNFTNRDRNRGTNNTHSPT.~
Add two vowels alternately to complete the couplet.
255. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM
Can you discover by anagram what his brother was when he put “Tim in a pet?”
256. MISSING WORDS
Who knows the .... a land may know Famed for its ...., and long ago A .... of sage and seer. The native there, so full of tricks, To .... his hunger .... with sticks, Nor knows his ways are queer!
257. A CHARADE
If doubled you would see my first Let third and second be reversed. But if my last you would behold Increase my first a hundredfold. Combine them all, and you can trace The four within an empty space.
258. IN THE HAY-FIELD
In the words welcome to a thirsty toiler, “Mower, I will tap the cask!” are hidden by anagram the names of an English poet and of one of his poems. Can you discover them?
259. A CHARADE
My _first_ is small, and seldom reverential; My next not large enough to heed or prize; My _whole_ is altogether consequential; My third, though small, is counted very wise.
260. A LETTER PUZZLE
To be a a a a a a a a a a t C r I i O f U l S e s standing is the mark of a mean
261. WITH IVORY LETTERS
Can you recast the letters that spell RED NUTS AND GIN so that they form one long word?
262. A HIDDEN NOVEL
Can you rearrange these letters so that they form the title of a well-known novel by Charles Dickens?
~CDEHHIILOOOPRSSTTUY~
263. “COME OUT, ’TIS NOW SEPTEMBER!”
--_Old Song._
In swift ...... the beaters add Fresh ...... to the heaps of slain; And still, with lust of slaughter mad, The ...... plies his hand amain!
The missing words are spelt with the same six letters.
264. A CHARADE
My first is nothing but a name, My second still more small, My whole shows such a lack of fame It has no name at all.
265. A BREAKFAST TABLE PUZZLE
“If father gives us a new dog, it will wake the lazy ones!” Can you discover from these words which of his children were often late for breakfast?
266. A CIPHER
~NGOTRDSREAOHR ETNSVEENUDOEO~
Can you decipher the common proverb here concealed?
267. AN UNKNOWN NAME
Well known by story, not by name, I died a death unknown before, Nor ever to corruption came; My shroud the waves cast on the shore.
268. UNDA WATER
How might an oyster, if it could speak, and knew that unda is Latin for wave or water, complain in similar phonetic iteration when disturbed by thunder under unda?
269. MISSING WORDS
When ....., our puppy, sets out for a run, Over ..... he ....., all frolic and fun; For no whistle ..... he in his desperate hurry, The slow sheep to ....., and the old cow to worry.
The five missing words are spelt with the same five letters.
270. FIND THE GIRLS
Bad hero set by thy door hurt me ma. Army may get ruder daily.
Ten girls’ names are here in anagrams.
271. A GOOD DESCRIPTION
Lord Beaconsfield’s statue, True as old -- -- --
Can you can complete this anagram?
272. SHAKESPEARE ANAGRAMS
These three lines are perfect anagrams of three consecutive lines in “Romeo and Juliet,” Act II., Scene V.:--
The tub sold has old rough shelves. And e’en this fisherman caught best white smelts. A living lord’s black dress, worn high, I vow!
Can you discover the original lines?
273. MISSING WORDS
That mystical gnome never flinches from toil Who ...... the ...... in Orient soil; Yet ...... mortals will ever abound To ...... all the soil till the treasure is found.
274. A PUZZLE ACROSTIC
My feathered first has wings and sings, Unfledged my second swings its wings; My third on blackest pinions flies, My fourth can float beneath the skies. The letters to my first that fall Are the initials of them all.
◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ ● ● ● ◯ ● ● ● ◯ ● ● ●
Can you substitute words which fulfil the conditions?
275. DROP LETTER PUZZLE
My first was of the ...... breed, Their ..... captain, hot and riled, To .... his men found vain indeed, They only ... and smoked, and smiled!
One letter is dropped each time.
276. DOUBLETS
Can you convert HARE into SOUP, using not more than six links, changing only one letter with each link, and preserving the order of the letters from link to link?
277. A NEW ENIGMA
Putting two small beasts that you take To the beginning of an end, A pointed weapon you will make To wound a foe or praise a friend.
278. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM