[87].—The Chifu-Chemulpo Puzzle.
The solution is as follows. You may accept the invitation to "try to do it in twenty moves," but you will never succeed in performing the feat. The fewest possible moves are twenty-six. Play the cars so as to reach the following positions:—
| E5678 | |
| ———— | = 10 moves. |
| 1234 | |
| E56 | |
| ———— | = 2 moves. |
| 123 87 4 | |
| 56 | |
| ———— | = 5 moves. |
| E312 87 4 | |
| E | |
| ———— | = 9 moves. |
| 87654321 |
Twenty-six moves in all.
[88].—The Eccentric Market-woman.
The smallest possible number of eggs that Mrs. Covey could have taken to market is 719. After selling half the number and giving half an egg over she would have 359 left; after the second transaction she would have 239 left; after the third deal, 179; and after the fourth, 143. This last number she could divide equally among her thirteen friends, giving each 11, and she would not have broken an egg.
[89].—The Primrose Puzzle.
The two words that solve this puzzle are BLUEBELL and PEARTREE. Place the letters as follows: B 3-1, L 6-8, U 5-3, E 4-6, B 7-5, E 2-4, L 9-7, L 9-2. This means that you take B, jump from 3 to 1, and write it down on 1; and so on. The second word can be inserted in the same order. The solution depends on finding those words in which the second and eighth letters are the same, and also the fourth and sixth the same, because these letters interchange without destroying the words. MARITIMA (or sea-pink) would also solve the puzzle if it were an English word.