Here is both the sum without figures, and its counterpart in numbers:—
| U | G | I | ) | G | E | V | P | P | N | D | O | ( | I | D | T | P | O |
| G | V | N | I | ||||||||||||||
| D | N | T | P | ||||||||||||||
| U | G | I | |||||||||||||||
| N | E | T | N | ||||||||||||||
| N | E | O | T | ||||||||||||||
| D | U | D | O | ||||||||||||||
| D | U | D | O | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | 5 | 6 | ) | 5 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ( | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | 7 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | 5 | 6 | |||||||||||||||
| 3 | 8 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 8 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 9 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
The key sentence is: DON’T GIVE UP, the letters of which correspond to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.
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When I shot only birds and rabbits, and my bag at the end of the day showed 36 heads and 100 feet, I had killed 22 birds and 14 rabbits.
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There are no fewer than 40 distinct readings of the four words which form the square—
| D | E | L | F |
| E | V | I | L |
| L | I | V | E |
| F | L | E | D |
DELF and FLED have each four straight readings, while EVIL and LIVE can each be traced in 16 different ways, and the four words run straight from every side of the square.
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| A | ||||||
| A | ||||||
| E | ||||||
| D | N | R | E | G | D | N |
| I | ||||||
| T | ||||||
| V | ||||||
| S | ||||||
| S | ||||||
| T | ||||||
| A | ||||||
| E | V | E | N | I | N | G |
| D | ||||||
| A | ||||||
| R | ||||||
| D | ||||||
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When a man gave a sovereign to his son to be spent on presents of different values for him and his three sisters, each to cost an aliquot part of the pound, and each to be as good as possible; and told him to give the change to the Fresh Air Fund, the presents cost 1⁄3, 1⁄4, 1⁄5, 1⁄6 of a pound respectively, or 6s. 8d., 5s., 4s., and 3s. 4d., and there was a shilling over for the Fresh Air Fund.
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This is the complete word-square—
| M | E | T | A | L |
| E | R | A | S | E |
| T | A | S | T | E |
| A | S | T | E | R |
| L | E | E | R | S |
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The key word to the addition sum is REPUBLICAN. It works out thus—
| R 1 |
E 2 |
P 3 |
U 4 |
B 5 |
L 6 |
I 7 |
C 8 |
A 9 |
N 0 |
| A | I | |
| L | C | |
| P | R | |
| U | N | |
| B | E | |
| E | C | C |
| 9 | 7 | |
| 6 | 8 | |
| 3 | 1 | |
| 4 | 0 | |
| 5 | 2 | |
| 2 | 8 | 8 |
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The word square is completed thus—
| T | O | A | S | T |
| O | T | T | E | R |
| A | T | O | N | E |
| S | E | N | S | E |
| T | R | E | E | S |
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The product of the first twelve prime numbers, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, can be written down by using no figures but 0, 1, 2, and 3, and of these 2 and 3 once only, thus—
10 × 1001 × 2001 × 10013:—
or
10 = 1 × 2 × 5
1001 = 7 × 11 × 13
2001 = 3 × 23 × 29
10013 = 17 × 19 × 31
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The question—
is answered by—Collars, 2d. Cuffs, 3d.
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The word square is completed thus—
| W | E | E | K | S |
| E | L | L | E | N |
| E | L | U | D | E |
| K | E | D | G | E |
| S | N | E | E | R |
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To remove the table-napkin on a corner of which a wine-glass full of water stands near the edge of a polished table, take hold with the left hand of the part that hangs over the edge and raise it to a horizontal position. Then strike hard downward with the right hand, at about six inches from the table, and the cloth will come away, leaving the wineglass altogether undisturbed—an illustration of what is known as the vis inertiæ.
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My third and fourth are a quarter of my first and second; my fourth is half of them, and my third is half. What am I?
is solved by Twopence-half-penny.
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The London firm who had sent a telegram to Paris for 480 sets of Diabolo, and received to their surprise a huge consignment of 6336 sets, had worded their order thus: “Send us twenty two-dozen cases of Diabolo,” knowing that they were put up two dozen in a case. The wholesale firm read the order as twenty-two dozen cases—i.e., 264 cases of 24 in a case!
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When Mrs Evergreen said: “My husband’s age is represented by the figures of mine reversed; he is older than I am, and the difference between our ages is one-eleventh of their sum,” he was 54, and she was 45.
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This is the completed multiplication sum—
| 4 | * | * | ||
| 3 | * | |||
| 3 | 6 | * | * | |
| * | * | 7 | * | |
| * | * | 3 | * | * |
| 4 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 3 | 8 | |||
| 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | |
| 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |
| 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 6 |
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is solved by writing 13 in Roman numerals, XIII.; and then drawing a line across their middle, so that the upper half forms VIII.
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I bought fifty-eight plants for my new rosery, when I found that if I set them three in a row there would be one over; if four in a row two over; if five in a row three over; and if six in a row four over.
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Three nines arranged thus represent 20—
9 + 9·9
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If a house has nine windows on its front, as many as 511 signals can be given by merely leaving one or more of them open, including the case in which all are left open.
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The birthday puzzle by Sir John Evans is solved thus—
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This is the way to arrange a strip of paper 9 in. by 2 in. so that it has only one surface and one edge.
Gum the ends together with a half twist in the slip. If a continuous line is now drawn along the middle of the band it will traverse the whole length of the paper and finish at its starting point. Again, if a mark is made on the edge, and the finger or a pencil starting from this runs along the edge, it also will return to its starting point.
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To divide nine into two parts which shall be together equal to ten, write IX in bold Roman numerals on a sheet of paper, and fold this across the middle of the figures, thus—
IX — IVIɅ
This gives a six on one side of the fold and a four upon the other side.
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The shepherd who had folded his flock with 100 hurdles, and whose master bade him the next day use 16 of these to pen some pigs, and to enclose nine times as many sheep with the remaining 84 as the 100 had contained, had originally placed the hurdles in two rows of 49 each, with one hurdle at each end. He made room for nine times as many sheep within 84 hurdles by arranging them in a square, with 21 on every side, thus increasing the area ninefold.
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When you have lifted three hats that cover three biscuits in a row, eaten the biscuits and replaced the hats, you can carry out your undertaking that the three biscuits shall be under whichever hat is selected by solemnly placing that hat upon your head!
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The number of different ways in which 7s. 3d. can be paid away in current coin of the realm, without ever using exactly the same set of coins a second time, is 1,062,102!
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PRINTED AT THE MERCAT PRESS, EDINBURGH.