66. Oblique Puzzle.

Malice, eight, a polemical meeting, a Scottish river, what I write with, a decided negative, the capital of Ireland. The initials downward name a celebrated musician.

(solution in p.67 below.)

67. Diagonal Puzzle.

A direction, a singer, a little bird, a lady's ring, a sharp shaver.

Read from left to right and right to left, the centrals show two famous novelists.

The following are answers to these two puzzles, and afford good examples of their construction to any one who wishes to try his hand at their manufacture.

OBLIQUE. DIAGONAL.

R E V E N G E L A B E L O C T A V E T E N O R S Y N O D D I V E R S P E Y J E W E L I N K R A Z O R N O I

68. Diamond Puzzle.

The head of a mouse, what the mouse lives in, the county of calves, the city of porcelain, a German town, a Transatlantic stream, a royal county, a Yorkshire borough, Eve's temptation, our poor relation, myself. Centrals down and across, show a wide, wide, long river.

The construction of the Diamond Puzzle is exhibited in the following diagram, which is, at the same time, the answer to it.

DIAMOND.

M A I R E S S E X D R E S D E N G O T T I N G E N M I S S I S S I P P I B E R K S H I R E H A L I F A X A P P L E A P E I

69. Rebuses

are a cla.s.s of Enigma generally formed by the first, sometimes the first and last, letters of words, or of transpositions of letters, or additions to words. Dr. Johnson, however, represents Rebus to be a word represented by a picture. And putting the Doctor's definition and our own explanation together, the reader may glean a good conception of the nature of the Rebus of which the following is an example:

The father of the Grecian Jove; A little boy who's blind; The foremost land in all the world; The mother of mankind; A poet whose love-sonnets are Still very much admired;-- The _initial_ letters will declare A blessing to the tired.

Answer--_S_aturn; _L_ove; _E_ngland; _E_ve; _P_lutarch.

The initials form _sleep._

The excellent little work mentioned in para. 63, ent.i.tled "Philosophy and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," has this novelty, that many of the Enigmas are accompanied by enigmatical pictures, so that the eye is puzzled as well as the ear.

[GLa.s.s FIRST BROUGHT TO ENGLAND A.D. 668.]

70. Square Words.

A comparatively modern sort of riddle, in which the letters of each word selected reads both across and down. With four letters the making of the riddle is easy, but with five or six the difficulty increases. We give an example of each.

i. Inside, a thought, a liquid gem, a timid creature.

ii. To run out, odour, to boil, to loosen, unseen essence.

iii. Compensations, a court favourite, to a.s.sist, to bite slightly, Spanish money, sarcasms.

i. ii.

P I T H I S S U E I D E A S C E N T T E A R S E E T H H A R E U N T I E E T H E R

iii.

A M E N D S M I N I O N E N A B L E N I B B I E D O L L A R S N E E R S

With seven or eight letters the riddle becomes exceedingly difficult, especially if the selected words are of like character and syllables.

71. Chess, Laws of.

The rules given below are those which are now universally accepted by English players.

i. The board is to be so placed as to leave a white square at the right hand of the player.

ii. Any mistake in placing the board or the men may be rectified before the fourth move is completed, but not after.

iii. The players draw lots for the first move, and take the move alternately.

[When odds are given, the player giving them moves first. White generally moves first; therefore, if black win the move, the board is turned. It is usual to play with the white and black men alternately.]

iv. The piece touched must be moved. When the fingers of the player have once left the man, it cannot be again removed from the square it occupies.

[Except the move be illegal, when the opponent can insist on the piece being moved in the proper manner, or for the opposing King to be moved.]

v. In touching a piece simply to adjust it, the player must notify to his adversary that such is his intention.

[It is usual, in such a case, to say _J'adoube_ (I adjust); but he may not touch a piece with the intention of moving it, and then, when he discover his mistake, say, _J'adoube._ The phrase is simply intended to be used when a piece is displaced or overturned by accident.]

vi. If a player take one of his own men by mistake, or touch a wrong man, or one of his opponent's men, or make an illegal move, his adversary may compel him to take the man, make the right move, move his King, or replace the piece, and make a legal move.

vii. A p.a.w.n may be played either one or two squares at a time when first moved.

[In the latter case it is liable to be taken _en pa.s.sant_, with a p.a.w.n that could have taken it had it been played only one square.]

viii. A player cannot castle under any of the following circ.u.mstances:--1. If he has moved either King or Rook. 2. If the King be in check. 3. If there be any piece between the King and the Rook. 4. If the King, in moving, pa.s.s over any square commanded by any one of his adversary's forces.

[You cannot castle to get out of check.]