REBUSES.
[1]
A letter prefix to the tyrant’s delight,
You’ll see a kind friend on a cold winter’s night.
[2]
My first may be divided into three parts. It may belong to one of the senses; it may be almost a lake; or it may represent 100.
My second may likewise be divided into three parts. It may have something to do with myself; it may be a part of myself; or it may represent 1.
My third may be divided into two parts. It may be either a river, or represent 500.
Then 100, 1, and 500 make the answer.
The whole was the title of one who surprised Europe by the brilliancy of his military exploits.
[3]
A fragment, an article of dress, a noise, an animal, a fruit, and a part of the body. The initials of these spell my whole, out of which I hope you will always keep.
[4]
Find me a word which will express the name
Of feathered biped, found both wild and tame:
Then take away one letter, and it will
Express the name of feathered biped still.
[5]
Find me a word which shows us at a glance
A foreign country, farther off than France;
Then take away one letter, and it will
Express the name of a foreign country still.
[6]
In an every-day word (with but six letters in it)
You will find a few things which are worthy attention;
I will give you a clue, and I think in a minute
You’ll not find it much trouble those few things to mention.
Take four of the letters, and if they’re placed rightly,
They one drop of liquid will bring to your view;
Cut off the last letter, and then see what nightly
Is drank by the many, and not by the few.
Now mix up the letters, and four more take out;
To make what all animals always possess.
Many more I could name; but I haven’t a doubt
You are ready this moment my riddle to guess.
So the name of the whole, now, is all I require—
It’s what every woman should always have by her.
[7]
Entire I’m a useful quadruped; remove my first, and I become a species of grain; replace my first, and remove my last, and I am a city famed for its inquisition.
[8]
How can you take something from nothing, and leave a number?
[9]
Entire I am very useful in machines; take away my first letter, and I am a part of the body; take away my first and second, and I am a species of snake.
[10]
Add to an article, in every-day use, a letter, and it becomes another useful article; with a third letter it becomes a girl’s name, and with a fourth letter another name; with a fifth letter it becomes an historical record, and with a sixth letter it is much the same thing, only more so.
[11]
My first and my second are each like the other,
(When transposed they have oft proved a curse;)
My whole sounds most sweetly by sea or by river,
But at home it is quite the reverse.
[12]
I am composed of five letters.
My first is the same as my last.
My second is the initial of the name of a very old gardener.
My third you will find in the centre of the largest city in America.
My fourth is the initial of the name of a man that King David used rather badly.
My fifth is the same as my first.
My whole is two monosyllables that publishers often say to their subscribers, and like to have them respond to.
[13]
Prefix a letter to a Christian name,
’Twill spell an attribute that few would claim.
[14]
Entire, I am a reptile. Behead me, and I become an article much used by carpenters. Take away another letter, and I shall not be well.
[15]
A part of the hand you transpose right,
You’ll find it’s what you use at night.
[16]
Entire I am a vegetable. Cut off my tail, and I am a small insect. Put on my tail, and take away my third letter, and I am what gamblers often do.
[17]
Forwards, backwards, read my name,
In sound and meaning I’m the same.
Infants, on their mother’s knee,
Often smile at sight of me.
Add a letter, strange, but true,
A man I then appear in view.
[18]
What eight words of four letters will resolve themselves into four different words each?
[19]
I am the name of something felt, but never seen. Take away my third letter, and you have an utensil much used in pastry-cooking. Reverse it, and you have something quite refreshing on summer afternoons. Take away my second, and you have a very important article in a lady’s toilet. Take away my first and third, and you have a rather indefinite article.
[20]
The name of a great city in Europe.
Transpose, I am an adjective of the comparative degree.
Cut off my last two letters, and reverse, I am a preposition.
Drop my first two letters, I am a pronoun.
Leave out my second letter, and transpose, I am a French word signifying sea.
Drop the first and last two letters, I am an interjection.
Drop my third letter and transpose, I am unrefined metal.
[21]
Entire I am polite. My fifth multiplied by the sum of my second and fourth, produces my first. My second and third multiplied by my fifth, is twice my first.
[22]
It is a compound word, and belongs to the mineral, and sometimes vegetable kingdom. The whole word is used to contain the first. There are six letters in the first, and two vowels. The last word spelled backward, is a toy that boys play with. The first two letters of the last word is the name of a river in Europe. The first word spelled differently, but pronounced the same, is a substance of which an important article of food is made.
