menu_book Chapter 4

Section 4. 46. Evening Pastimes, Part 1. Among the innocent recreations of the firesides, there are few more commendable and practical than those afforded by what are severally termed anagrams, arithmorums, single and double acrostics, buried cities, etc., charades, conundrums, cryptographs, enigmas, logogrips, puzzles, rebuses, riddles, transpositions, etc. Of these there are such a variety that they are suited to

every capacity, and they present this additional attraction, that ingenuity may be exercised in invention of them, as well as in their solution. Many persons who have become noted for their literary compositions may date the origin of their success to the time when they attempted the composition of a trifling enigma or charade. 47. Acrostics. The acrostic is a short poem in which the first letters of each line, read collectively, form a name, word, or sentence.

The word comes from the Greek akros, extreme, and stichos, order or line. The acrostic was formally in vogue for Valentine and Love verses. When employed as a riddle, it is called a rebus. 48. Acrostics, double. This very fashionable riddle is a double rebus.

The initial and final letters of a word or words selected making two names or two words. The usual plan is to first suggest the foundation words, and then to describe the separate words, whose initials and finals furnish the answer to the question. Thus, a party to charm the young and erratic, but likely to frighten the old and rheumatic. 1. The carriage in which the fair visitants came. 2. A very old tribe with a very old name. 3. A prince of Wales free from scandal

or shame. The answer is picnic. 1 P Phaeton N 2 I Iseni I 3 C Karadak C. Sometimes the double acrostic is in prose, as in this brief example. A Briton supports his wig, his grandmother, his comfort, and his countrywomen. The answer is beef, beer, Bob, Eve, E's, fair. 49. Acrostics, triple, are formed on the same plan, three names being indicated by the initial, central, and final letters of the selected words. 50. Anagrams, are formed by the transposition of the letters of

words or sentences, or names of persons, so as to produce a word, sentence, or verse, of pertinent or of widely different meaning. They are very difficult to discover, but are exceedingly striking when good. The following are some of the most remarkable. The words followed by the transpositions. Astronomers. No more stars. Catalogs. Got as a clue. Elegant. Neat leg. Impatient

Tim in a pet Immediately I meet my Delilah Masquerade Queer as mad

Matrimony Into my arm Melodrama Made moral Midshipman

Mind his map Old England Golden land Parishioners I hire parsons

Parliament Partial men Penitentiary Nay, I repeat it Presbyterian

Best in prayer Radical reform Rare mad frolic Revolution To love ruin

Sir Robert Peel Terrible poser Sweetheart There we sat Telegraphs

Get help 51. Arithmorems This class of riddle is of recent introduction. The arithmorem is made by substituting figures in a part of the word indicated for Roman numerals. The nature of the riddle, from the Greek arithmos, number, and the Latin romantirere,

back again, will be easily seen from the following example, which is a double arithmorem. H, 51, and a tub. A fine large fish. A, 100, and gore. A sprightly movement in music.

R, 5, and B, a part of speech. U, 551, and, as and, a Spanish province. To, spelled T-O, 201, and ran, a stupefying drug. R, 102, and NT, an acid. OU, 250, and PAP, a Mexican town. The answer is Havana, tobacco. Halibut, allegro, verb. Andalusia, narcotic, nitric, Acapulco. 52. Charades. Our compositions, poetical or otherwise, founded upon words, each syllable

of which constitutes a noun, the whole of each word constituting another noun of a somewhat different meaning from those supplied by its separate syllables. Words which fully answer these conditions are the best for the purposes of charades, though many other words are employed. In writing, the first syllable is termed my first, the second syllable my second, and the complete word my whole. The following is an example of a poetical charade.

