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Pictured Puzzles and Word Play / A Companion to the Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book cover

Pictured Puzzles and Word Play / A Companion to the Twentieth Century Standard Puzzle Book

Chapter 329: 197. MISSING WORDS
By A. Cyril Pearson
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About This Book

A lively compendium of illustrated puzzles and verbal amusements, organized into pictured puzzles, word-play (including anagrams, charades, enigmas, and riddles), and a miscellany of odds and ends, each followed by complete solutions. It pairs visual problems—magic squares, tessellated and domino designs, and geometric dissections—with linguistic challenges that test anagramming, cryptic clues, and witty charades, and includes numerical recreations linking chess and arithmetic. Diagrams and step-by-step answers support independent solving and practical learning.

QVI CHRISTI LAVDES CANTANT
SANCTÆ PASSIONIS SVÆ VIRTVTE
IN 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

163. BY ANAGRAM

A woman’s name
 Of foreign fame,
 Hers was a noble mind.
 Now, sir, transpose,
 And I suppose
 No smaller thing you’ll find.

Solution

164. A FRENCH CHARADE

Pour avoir mon premier
 Femme qui cache mon dernier
 Manque souvent mon entier.

Solution

165. A CHARADE

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.

Solution

166. OUT OF DATE

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

Solution

167. AN ENIGMA

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

Solution

168. TESTED BY DICTATION

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

169. ASCRIBED TO VOLTAIRE

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

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

170. AT THE GUILDHALL

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?

Solution

171.

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

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,
 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

188. ANSWER BY ANAGRAM

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

Solution

189. QUITE A BEATITUDE

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

Solution

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.

Solution

191. PROVERB IN ANAGRAM

“I dare not admit faint women.”

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

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

194. WHAT IS IT?

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

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

197. MISSING WORDS

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

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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!”

Solution

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.

Solution

207. MISSING WORDS

The untrained .......... in the City
 Is robbed by .......... without pity.

The missing words are spelt with the same ten letters.

Solution

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?

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

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.”

Solution

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.

Solution

216. BONES OF A PALINDROME

RPLVLSLVLPR

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

Solution

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?

Solution

218. A GOOD RIDDLE

When are acorns as strong as oaken posts?

Solution

219. THE BONES OF A PALINDROME

PTTPBTNTNTBPTTPBTNTNTBPTTP.

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

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

223. IS THIS TRUE?

Woman without her man would be helpless.

Solution

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.

Solution

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.

Solution

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?

Solution

227. MISSING WORDS

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

Solution

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.

Solution

229. FRUITS AND FLOWERS.