[23]
Entire I am a bird. Take away my last two, and I am a bird. Behead me and cut off my tail, and I signify perpetuity. Cut off my first two, and I am an exclamation!
[24]
Complete, I form a rapid view;
Behead—a weapon next appears;
Behead again—transpose—and lo!
I now excite the truant’s fears.
’Tis something strange, and though there be
Three letters left, but one you see.
[25]
What city is there, whose name, if transposed, will give you a name considered very disgraceful in the time of the revolutionary war; transposed again, you have a term applied to one not very proficient.
[26]
A nice place to stroll in when evenings are fair,
My letters will make, if arranged with due care;
But when they’re transposed—Oh! pray, be discreet,
Nor be reckless in daring my presence to meet.
[27]
I am a proper name of two syllables.
My first syllable is a place where wild beasts may often be found.
My first syllable backward is a boy’s nickname.
My second syllable backward is the worst thing in the world.
[28]
I am but small, yet when entire,
Enough to set the world on fire.
Leave out a letter, and ’tis clear
I can maintain a herd of deer.
Leave out another, and you’ll find
I once have saved all human kind.
[29]
In full dress, I am considered finished; take off my cap, and I am a number; put on my cap and take off my shoes, and I am a title.
[30]
I’m seven letters; and I name
A man, who does high office claim.
Decapitate me, and I still
Survive, you’ll find, a tale to tell;
Again behead, I tell of gladness;
Again—I oft am cause of sadness;
Once more, and still I live to say
What you, no doubt, did yesterday;
Beheaded yet once more, I name
Yourself, in tongue of classic fame;
At last, of all but one bereft,
That one a Latin word is left.
[31]
Without me man is incomplete,
A friend I am to you;
But for my aid I’m very sure
That little work you’d do.
But if to what I now possess,
One letter you should add,
You’ll see what mischief I can do
Whene’er my master’s mad.
And now if you to me should add
Another letter still,
’Twill show what pretty ladies oft
Can do with me at will.
[32]
I am something which fishermen use. Behead me, and I become food for horses. Put on my head and cut off my tail, and I am a large serpent.
[33]
Entire, I am one drop of liquid; behead me, and I become a part of the human frame; put on my head and cut off my tail, and I am a plant.
[34]
My whole is what animals always will be
When tamed by the power of man;
Transpose me, and then with the farmer I’ll be,
When plowing the field with his span.
Again if transposed, on the table I’m placed,
When at supper he goes home at night;
And (if he is married) transpose me again,
I’m sitting, perhaps, on his right.
[35]
I am a pronominal adjective; behead me and I am personal pronoun; again behead me and I am a verb.
[36]
Three letters there are which may be so arranged,
That three things they can spell you with care,
A nickname quite common,—what all things must have,—
And the home of the lion or bear.
[37]
My whole is a name that belongs to some men,
And is short, if ’tis not very sweet;
Transpose me, and now on the fair sex I’m seen,
When they’re taking a walk in the street.
Transpose me again, and a verb I become,
Which boys must all do to be men;
A third time transpose me, ah! shun me, and run,
For wretched and sinful I’m then.
[38]
Pray, discover a part of the human frame,
Which divided, another will make,
A member, whose function is also made known,
If the letters you rightly shall take:
Again, it will show what another one does,
And that which is made by a third,
But each of these members return to my whole,
(When transposed), which no doubt you have heard.
[39]
Unbroken I am a term sometimes applied to the atmosphere; remove my first, and I am a king famed in tragedy; remove my first and second, I am a part of the human body; remove my first, second, and third, and I am a city mentioned in the Bible; remove my first and last, and I am an inclosure.
[40]
Entire I’m false as false can be,
And every one should doubt me,
But without hat and wig, you’ll see,
There’s nothing false about me.
[41]
What preposition by prefixing a letter is what we do every day; by prefixing another, is what we have in summer; by prefixing yet another, is a kind of grain?
[42]
My whole is in cottage, and palace, and hall,
And is constantly used by the great and the small,
Beheaded, it still is attached to a head,
And of various colors, black, brown, white, or red.