The breath of the morning is sweet, the earth is bespangled with flowers, and buds in a countless array have oped at the touch of the showers. The birds whose glad voices are ever, a music delightful to hear, seem to welcome the joy of the morning, as the hour of the bridal draws near. What is that which now steals on my first, like a sound from the dreamland of love, and seems wandering the valleys among, that they may the nuptials approve? Tis a sound

which my second explains, and it comes from a sacred abode, and it merrily trills as the villager's throng to greet the fair bride on her road. How meek is her dress, how befitting a bride so beautiful, spotless, and pure! When she weareth my second, oh, long may it be, ere her heart shall a sorrow endure. See the glittering gem that shines forth from her hair, tis my whole which a good father gave. T'was worn by her mother with honor before, but she sleeps in peace in her grave.

"'Twas her earnest request, as she bade them adieu, that when her dear daughter the altar drew near, she should wear the same gem that her mother had worn when she as a bride full of promise stood there. The answer is earring. The bells ring, the sound steals upon the ear, and the bride wears an earring.

Charades may be sentimental or humorous, in poetry or prose they may also be acted, in which manner they afford considerable amusement. 53. Charades acted. The drawing room with folded doors is the best for the purpose. Various household appliances are employed to fit up something like a stage and to supply the fitting scenes. Characters are dressed in costumes made up of handkerchiefs, coats, shawls, table covers, etc. Come on and perform an extemporary play

founded upon the parts of a word and its whole, as indicated already. For instance, the events explained in the poem given might be acted. Glasses might be rung for bells. Something might be said in the course of the dialogues about the sound of the bells being delightful to the ear. There might be a dance of the villagers in which a ring might be formed. A wedding might be performed, and so on. But for acting charades there are many better words, because earring could with difficulty

be represented without at once betraying the meaning. There is a little work entitled Philosophy and Mirth United by Pen and Pencil, and another work, Our Charades and How We Played Them, by Jean Francis, which supply a large number of these charades. But the following is the most extensive list of words ever published upon which charades may be founded. A fool's bolt is soon shot. 54. Words which may be converted into acting or written charades. Baboon, backbite,

backslide, baggage, bagpipe, bagdad, bailable, baleful, bandage, bandbox, baneful, barbed, bargain, barrack, barrow, batten, beardless, bidden, birdlime, birthright, blackguard, blameless, blockhead, boatman, bootjack, bookworm, boundless, bowling, bracelet, brainless, breakfast, Breathless, Brickbat, Brickdust, Bridecake, Bridegroom, Broadcloth, Broadside, Broadsword, Browbeat, Brownstone, Bugbear, Bulldog, Bumpkin, Buoyant, Button, Cabin, Candid,

Canton, careful, carpet, carrot, cartridge, chairman, chambermaid, cheerful, cheerless, Christmas, churchyard, Klansman, clerkship, cobweb, cockpit, codling, coinage, confined, Confirm, conform, content, contest, contract, converse, corkscrew, countless, courtship, crabbed, crossbow, curtail, curtail, darksome, daybreak, death watch, dogma, donkey, drinkable, Droguette, duckling. Earring, earthquake, earwig. Falsehood, fanatic, farewell, farthing, fearless,

feeling, field farm, firelock, fireman, firepan, fireship, firework, firkin, fishhook. Flagrant, flippant, floodgate, fondling, football, footman, footpad, footstep, footstool, forage, forbear, forbid, foundling, foxglove, freehold, free stone, fretwork, friday, friendship, frostbite, furlong, Gainsay, Gangway, Glowworm, Glutton, Godchild, Goddaughter, Godfather, Godlike, Godmother, Godson, Goldfinch, Goldsmith, Gooseberry, Grandfather, Grateful, Gravestone, Greenfinch,

Greyhound, Grimace, Grindstone, Groundplot, Groundcell, Guardship, Gunpowder, Haddock, Hailstone, Hailstorm, Halfpenny, Hamlet, Hammock, Handcuff, Hangman, Happen, Hardship, Hardware, Heart's Horn, Headland, Headless, Headlong, Headstone, Headstrong, Hearsay, Heartless, Heart Sick, Heart String, Hedgehog, Airless, Heirloom, Hellhound, Hellkite, Henceforth, Hen Roost, Herbage, Herdsman, Herself, Hidden, Highland, Highway, Hindmost, Hoarfrost, Hobgoblin,

