All’s Fair

Literary critic A.N. Wilson panned Bevis Hillier’s 1988 biography of John Betjeman. To get even, Hillier forged a love letter ostensibly written by Betjeman in 1944 and forwarded it to Wilson under the name Eve de Harben (an anagram for “Ever been had?”). Wilson took the bait and included the forged letter in his own biography of Betjeman, which was published in 2005.

Here’s the letter. It contains a hidden message — can you find it?

Darling Honor,

I loved yesterday. All day, I’ve thought of nothing else. No other love I’ve had means so much. Was it just an aberration on your part, or will you meet me at Mrs Holmes’s again — say on Saturday? I won’t be able to sleep until I have your answer.

Love has given me a miss for so long, and now this miracle has happened. Sex is a part of it, of course, but I have a Romaunt of the Rose feeling about it too. On Saturday we could have lunch at Fortt’s, then go back to Mrs. H’s. Never mind if you can’t make it then. I am free on Sunday too or Sunday week. Signal me tomorrow as to whether and when you can come.

Anthony Powell has written to me, and mentions you admiringly. Some of his comments about the Army are v funny. He’s somebody I’d like to know better when the war is over. I find his letters funnier than his books. Tinkerty-tonk, my darling. I pray I’ll hear from you tomorrow. If I don’t I’ll visit your office in a fake beard.

All love, JB

	Select Click for Answer
The first letter of each sentence, beginning with the second, spells out “A.N. Wilson is a shit.”

Checkered Doughnuts

toroidal magic square - from mathematical circles

Roll this magic square into a tube by joining the upper and lower edges, then join the ends of the tube. Every row, column, and diagonal on the resulting torus will add to 34.

toroidal chess problem, from petrovic, mathematics and chess

Bend this chessboard similarly into a torus, then mate in 4.

Hint: The solution comprises only two lines.

	Select Click for Answer
1. Qh7 Kf8 2. Qg6 Ke7 3. Ke1 Kd7 4. Qe8# or 1. Qh7 Kd8 2. Qc7+ Kd8 3. Nh6 Kf8 4. Qe1# From Miodrag Petković, Mathematics and Chess, 1997. See Round and Round.

November 3, 2010January 26, 2013 | Puzzles · Science & Math

Disqualified

From Clark Kinnaird’s Encyclopedia of Puzzles and Pastimes, 1946:

Though a great American, Wendell Willkie nevertheless lacked one of the four necessary requirements for becoming President of the United States. One must be at least 35, a native-born American, and a resident of the U.S.A. for at least 14 years. Name the fourth requirement which Willkie also lacked?

	Select Click for Answer
He wasn’t elected.

November 1, 2010January 25, 2013 | History · Puzzles

Roundup

Two old chestnuts:

1. I have six pieces of chain, each consisting of four links. It costs 10 cents to cut open one link and 25 cents to weld it together again. What will it cost to have the six pieces joined into one chain?

2. The two volumes of my scintillating autobiography stand side by side in order on a shelf. A bookworm starts at page 1 of volume 1 and eats his way in a straight line to the last page of volume 2. If each cover is 1/8 of an inch thick, and each book without the covers is 2 inches thick, how far does the bookworm travel?

And two trick questions:

1. What is the name of the title character in The Merchant of Venice?

2. Who played Frankenstein in the 1931 American film?

	Select Click for Answer
1. The sections can be assembled into one chain most economically for $1.40, by opening the four links of one section and using those to join the five remaining sections. 2. The bookworm travels 1/4 inch, as it must only pass through 2 covers. 3. Antonio. 4. Colin Clive.

October 29, 2010January 25, 2013 | Puzzles

Murder in the Attic

a.c. white chess puzzle

By A.C. White. Mate in 12.

Hint: It’s vastly easier than it sounds.

	Select Click for Answer
1. Rf2+ Ke3 2. Rf3+ Ke4 3. Re3+ Kd4 4. Re4+ Kd5 5. Rd4+ Kc5 6. Rd5+ Kc6 7. Rc5+ Kb6 8. Rc6+ Kb7 9. Rb6+ Ka7 10. Rb7+ Ka8 [10 … Ka6 11. Ra7#] 11. Ra7+ Kb8 12. Ra8#

October 23, 2010January 25, 2013 | Puzzles

Thin Thinking

Some of the figures (particularly the holy ones) in El Greco paintings seem unnaturally tall and thin. An ophthalmologist surmised that the painter had a defect of vision that caused him to see people this way.

The zoologist Sir Peter Medawar pointed out that we can reject this conjecture on purely logical grounds. What was his insight?

	Select Click for Answer
Suppose a painter’s defect of vision was, as it might easily have been, diplopia — in effect, seeing everything double. If the ophthalmologist’s explanation were right, then such a painter would paint his figures double; but if he did so, then when he came to inspect his handiwork, would he not see all the figures fourfold and maybe suspect that something was amiss? If a defect of vision is in question, the only figures that could seem natural (that is, representational) to the painter must seem natural to us also, even if we ourselves suffer defects of vision; if some of El Greco’s figures seem unnaturally tall and thin, they appear so because this was El Greco’s intention. (Peter Medawar, Advice to a Young Scientist, 1979)

Click for Answer

October 20, 2010January 25, 2013 | Art · Puzzles · Science & Math

On Target

Samuel Isaac Jones offered this poser in his 1929 book Mathematical Wrinkles:

Cook was within 10 miles of the north pole and Peary was also within 10 miles of the pole, but 20 miles from Cook. What direction was Peary from Cook? Suppose Peary threw a ball at Cook and hit him. In what direction did the ball go?

He omitted the answer, apparently inadvertently. What is it?

October 15, 2010 | Puzzles

A Missed Opportunity

bruno sommer missed opportunity

By Bruno Sommer, 1910. White has just moved, and he realizes too late that he could have mated Black on the move. What was his last move, and what was the mate?

	Select Click for Answer
White’s last move was exf6 e.p. If he retracts that move: … he can mate immediately with 1. e8=Q#.

October 12, 2010January 25, 2013 | Puzzles

The Crossing

A family of four has to cross a river. The father and mother each weigh 150 pounds, and each of the two sons weighs 75 pounds. Unfortunately, the boat will carry only 150 pounds maximum. How can they get across?

	Select Click for Answer
The two sons cross, then one returns. The father crosses and the other son returns. Then both sons cross again, and one returns. The mother crosses, the other son returns, and both sons cross.

October 10, 2010January 25, 2013 | Puzzles

The Last Redoubt

By Sam Loyd. White to mate in two.

	Select Click for Answer
1. Rhf4 and White mates next move.

October 5, 2010January 25, 2013 | Puzzles