A Fence Problem.
The practical usefulness of puzzles is a point that we are liable to
overlook. Yet, as a matter of fact, I have from time to time received
quite a large number of letters from individuals who have found that th...
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Wine And Water.
Mr. Goodfellow has adopted a capital idea of late. When he gives a
little dinner party and the time arrives to smoke, after the departure
of the ladies, he sometimes finds that the conversation is apt to become...
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The Thirty-one Game
This is a game that used to be (and may be to this day, for aught I know) a favourite means of swindling employed by card-sharpers at racecourses and in railway carriages.
As, on its own merits, h...
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The Three Villages.
I set out the other day to ride in a motor-car from Acrefield to
Butterford, but by mistake I took the road going _via_ Cheesebury, which
is nearer Acrefield than Butterford, and is twelve miles to the left of
...
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The Skipper And The Sea-serpent
Mr. Simon Softleigh had spent most of his life between Tooting Bec and Fenchurch Street. His knowledge of the sea was therefore very limited. So, as he was taking a holiday on the south coast, he thought ...
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The Mandarin's Puzzle.
The following puzzle has an added interest from the circumstance that a
correct solution of it secured for a certain young Chinaman the hand of
his charming bride. The wealthiest mandarin within a radius of a h...
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The Three Groups.
There appeared in "Nouvelles Annales de Mathematiques" the following
puzzle as a modification of one of my "Canterbury Puzzles." Arrange the
nine digits in three groups of two, three, and four digits, so that t...
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The Pardoner's Puzzle
The gentle Pardoner, "that straight was come from the court of Rome," begged to be excused; but the...
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A Problem In Squares.
We possess three square boards. The surface of the first contains five
square feet more than the second, and the second contains five square
feet more than the third. Can you give exact measurements for the sid...
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The Eight Queens.
[Illustration:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | ..Q | | | |
+---+---+---+...+---+---+---+---+
| | ..Q.. | | | | |
+---+...+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|...
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The Eight Stars.
[Illustration:
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|///| | | | | | |///|
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |///| | | | |///| |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| ...
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The Sompnour's Puzzle
The Sompnour, or Summoner, who, according to Chaucer, joined the party of pilgrims, was an officer whose duty was to summon delinquents to appear in ecclesiastical courts. In later times he became known a...
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Square Money.
"This is queer," said McCrank to his friend. "Twopence added to twopence
is fourpence, and twopence multiplied by twopence is also fourpence." Of
course, he was wrong in thinking you can multiply money by money...
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The Spot On The Table.
A boy, recently home from school, wished to give his father an
exhibition of his precocity. He pushed a large circular table into the
corner of the room, as shown in the illustration, so that it touched
both wa...
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Dissecting A Mitre.
The figure that is perplexing the carpenter in the illustration
represents a mitre. It will be seen that its proportions are those of a
square with one quarter removed. The puzzle is to cut it into five
pieces ...
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The Silver Cubes
The last extract that I will give is one that will, I think, interest those readers who may find some of the above puzzles too easy. It is a hard nut, and should only be attempted by those who flatter the...
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The Keg Of Wine.
Here is a curious little problem. A man had a ten-gallon keg full of
wine and a jug. One day he drew off a jugful of wine and filled up the
keg with water. Later on, when the wine and water had got thoroughly
m...
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The Mystery Of Ravensdene Park
The mystery of Ravensdene Park, which I will now present, was a tragic affair, as it involved the assassination of Mr. Cyril Hastings at his country house a short distance from London.
On February...
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The Wassail Bowl.
One Christmas Eve three Weary Willies came into possession of what was
to them a veritable wassail bowl, in the form of a small barrel,
containing exactly six quarts of fine ale. One of the men possessed a
five...
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The Riddle Of The Crusaders
On another occasion a certain knight, Sir Ralph de Bohun, was a guest of the monks at Riddlewell Abbey. Towards the close of a sumptuous repast he spoke as follows:—
"My Lord Abbot, kno...
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