This, now, is straightforward and business-like: A. applied to B. for a loan of $100. B. replied, ‘My dear A., nothing would please me more than to oblige you, and I’ll do it. I haven’t $100 by me, but make a note and I’ll indorse it, and you can get the money from the bank.’ A. proceeded to write the note. ‘Stay,’ said B., ‘make it $200. I want $100 myself.’ A. did so, B. indorsed the paper, the bank discounted it, and the money was divided. When the note became due, B. was in California, and A. had to meet the payment. What he is unable to cipher out is whether he borrowed $100 of B., or B. borrowed $100 of him.

— Henry C. Percy, Our Cashier’s Scrap-Book, 1879

By Jan Hartong. White to mate in two moves.

In his 1936 collection Brush Up Your Wits, British puzzle maven Hubert Phillips relates that his brother-in-law felt himself cursed with an unintelligent maid. “I have just overheard her taking a ‘phone call,” he told Phillips, “and this is what I heard:

“‘Is Mr. Smith at home?’

“‘I will ask him, sir. What name shall I give him?’

“‘Quoit.’

“‘What’s that, sir?’

“‘Quoit.’

“‘Would you mind spelling it?’

“‘Q for quagga, U for umbrella, O for omnibus, I for idiot –‘

“‘I for what, sir?’

“‘I for idiot, T for telephone. Q, U, O, I, T, Quoit.’

“‘Thank you, sir.'”

Why did he accuse her of unintelligence?

A newlywed couple are planning their family. They’d like to have four children, a mix of girls and boys. Which is more likely: (1) two girls and two boys or (2) three children of one sex and one of the other? (Assume that each birth has an equal chance of being a boy or a girl.)

By William Meredith. White to mate in two moves.

A problem from the 1999 St. Petersburg City Mathematical Olympiad:

Fifty cards are arranged on a table so that only the uppermost side of each card is visible. Each card bears two numbers, one on each side. The numbers range from 1 to 100, and each number appears exactly once. Vasya must choose any number of cards and flip them over, and then add up the 50 numbers now on top. What’s the highest sum he can be sure to reach?

By Peder Andreas Larsen. White to mate in two moves.

(I’ve added a guide to chess notation.)

By Francis Healey. White to mate in two moves.

A puzzle by Sam Loyd. The red strips are twice as long as the yellow strips. The eight can be assembled to form two squares of different sizes. How can they be rearranged (in the plane) to form three squares of equal size?

By Jørgen Thorvald Møller. White to mate in two moves.