DIVERSIONS AND PASTIMES
also by R. M. Abraham and uniform with this volume :
WINTER NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS Compton Mackenzie in the Daily Mail: " The book we all have been looking for for years. . . . For years I have regarded the match-trickster as a man beyond as much mercy as we would show to a persistent fly. The next match-trickster that gets me into a corner will retire humiliated from the encounter. . . . This really splendid book should cost you nothing, unless you are a member of the Anti-Gambling League and disdain to back your skill against your friend's ! " Times Literary Supplement : " An Ideal Christmas present for those interested in puzzles, conundrums, tricks and ' knacks ' of all sorts." Yorkshire Post: " Ought to be in every house where there are children. A regular gold mine for fathers, uncles, and schoolboys ; and even sisters and mothers will be unable to resist some parts of it."
fi
DIVERSIONS & PASTIMES A SECOND SERIES OF WINTER NIGHTS ENTERTAINMENTS
COMPILED & ILLUSTRATED BY
R. M. ABRAHAM
A^L
LONDON CONSTABLE & CO. LTD 1933
PUBLISHED BY
Constable and Company Ltd. LONDON
Oxford University Press BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS The Macmillan Company of Canada, Limited TORONTO
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE WHITEFRIARS PRESS LTD. LONDON AND TONBRIDGE.
" Recreation should sometimes be given to the mind, that it may be restored to you in better condition for thinking."
INTRODUCTION THE publication of " Winter Nights Entertainments" in the autumn of 1932 brought a great many letters from readers in all parts of the world. All of these letters were more than kind, and most of them were demands for another book containing " the mixture as before." Some expressed a desire for more of this, or more of that, so, in compiling the present volume an attempt has been made to meet the wishes of the majority. The section on problems has in consequence been enlarged and divided into two parts—easy, and not so easy. It has been more fully illustrated in an endeavour to mitigate that sinking feeling which the very thought of a problem induces in some readers. The section dealing with string games, contains for reference all the knots and bends in general use at sea. Most of the ornamental knots are also described and illustrated. These are very difficult to remember, but anyone with average patience should find it easy to make up, even the most complicated knots with the help of the illustrations. Match, coin, paper and strong-man games have been included, so that everybody may find some simple pastime for those odd blank hours when the only alternative is, to " sit and think," or, as more often happens, " just to sit." R. M. ABRAHAM. FITZROY SQUARE, W . I .
CONTENTS PAGE
INTRODUCTION
V
SECTION
I.
I TO
66 E A S Y P R O B L E M S
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EASY PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS
II.
6 7 T O I O O N O T S O EASY PROBLEMS SOLUTIONS TO DITTO
III.
V.
VI.
VII.
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I O I T O 1 5 4 MATCH A N D COIN GAMES SOLUTIONS T O DITTO.
IV.
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3
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23
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33
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6
6
73
195 TO 248 KNOTS AND STRING GAMES.
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249 TO 278 GAMES WITH PAPER
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vii
4
4 9
1 5 5 T O 1 9 4STRONG MANTRICKS
279 TO 320 MISCELLANEOUS
4
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88
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117
131
SECTION ONE EASY PROBLEMS " Shall quips, and sentences, and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humour."—Much Ado About Nothing. Solutions on p. 23. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.
The portrait. The bag of farthings Largest and smallest sum Smith's widow's sister . Ten noughts Soldier and his dog A paradoxical wedding . Puzzle punctuation Two Americans . A hectic week The fly and the cyclists . The racehorse Man dreaming in church. Bottle and cork Relations Missing words Long word . Alphabet sentence What is it ? . Translate this Subtraction . Cats . . . . The scavenger Chain welding The portrait Whisky and water A surprising permutation 28. Rope and pulley .
3 3 3 4 4 4 4
5 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8
9 9 9
29. Train problem 30. The lost sacks
32.
3334-
3536. 3738.
3940. 41. 42.
4344.
4546. 4748. 49. 50.
10
5i52.
10
5354-
10 11
55-
II 11
Constable Bosseye's family . . .12 Motor hire . . .12 A ring round the earth . 12 The explorers . -13 The gamblers . . 13 Riddle by Lewis Carroll 13 Distance problem. . 14 The case of oranges . 14 The brick . . -14 The bird fancier . -14 The field . . -15 The pensioner . 15 The library . . .16 Even number . .16 Weights problem . .16 The eight-gallon cask . 17 Measuring problem . 17 The six lumps of sugar . 17 Cutting the linoleum . 17 One hundred . .18 One hundred . .18 Which and why . .18 Buying whisky . .18 The missionaries at the ferry . . .18 Shunting problem . 19
NO.
56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61.
The Manx cat The fishermen The age of the Jones's . Ann's age . Missing words Pawning the ten-shilling postal order
20 20 20 .11
62. 63. 64. 65. 66.
Adding up to 100 Escaping prisoner Clock face . The patchwork quilt Selling eggs.
21 21 22 22 22
DIVERSIONS AND PASTIMES
1 THE PORTRAIT A WOMAN pointing to a portrait of a man said to her father, " that man's mother was my mother's mother-in-law." What relation was the woman to the subject of the portrait ?
THE BAG OF FARTHINGS A shopkeeper had a large number of farthings which he decided to pay into his bank. On the paying-in slip he wrote down the actual number of farthings (it was a five-figure number). The cashier, after a moment's thought, turned this number into•£,s. d. by simply inserting two colons. What was the number of farthings paid in ?
LARGEST AND SMALLEST SUM What is the largest sum in pounds, shillings, pence and farthings which can be written down, using the digits i to 9 once only ? What is the smallest sum which can be written down under the same conditions ?