NUTS TO CRACK

Two thirds of an ass, and a hole in the ground,Will dress you a dinner worth many a pound.

Solution

52. Here is a riddle for which Tom Hood was responsible. Can you solve it?

Twice to thine,Once to mine,With Congou make a gift divine.

Solution

Hold up your hand and you will see what you never have seen, never can see, and never will see. What is this?

Solution

Can you tell the difference between the Emperor of Russia and an ill-shod beggar?

Solution

Why did Eden Philpotts?

Solution

We have heard much of man’s imagined connection with the monkey, through some missing link. What evidence can we gather from early records of, at any rate, some verbal kinship with the patient ass?

Solution

My first is gold, my second is silver, my third is copper, and my whole is tin.

Solution

What is highest when its head is off?

Solution

What word is there of six letters which can be so read that it claims to be spelt with only one?

Solution

If a good oyster is a native, what is a bad one?

Solution

Why is John Bright?

Solution

If I walk into a room full of people, and place a new penny upon the table in full view of the company, what does the coin do?

Solution

Jones, who had made it, and put it into his waistcoat pocket, lost it. Brown picked it up, and lighted his cigar with it. Then they both went to the train in it, and ran all the way.

Solution

Why cannot a deaf and dumb man tickle nine people?

Solution

When did “London” begin with anland end with ane?

Solution

I sent my second to my first, but many a whole passed before he came back to me.

Solution

Which weighs most, the new moon or the full moon?

Solution

Here is a puzzle which is unique and most remarkable, and which seems to be impossible, though it is absolutelysound:—

There is an English word of more than two letters, of which “la” is the middle, is the beginning, and is the end, though there is but one “a” and one “l” in the word. What is it?

Solution

Why is a bee like a rook?

Solution

OBeD

Solution

If a monkey is placed before a cross, why does it at once get to the top?

Solution

I am just two and two, warm and cold,And the parent of numbers untold;Lawful, unlawful, duty, fault,Often costly, worthless bought.A priceless boon, a matter of course,Willingly yielded, taken by force.

The answer has been defined as “two heads and an application.”

Solution

73. How can the Latin exhortation “Macte!” which may be roughly rendered “Go on and prosper!” be applied at cricket to a batsman at a critical moment?

Solution

74. Are you good at topography? If so, can you discover and locate, from this description of its surroundings, a town within 30 miles of London?

Half an inch before the trees, and half a foot and half a yard after them, lead us to an English town.

Solution

We know how, by the addition of a single letter, our cares can be softened into a caress; but in the following enigma a still more contradictory result follows, without the addition or alteration of a letter, by a mere separation ofsyllables:—

None can locate the subject of my riddle,For all the world would seek its place in vain;Cut it asunder almost in the middle,And in our very midst its place is plain.An aching void, an absolute negation,Into the opposite extreme it breaks;With just a gap to mark their new relationEach letter still the same position takes.

None can locate the subject of my riddle,For all the world would seek its place in vain;Cut it asunder almost in the middle,And in our very midst its place is plain.

An aching void, an absolute negation,Into the opposite extreme it breaks;With just a gap to mark their new relationEach letter still the same position takes.

Solution

What two letters describe in nine letters the position of one who has been left alone in his extremity?

Solution

“Oh! would I were a man,” cried a schoolmistress, “that I might always teach boys.”

We boys overheard her, and placed her with us. What did we thus turn her into?

Solution

How can you make a Maltese cross with less than twelve unbent and unbroken matches?

Solution

Have we any reason to suppose that in very early times there were less vowels than we have now?

Solution

As Susette was sitting in the cool shadow of an olive grove at Mentone, Henri came up and said to her, with his best bow, “Je sais que vous n’avez pas mon premier, mais que vous êtes mon second, et je vous donnerai mon tout!” What did he hold out to her?

Solution

On a church close to an old ruined priory, near Lewes, there is a weathercock in the shape of a fish, probably an emblem of the faith. What moral lesson does this relic of early days convey to us?

Solution

Take five from half of ten,Set fifty in the middle,Add twice five hundred thenTo finish up the riddle,And make it with your penAs fit as any fiddle.

Solution

“For the want of water we drank water, and if we had had water we should have drank wine.”

Who can have said this, and what did they mean?

Solution

The poor have two, the rich have none,Millions have many, you have one.

