As I may have to wait 0 minutes or 15 minutes, the average time of waiting will be 712 minutes.

If I wait x min., and a horse ’bus arrives, I should reach the Bank in 15 mins, if I took it.

If I waited longer for a motor, which, on the average, will now turn up in 712 - x mins., I should reach the Bank in 1712 - x mins.

If, therefore, x is greater than 212, the motor is the quicker.

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12

The historical charade—

My first, if foolishly or rashly taken,
May mar the future prospects of your life.
My second, by her fickle lord forsaken
(Sad type of many a gentle, patient wife).
May toil and moil to feed his many babies,
While he goes flirting off with other ladies.
The thrifty monarch of a former age
My whole a place in Britain’s history fills.
Immortalised in Shakespeare’s magic pages
As one who’d fain reform his tailor’s bills!

is solved by Stephen (Step-hen).

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