Cry Havoc

Only ants and men make war on a large scale.

August 24, 2007February 16, 2012 | Society · Trivia

“A Glutton”

Titus Angles of Darlington, has again shewn symptoms of a voracious appetite, by devouring five pounds and a half of old bacon, nauseous to the extreme. After finishing his repast he was taken in triumph round the town in a cart, and afterwards ducked in the Skerne.

— “Durham Paper,” cited in The Cabinet of Curiosities, 1824

August 24, 2007August 24, 2007 | Oddities

Avoiding a Scandal

Three beautiful women and their jealous husbands want to cross a river, but the boat will hold only two people at a time. How can they arrange the crossing if no woman is to remain with a man unless her husband is present?

	Select Click for Answer
Mrs. A and Mrs. C cross Mrs. A returns Mrs. A and Mrs. B cross Mrs. B returns Mr. A and Mr. C cross Mr. A and Mrs. A return Mr. A and Mr. B cross Mrs. C returns Mrs. A and Mrs. B cross Mrs. A returns Mrs. A and Mrs. C cross Other solutions are possible, but all require at least 11 crossings. (The price of propriety!)

August 23, 2007January 16, 2013 | Puzzles

Wile E. Coyote

Species designations for Wile E. Coyote:

Famishus vulgarus
Eatius slobbius
Hardheadipus oedipus
Carnivorous slobbius
Evereadii eatibus
Apetitius giganticus
Hungrii flea-bagius
Overconfidentii vulgaris
Caninus nervous rex
Grotesques appetitus
Nemesis ridiculii

Chuck Jones said, “Wile E. is my reality, Bugs Bunny is my goal.”

August 23, 2007August 23, 2007 | Trivia

Great

The 13th day of the month is most likely to fall on a Friday.

August 22, 2007February 16, 2012 | Oddities · Trivia

A Literary Knight’s Tour

The knight’s tour is a recreation familiar to chessplayers: Move a knight about an empty chessboard so as to visit each square exactly once.

On this board, each square contains a syllable. Collect them in the right order and you’ll compose a six-line quotation from Shakespeare. What is it?

(Hint: Start on e4, “to”.)

A Literary Knight's Tour

	Select Click for Answer
The quotation is from King John, Act IV, Scene II, lines 11-16: To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet, To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess. The puzzle is taken from Miscellaneous Notes and Queries, January 1889.

August 21, 2007January 16, 2013 | Literature · Puzzles · Quotations

Here … Kitty

In July 1891, lightning struck the house of a Mr. Arent S. Vandyck of New Salem, Vt. He submitted this account to a Boston newspaper:

Suddenly the younger Mr. Vandyck [his son] pointed to an old-fashioned sofa. Upon it lay what was apparently the silver image of a cat curled up in an exceedingly comfortable position. Each glittering hair was separate and distinct, and each silvery bristle of the whiskers described a graceful curve as in life. Father and son turned towards the sword which hung upon the wall just above the sofa and there saw that the sword had been stripped of all its silver. The hilt was gone, and the scabbard was but a strip of blackened steel. The family cat had been electroplated by lightning.

Draw your own conclusions.

August 21, 2007August 21, 2007 | Oddities