Solution

A thousand and one,And a sixth part of twenty;Some may have none,But others have plenty!

Solution

“Charge, Chester, charge! on, Stanley, on!”Were the last words of Marmion.Now, had I been in Stanley’s placeWhen Marmion urged him to the chase,You would have thought, unless you knew,That Scottish fray was Irish stew!

Shade of Sir Walter! What does all this mean?

Solution

I may be half of ten,I may be nearly nine;If eight contains me thenTwo-thirds of six are mine.A third of one, a fourth of four,I am an eighth of many more.

Solution

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

Solution

Sharpen your wits till they are keen,Then see if you can guessWhat word it is that I have seen,And spell it with an s!

Solution

Take part of a foot,And with judgment transpose.You will find that you have itJust under your nose.

Solution

1. Can you prove, by what we may call crazy logic, that madman is equal to madam?

Solution

2. A rat with its teeth in the webbed feet of its prey was what the squirrel saw one summer’s day, when he ran down from the tree-tops for a cool drink in the pond below his nest. Can you find out from this the name of the water-plant that was floating in the shade?

Solution

3. He set down the answer to that sum at random.

By bold policy Prussia became a leading power.

A great taste for mosaic has arisen lately.

The glad news was swiftly borne over England.

At dusk, year after year, the old man rambled home.

The children cried, hearing such dismal tales.

In each of these lines the name of an island is buried.

Solution

4. We could hide a light royal boat with a man or two; the skipper, though, came to a bad end.

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

Solution

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

EltsheothwoedlaniscimtyyesrmhTsihptsnrtoniaisoetcra;NdaothetdandartssdensitemebEhcatreeltnisitlpace.

Solution

Three little articles all in a lineLead to a thousand, expressing,If with another all these you combineWhat can be never a blessing.

Solution

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

Solution

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

Solution

9. How would you punctuate the following sentence?

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

Solution

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

Solution

Only eight different letters are used in the construction of thisverse:—

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

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

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

Solution

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

Solution

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

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

Solution

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

Solution

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

Solution

CCCSAW

Solution

AMANS TAM ERATHI DESINT HEROAD DIGITO UT MANDO

What is the interpretation?

Solution

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

“I know that roseate hues preserve.”

Solution

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

To what objection was this diet open?

Solution

These thirty-six letters form an Englishsentence:—

SAR BAB SAR BAB SAR BABSAR BAB SAR BAB SAR ARA

What can it be?

Solution

“Igineyvartydreevriswutts.”

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

Solution

Try to find a rhyme to Chrysanthemum.

Solution

Did you hear that pathetic tale of the three eggs?

Solution

Doun tooth ersA syOuw ould bedOne by.

Solution

HERE LIE

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

How many does the —— represent?

Solution

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

groundturn evil star.

What was its significance?

Solution

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

Solution

What in his mind no man can findFour symbols will display;But only one remains behindIf one we take away.

Solution

A barber placed prominently in his window the followingnotice:—

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

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

What was the barber’s explanation?

Solution

GENUI NE JAMAICARUM.

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

Solution

Twoc’s, anh, ann, ap,Threea’s, au, ani, ane,Tell us what English word are we?

Solution

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

Solution

Some of us may perhaps remember Titania’s promise to Bottom inA Midsummer Night’s Dream:

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

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

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

Solution

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

Solution

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

Solution

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

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

Solution

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

Solution

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

Solution

When first the marriage knot was tiedBetween my wife and me,My age as oft repeated hersAs three times three does three;But when ten years and half ten yearsWe man and wife had been,Her age came then as near to mineAs eight does to sixteen.What age was hers, what age was mine,When we were wed, from this divine.

When first the marriage knot was tiedBetween my wife and me,My age as oft repeated hersAs three times three does three;

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

Solution

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

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

Solution

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

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

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

Solution

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

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

Solution

Twenty-seven with three ninesYou and I can score;Anyone one on other linesCan extend them more.Who can write them to be seenEqual only to sixteen?

Solution

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

Solution

What is this?

ALLO.

Solution

An English Proverb

ieaoaaaeaai

Solution

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

Add thirteen more strokes, and make—what?

Solution

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

Solution

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are a few cleverly buried animals:

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

Ermine;monkey;beaver;zebra;ostrich.

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

Weasel;baboon.

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