Hogshead, Homebred, Honeybag, Honeycomb, Honeymoon, Honeycycle, Hoodwink, Horseback, Horseshoe, Hostage, Hotbed, Hot House, Hot Spur, Hound's Ditch, Hourglass, Household, Housemaid, Housewife, Humdrum, humpback, hurricane, ill-nature, ill-usage, inaction, inborn, increase, injustice, inkling, inland, inmate, innocent, insane, in spirit, intent, inter-metal, intersect, interview, invalid, invent, invest, inward, hireful, iron mold, icingless,

jacobite, joyful, joyless, justice ship, keystone, kidnap, king craft, king fisher, kinsman, kitten, knighthood, knowledge, laceman, lady bird, lady ship, lamp black, Landlady, Landlord, Landmark, Landscape, Landtax, Lapdog, Lappet, Laudable, Lawgiver, Lawsuit, Layman, Leapfrog, Leapyear, Leeward, Lifeguard, Likewise, Longlive, Lodestone, Logbook, Logwood, Loophole, Lordship, Lovesick, Lowland, Luckless, Lukewarm,

Namesake, Nankine, Napkin, Neckcloth, Necklace, Nestling, Newspaper, Nickname, Nightcap, Nightgown, Nightmare, Nightwatch, Nightfold, Noontide, North Star, Northward, Notable, Not Ice, Nowhere, Nut Gall, Nutmeg, Oak Apple, Oat Cake, Oat Meal, Off End, Oil Man, Omen, Onset, Open, Opinion, Ourselves, Out Act, outbid, outbrave, outbrazen, outcast, outcry, outdo, outgrow, outlaw, outline, outlive, outmarch,

outrage, outride, outrun, outsail, outsell, outshine, outside, outsit, outsleep, outspread, out stare, out stretch, out talk, out be, out word, out weigh, out wit, out work, out warn, over act, over awe, over bear, over board, over boil, over burden, over cast, over charge, over cloud, over come, over court, over do, spelled D-O, over do, spelled D-U-E, over I, over fed, over flown, over grown, over head, over hear, over heard, over joy, over laid, over lay, over leap,

over load, over look, over mast, over match, over pass, over pay, over peer, over plus, over poise, over power, over press, over rack, over rate, over reach, over write, over ripen, over roast, over rule, over run, over see, over seer, over set, over shade, over shadow, overshoot, oversight, oversize, oversleep, overspread, overstock, overstrain, oversway, overswell, overtake, overthrow, overtook, overvalue, overwork, ox gall, ox lip, package,

pack cloth, paddock, padlock, painful, painless, palace, pallet, pallet, pancake, pentiler, papa, papal, parable, parent, pairing, parsnip, parson, partook, partridge, passable, passover, pastime, Passwork, Patent, Pathway, Paten, Peaceable, Peacock, Pearled, Peerage, Peerless, Penknife, Penman, Penmanship, Pennyworth, Perjury, Pert in a City, Picklock, Pickpocket, Piebald, Pikestaff, Pillage, Pincushion, Pineapple, Pipkin, Pitchfork, Pitman, Plaintiff, Playfellow,

Playhouse, Playmate, Playwright, Plowman, Plowsher, Polecat, Pollute, Popgun, Poppinjay, Portage, Porthole, Postage, Postchase, Postdate, Posthouse, Postman, Postoffice, Potash, Pathook, Poundage, Primrose, Priorship, Propagate, Punchbowl, Quadrant, Quenchless, Quicklime, QuickSand, QuickSet, Quicksilver, Rainbow, Rampart, Ransack, Rapacity, Raspberry, Rattlesnake, Redbreast, Redden, Rid Dance, Ringleader, Ringlet, Ringtail, Ringworm, Rolling Pin,

