163. BY ANAGRAM

QVI CHRISTI LAVDES CANTANTSANCTÆ PASSIONIS SVÆ VIRTVTEIN 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?

Solution

A woman’s nameOf foreign fame,Hers was a noble mind.Now, sir, transpose,And I supposeNo smaller thing you’ll find.

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Pour avoir monpremierFemme qui cache mondernierManque souvent monentier.

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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.

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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 suggestTo an impulsive child the way that’s best.My sporting whole, though now neglected grown,Travelled by tube before the tube was known.

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 suggestTo an impulsive child the way that’s best.

My sporting whole, though now neglected grown,Travelled by tube before the tube was known.

Solution

First of men we lead a measure,Last we end the same.Starting merrily, our pleasureIs to finish lame.

Solution

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?

Solution

This French charade, ascribed by some to Lady Waterford, and by others to Voltaire, has neatpoints:—

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.

Solution

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?

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In youth exalted high in air,Or bathing in the streamlet fair,Nature to form me took delightAnd clothed my body all in white;My person tall and slender waistOn 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 freakTo slit my tongue, and make me speak.But that which wonderful appears,I speak to eyes and not to ears.All languages I now commandYet not a word I understand.

Solution

Happy in the possession of aKeen 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?

Solution

The ship rode in an.......bay,Asleep......the master lay.A.....and rugged man was heAnd, like a....at home at sea.Like swooping...he caught his preyWhene’er an..came his way.But while due.the needle keptHe 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.

Solution

When the tempest roars the loudestOft 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 pastEarth provides my whole at last.

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One syllable, I help to turn the scaleOf party strife or faction;Recast me, and two syllables availTo stop all further action.

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Lines to anowl:—

HNLDTWRSTHGLMWLTHLVSTTHTTHLVSTTHWLRNLDKSRHLLWTNSLSTSSLMNSNDSLNSMRNFLNNLVSTGRFRHTNGHWLSTKNW

As a hint, the last lineis:—

Or of your hooting howls to know.

Solution

Here is an excellent little exercise for patient or quick-wittedsolvers:—

I’m free to-day, theold siresaid,O no cellnow have I to dread;For this one happy day to meAre glenand hill and forest free.I, if I will, can ride, or fish,A pit canenter, if I wish,In search of chalk or sand.In peace alone I now can dine,And sing to Anna’slute 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?

Solution

My first transposed becomes a nameWhich 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 seenWithin the woods we find.

My first transposed becomes a nameWhich 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 seenWithin the woods we find.

Solution

Silent long is the wood-bird’s song,Bare is the woodland bough;For waving trees in wintry breezeHave “no buds now.”

Can you recast the three words at the end, so that their letters form a word descriptive of the scene?

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A farmer with children sixteenKilled the fattest young lamb of his flock.To divide it these children between,What must be the time by the clock?

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To the far end of any trainHitch on a pair of neddies;Then you will hear, like steps of Cain,The threat that in their tread is.

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Take all the alphabet and castIts 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.

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My second with my first we greet;My whole in earlier daysGave understanding to the feetThat moved in tragic plays.

Solution

Here is another proverb inanagram:—

Behest on thy lips, Society!

Can you recast it, and so recover the proverb, with which it is quite in keeping?

Solution

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?

Solution

In any coward’s company you findThat I have place.Cut off my head, and from your mindAll wrong erase.

Solution

My first elect among the few,Chooses my second to expose his view.1. Of various colours, changed at will,1.I sit or stand for good or ill.2. I rule alone from noon till night,2.And when I am not am is right.

My first elect among the few,Chooses my second to expose his view.

1. Of various colours, changed at will,1.I sit or stand for good or ill.

2. I rule alone from noon till night,2.And when I am not am is right.

Solution

Why should a man in a rage go to a “shooting gallery?” Each word has its complete anagram.

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

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“We,” cried my first and second,“Are not quite satisfied.”“The story may be reckonedImperfect,” fourth replied.Said third, “The fact indeed I tell,”And so at last all ended well.

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“I dare not admit faint women.”

Can you recast these words so that their letters form a well-known proverb?

Solution

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.

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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.

Solution

What is that which is found in the centre of Australia and of America, and in no other place?

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“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?

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Myfirstis never far away,Mynextin Latin found;Mythirdmay rage by night or day;Allmake melodious sound.

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Through the......treesSoftly coo the doves;Let a......breeze......youthful loves!

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At starting, half your income take,Then for my second write;And let your table help to makeThe total cosy quite.

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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.

Solution

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.

See a pug dog.Red paper.

Fat reward.

Stay, O morn.Set on a dish.

Solution

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.

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Though never present, I appear,Of perfect form a token;And all that centres round my earIs heard, though never spoken.

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Behead me twice, and it shall beThat I my perfect self regain;Restore both heads and you shall seeThat most perfect I remain.

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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.

Solution

“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!”

Solution

To fifty add a third of one,A third to five attach;You have the means, when this is done,To kindle any match.

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The untrained..........in the CityIs robbed by..........without pity.

The missing words are spelt with the same ten letters.

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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?

Solution

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.

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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.

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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.

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Why should we quarrel, First and Third,With nought between us but a word?Let Third leave Second unessayedTo heal the breach these letters made.If your solution be but fairYou find my whole disjointed there.

Why should we quarrel, First and Third,With nought between us but a word?

Let Third leave Second unessayedTo heal the breach these letters made.

If your solution be but fairYou find my whole disjointed there.

Solution

“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?

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In haunted house to sleep I triedMy dreadfirstwas my chum.“Withsecondof myfirst,” I cried,“MywholeI should become.”

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My first is possessive and second;My second possessive and first.Such banks most attractive are reckonedBy those for rich treasure athirst.

Solution

RPLVLSLVLPR

Can you insert the missing letters, and complete the palindrome so that it reads alike from either end?

Solution

“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?

Solution

When are acorns as strong as oaken posts?

Solution

PTTPBTNTNTBPTTPBTNTNTBPTTP.

Can you add the vowels, and make a palindrome that reads alike from either end?

Solution

The.....of Shakespeare and of songHave fair and dainty features;But she I.....my hopes uponExcels those lovely creatures.From.....she.....her name so dear,She lives on.....and honey;She cannot.....but she can steer,And Madeline has money.

Solution

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 thetwo long wordswhich he used, by anagram, from this sentence?

Axiomatic intelligence, or dust.

Solution

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.

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.

Solution

Woman without her man would be helpless.

Solution

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.

A moment’s cure.The old rocks.

Cod is nice.It lures a cat.

Solution

Without my head I circulateWith 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.

Without my head I circulateWith 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.

Solution

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?

Solution

Consuming lust for....., now so rife,Like..........mars both love and life.

Solution

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.

Solution

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