Evening Pastimes, (4.) #0192
--DECAPITATIONS AND CURTAILMENTS are riddles somewhat of the nature of the Logogriph, which see. In the first, the omission of the successive initials produces new words, as - Prelate, Relate, Elate, Late, Ate. In the curtailment the last letter of the word is taken away with a similar result, as - Patent, Paten, Pate, Pat, Pa. Of like kind are the riddles known as variations, mutilation, reverses, and counter-changes. A good example of the last-named is this :-
--''Charge, Chester, Charge: on, Stanley on,''
Were the last words of Marmion.
Had I but been in Stanley's place,
When Marmion urged him to the chase,
A tear might come on every face.
--The answer is onion - On, I on.
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--ENIGMAS are compositions of a different character, based upon ideas, rather than upon words, and frequently constructed so as to mislead, and to surprise when the solution is made known. Enigmas may be founded upon simple catches, like Conundrums, in which form they are usually called RIDDLES, such as -
--''Though you set me on foot,
I shall be on my head.''
--The answer is, A nail in a shoe. The celebrated Enigma, on the letter H, by Miss Catherine Fanshawe, but usually attributed to Lord Byron, commencing :-
--''Twas whispered in heaven, 'twas muttered in hell,
And echo caught faintly the sound as it fell''; is an admirable specimen of what may be rendered in the form of an Enigma. It is one of the finest things in literature of word puzzles.
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--THE ''EYES'' GAME.
--The curtains having been drawn all close, the players except one go behind them. Those behind the curtains choose one of their number who looks between the curtains, showing only his eyes. The player who is left in the room has to guess who it is. If he is wrong he has to pay a forfeit. If right, he may go behind the curtain, and the one detected has to guess.
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--HIDDEN WORDS.
--A riddle in which names of towns, persons, rivers, &c., are hidden or arranged, without transposition, in the midst of sentences which convey no suggestion of their presence. In the following sentence, for instance, there are hidden six Christian names: Here is hid a skate where the land or alley ends; work at each word, for there are worse things than to give the last shilling for bottled wine. - The names of course are Ida, Kate, Ethel, Dora. Great varieties of riddles, known as Buried Cities, Hidden Towns, &c., are formed on this principle, the words being sometimes placed so as to read backwards, or from right to left. The example given will, however, sufficiently explain the mode of operation.
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--LIPOGRAM.
--from leipo, ''I leave out,'' and gramma, a letter - is a riddle in which a name or sentence is written without its vowels, as Thprffthpddngsnthtng - The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
--Whnhnorslst ts - rlfltd,
Dths bt - sr rtrt fm nfmy.
--''When honour's list 'tis a relief to die,
Death's but a sure retreat from infamy.''
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--LOGOGRIPH.
--This is a riddle (logos, a word, and griphos, a riddle) in which a word is made to undergo several changes. These changes are brought about by the addition, subtraction, omission, or substitution of a letter or letters. The following by Lord Macaulay is a most excellent example :-
--''Cut off my head, how singular I act!
Cut off my tail, and plural I appear.
Cut off my head and tail - most curios fact;
Although my middle's left, there's nothing there!
What is my head cut off? -a sounding sea!
What is my tail cut off? -a flowing river!
Amid their mingling depths I fearless play
Parent of softest sounds, though mute for ever!
--The answer is cod. Cut off its head and it is od (odd, singular); its tail, and it is Co., plural, for company; head and tail, and it is o, nothing. It's head is a sounding C (sea), it's tail a flowing D (river Dee), and amid their depths the cod may fearless play, parent of softest sounds yet mute for ever.
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''Let Hope Be Our Handmaid And Faith Be Our Staff.''