Behead it again, and all heads would lie low,
If deprived of its aid, as you probably know.
[43]
One, two, three, four, are all the same in sound,
Whatever difference in their sense is found;
My number one was once performed, you’ll say,
For some you honor, on a joyful day.
For number two each claims that he contends,
Who fights another, or himself defends.
My number three is something I can do,
And hope the same may be affirmed of you.
A man of handicraft is number four.
Now, if you know them all, I’ll say no more.
[44]
Entire I often cause great pain; beheaded I am boisterous; curtailed you see a heathen deity; transposed I describe a course.
[45]
What wicked deed is that which, read backward, gives what is generally the cause of it?
[46]
To a place where the living did all once reside,
Add fifty—be sure that ’tis on the right side;
You will then see a name which you’ll find to belong
To a songster that’s famed for melodious song.
[47]
What two consonants and one vowel can be so arranged as to spell the name of an animal, a name applied to a particular class of men, and a word expressing human ability?
[48]
Entire, I’m considered rude by some,
Behead me, and a weed I then become,
Exchange my head, and then there will be seen
An animal that boundeth on the green.
Again, if of my head I am bereft,
A verb is all that you’ll discover left;
Transpose me now, an organ I shall be,
That very oft in churches you may see.
[49]
I am found on the deep where the gallant ship sails,
Transpose me, I’m perhaps in the hold;
Transpose me again, with the cargo I’m placed,
’Mongst the goods which the artist has sold.
Now change me again,
And the Bible will say
How I guided the mariner
Safe on his way.
[50]
I am a word of evil import. Without my hat I am almost as bad; place my wig at my feet, I am no better; my last two letters make me slightly ill, and with my second, fourth, and fifth letters transposed, I am utterly false.
[51]
A strong desire to gain my whole
Has many a politician made,
More than a yearning in the soul,
With love of country, I’m afraid;
One letter less, and now on me
The ladies cast their longing eyes,
Hundreds of dollars, recklessly,
Are spent for me, which is not wise.
Of one more letter now bereft,
(’Tis no more strange than true),
You’ll find exactly one is left,
Yet, ’tis three fifths of two.
[52]
When spelled with four letters, I’m solemn, ’tis true;
But spell me in five, and you’ll know what I do.
Even change two of these, and no wrong you will find,
And in six, I’ll build wagon or house to your mind.
[53]
Curtail me once, I am a youth;
Behead me once, a snake;
Complete I’m often used in truth
When certain steps you take.
[54]
Four letters, just, compose my name,
Read forward, backward, both the same
Will readily appear;
A Prophetess, I stand confess’d,
Who once the Mediator bless’d,
With reverential fear.
[55]
A bird and a sheep, and a yard and a quarter,
An organ of very great use, I am sure,
And the very beginning of literature,
Are the name of many a gentleman’s daughter.
[56]
Ah! wo to him who feels my power!
A grasping, clutching thing am I,
And many, in some evil hour,
Have, by my means, been called to die.
Remove my head, and scarcely less
Will be the mischief that I make;
Beware of both, for I confess
That either will insure an ache.
[57]
Cut off my head and singular I am;
Cut off my tail and plural I appear;
Cut off both head and tail, and strange to say,
Although my middle’s left, there’s nothing there!
What is my head cut off? A sounding sea.
What is my tail cut off? A roaring river,
Beneath whose placid waves I peaceful play,
The parent of soft sounds, though mute forever.
[58]
It is a compound word, calling to mind social pleasures. The subject of a pretty Scotch song, and the place in the family most missed by the absent. The first four letters form the name of a cruel master. Take my second, third, and fourth, and it is a wicked passion. The last four letters form a part of the animal body. Put the fifth letter after the last three, and you will see a term used among the ancient Romans in regard to time. Transpose the first four, and it means prevailing. Transpose the last three, and, as a noun, it is anxiously watched by the gambler; and, as a verb, puts an end to earthly joys and sorrows. Remove the third letter, and the first, second, and fourth is an exclamation.
[59]
I am something very beautiful, which you can look at, but never touch: spell me backward, and I do a great deal of mischief.
[60]
Entire I am a pronoun in the second person. Take away my first letter, and I am a pronoun still, but in the first person; put on my first, and take away my last letter, and I am again a pronoun in the second person.