Domestic Economy.
Young Mrs. Perkins, of Putney, writes to me as follows: "I should be
very glad if you could give me the answer to a little sum that has been
worrying me a good deal lately. Here it is: We have only been married...
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Bishops--guarded.
Now, how many bishops are necessary in order that every square shall be
either occupied or attacked, and every bishop guarded by another bishop?
And how may they be placed?
...
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The Primrose Puzzle
Select the name of any flower that you think suitable, and that contains eight letters. Touch one of the primro...
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The Christmas-boxes.
Some years ago a man told me he had spent one hundred English silver
coins in Christmas-boxes, giving every person the same amount, and it
cost him exactly L1, 10s. 1d. Can you tell just how many persons
receiv...
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The Twelve Pennies.
Here is a pretty little puzzle that only requires twelve pennies or
counters. Arrange them in a circle, as shown in the illustration. Now
take up one penny at a time and, passing it over two pennies, place it
o...
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Building The Tetrahedron.
I possess a tetrahedron, or triangular pyramid, formed of six sticks
glued together, as shown in the illustration. Can you count correctly
the number of different ways in which these six sticks might have been
...
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The Level Puzzle.
This is a simple counting puzzle. In how many different ways can you
spell out the word LEVEL by placing the point of your pencil on an L and
then passing along the lines from letter to letter. You may go in an...
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The Chocolate Squares.
Here is a slab of chocolate, indented at the dotted lines so that the
twenty squares can be easily separated. Make a copy of the slab in paper
or cardboard and then try to cut it into nine pieces so that they w...
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Visiting The Towns.
A traveller, starting from town No. 1, wishes to visit every one of the
towns once, and once only, going only by roads indicated by straight
lines. How many different routes are there from which he can select? ...
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The Wapshaw's Wharf Mystery.
There was a great commotion in Lower Thames Street on the morning of
January 12, 1887. When the early members of the staff arrived at
Wapshaw's Wharf they found that the safe had been broken open, a
considerabl...
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More Mixed Fractions.
When I first published my solution to the last puzzle, I was led to
attempt the expression of all numbers in turn up to 100 by a mixed
fraction containing all the nine digits. Here are twelve numbers for the
re...
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Find The Man's Wife.
One summer day in 1903 I was loitering on the Brighton front, watching
the people strolling about on the beach, when the friend who was with me
suddenly drew my attention to an individual who was standing alone...
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Buying Apples.
As the purchase of apples in small quantities has always presented
considerable difficulties, I think it well to offer a few remarks on
this subject. We all know the story of the smart boy who, on being told
by...
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The Antiquary's Chain.
An antiquary possessed a number of curious old links, which he took to a
blacksmith, and told him to join together to form one straight piece of
chain, with the sole condition that the two circular links were n...
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Heard On The Tube Railway.
First Lady: "And was he related to you, dear?"
Second Lady: "Oh, yes. You see, that gentleman's mother was my mother's
mother-in-law, but he is not on speaking terms with my papa."
First Lady: "Oh, indeed!" (Bu...
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The Puzzling Money-boxes.
Four brothers--named John, William, Charles, and Thomas--had each a
money-box. The boxes were all given to them on the same day, and they at
once put what money they had into them; only, as the boxes were not v...
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The Cross And The Triangle
Cut a Greek cross into six pieces that will form an equilateral
triangle. This is another hard problem, and I will state here that a
solution is practically impossible without a previous knowledge of my
meth...
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The Perplexed Plumber
When I paid a visit to Peckham recently I found everybody asking, "What has happened to Sam Solders, the plumber?" He seemed to be in a bad way, and his wife was seriously anxious about the state of his m...
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The Riddle Of The Frogs' Ring
One Christmas the Abbot offered a prize of a large black jack mounted in silver, to be engraved with the name of the monk who should put forth the best new riddle. This tournament of wit was won by Brothe...
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Magic Squares Of Two Degrees.
While reading a French mathematical work I happened to come across, the
following statement: "A very remarkable magic square of 8, in two
degrees, has been constructed by M. Pfeffermann. In other words, he has
...
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Informational