Rosewater, Rotten, Roundabout, Roundhouse, Runegate, Rushlight, Safeguard, Sallow, Standstone, Satin, Satire, Saucebox, Saucepan, Sawdust, Sawpit, Scarecrow, Scarfskin, Scarlet, Schoolfellow, Schoolmaster, Schoolmistress, Scott Free, Screech Owl, Scullion, Seaborn, Seacalf, Seacole, Seafaring, Seagurt, Seagull, Seamaid, Seaman, Seamless, Seamstress, Seanymph, Sepeace, Seaport, Seasick, Season, Seward, Second Hand, Seedcake, Seedling, Seed Pearl, Seed Thyme, Searsman,

Sextile, Sexton, Shameless, Shamrock, Shapeless, Sharp Set, Sheep Cot, Sheep Shearing, Sheep Walk, Sheet Anchor, Shellfish, Shiftless, Shipboard, Seven, Shipwreck, Shirtless, Shoestring, Shoe Waker, Shopboard, Shopkeeper, Shopman, Shoreless, Shorthand, Short-lived, Short-sighted, Shot-free, Shoulder-belt, Shrovetide, Sideboard, Side-long, Side-saddle, Sideways, Sightless, Silkweaver, Silkworm, Silversmith, Sinless, Sixfold, Skim Milk, Skipjack, Skylark,

Skylight, Slapdash, Sleeveless, Slipboard, Slipshod, Slipslop, Slopwise, Slow Worm, Snippet, Snipsnap, Snowball, Snowdrop, Snuffbox, Sodden, Solace, Solo, Solvent, Somebody, Somehow, How, sometime, somewhat, somewhere, Songstress, sonnet, southernwood, Spanking, Sparerib, Sparrow, speakable, Speechless, spiteful, Sportsman, spotless, Springhalt, Sprucebeer, Staircase, Sweet William, sweet willow, Swineherd, swordsman, Starbird, stargazer,

Starless, Starlight, Starlike, Starling, Statesman, Steadfast, Steelyard, Steerage, Stepdame, Stepdaughter, Stepfather, Stepmother, Stewardship, Stiffneck, Stillborn, Stockjobber, Stonefruit, Storefruit, Storehouse, Supposition, Suppress, Swansdown, Sweepstake, Sweetbread, Sweetbriar, sweetheart, streamlet, stripling, summery, summer house, summer set, sunbeam, sunburnt, sunday, target, tartar, tawdry, taxable, teacup, teamful, teamless, telltale, tenable, tenacity,

tenant, tendance, tendon, tendril, tenor, thankful, thankless, themselves, thenceforth, thereafter, there at, there by, there for, there from, there in, there on, there to, there with, thick set, thoughtful, thoughtless, threadbare, threefold, three score, threshold, throughout, thunderbolt, thunderstruck, tillage, tippet, tipstaff, tiresome, title page, toadstool, toilsome, tomboy, toothache, topknot, topmost, topsail, touchstone, touchwood, townsman,

toy shop, trackless, trapdoor, trefoil, triplet, tripthong, trodden, turnpike, turnspit, turnstile, tutorage, twelfth night, twelfth tide, twofold, two pence, upbraid, uphill, Uphold, Upland, Upride, Upright, Uproar, Upshot, Upstart, Upward, Useless. Vainglory, Vanguard, Voltage. Whitlow, Whitsuntide, Whoever, Wholesale, Wholesome, Wildfire, Willow, Windless, Windmill, Windpipe.

Winnow, Winsome, Wiseacre, Witless, Wolfdog, Woodcock, Woodland, Woodlark, Woodman, Woodnote, Woodniff, Workhouse, Workman, Workshop, Wormwood, Wrathful, Wrathless, Wristband, Written, Yearling, Youthful, A liar should have a good memory. 55. Chronograms or chronographs are riddles in which the letters of the Roman notation in a sentence or a series of words are so arranged as to make up a date. The following is a good example.

My day closed is in immortality. The initials MDCIII give 1603, the year of Queen Elizabeth's death. Sometimes the chronogram is employed to express a date on coins or medals, but oftener it is simply used as a riddle. A poet who in blindness wrote, another lived in Charles's reign, a third called the father of English verse, a Spanish dramatist, the scolding wife of Socrates, and the prince of Latin poets. Their initials give the year of the great plague, M.D.C.L.X.V.

1665 Milton, Dryden, Chaucer, Lope de Vega, Sintipa, Virgil. The word comes from chronos, time, and grammar, a letter. Begin well and end better. Conundrums. These are simple catches in which the sense is playfully cheated and are generally founded upon words capable of double meaning. The following are examples. Where did Charles I's executioner dine, and what did he take? He took a chop at the king's head. When is a plant to be dreaded more than a mad dog?

When it's madder. What is majesty stripped of its externals? It is a jest. The M and Y externals are taken away. Why is hot bread like a caterpillar? Because it's the grub that makes the butter fly? Why did the ascension of Victoria throw a greater damp over England than the death of King William? Because the king was mist, M-I-S-T, while the queen was reigning, R-A-I-N-I-N-G. Why should a gouty man make his will? To have his legatees, leg at ease. Why are bankrupts more to

be pitied than idiots? Because bankrupts are broken while idiots are only cracked. Why is the treadmill like a true convert? Because its turning is the result of conviction. When may a nobleman's property be said to be all feathers? When his estates are all entails, hentails. Every man knows where his own shoe pinches. 57. Cryptography, or secret writing. From the Greek, cryptos, a secret, and graphene, to write, has been largely employed in state dispatches, commercial

correspondence, love epistles, and riddles. The telegraphic codes employed in the transmission of news by electric wire partake somewhat of the cryptographic character, the writer employing certain words or figures, the key to which is in the possession of his correspondent. The single word dispatch sent by Napier to the government of England was a sort of cryptographic conundrum. Pekavi. I have sinned. S-C-I-N-D-E.

And in the agony column of the Times there commonly appear paragraphs which look puzzling enough until we discover the key letter or figure. Various and singular have been the devices adopted, as, for instance, the writing in the perforations of a card is specially prepared, so as only to allow the real words of the message to be separated from the mass of writing by means of a duplicate card with similar perforations. The old Greek mode of writing on the edges of a strip of paper, wound, round, a stick in a certain direction, and the substitution of figures

or signs for letters or words. Where one letter is always made to stand for another, the secret of a cryptograph is soon discovered. But when, as in the following example, the same letter does not invariably correspond to the letter for which it is a substitute, the difficulty of deciphering the cryptograph is manifestly increased. OHSYAH SYCH, OAYARSA, RR, LOUCYS, SYMS, OSRH, SRORE, RRHMU, H, SMSMSMAH,

E-M-S-H-Y-R-S-N-M-S. The translation of this can only be made by the possessor of the key. And here there are the letters of the alphabet A-Z, under which is printed the key, Hush Money by Charles H. Ross Esquire. Hush Money by Charles H. Ross Esquire. Twenty-six letters which, when applied to the cryptograph, will give a couplet from Parnell's hermit. Far in a wild, unknown to public view. From youth to age, a reverend hermit grew.

The employment of figures and signs for letters is the most useful form of the cryptograph. From the following jumble, we get a portion of Hamlet's address to the ghost. It is easy to write and not very hard to read the entire speech. The whole theory of the cryptogram is that each correspondent possesses the key to the secret. To confound an outside inquirer, the key is often varied. A good plan is to take a line from any ordinary book and substitute the first 26 of its

letters for those of the alphabet. In your next cryptogram, you take the letters from another page or another book. It is not necessary to give an example. Enough will be seen from what we have written to instruct the intelligent inquirer. End of section 4.