Now, taking lines 1 and 2 together we find h × 2 ÷ erself + pleasant tot. That worked out (on somewhat doubtful mathematical lines) yields “h|erself pleasant to t|h”; then we find ose about h, and all is as straightforward as possible. So much for “mistakes” one and two.
And the third “mistake” is no worse, for the correct reading of the part referred to is not “es minus ss” but “seven es minus ss,” which introduces the word “even” into the solution. The number of expert solvers who failed at this point was quite astonishing.
In very many solutions the word around was substituted for about in the first sentence. It could hardly be regarded as a bad mistake; but, inasmuch as the letters o s e were on only three sides of the h, about had to be regarded as the more perfect reading.
The next point to be noticed is the omission in many solutions of the word always in the second admonition. But the more careful solvers noticed that in this instance five stars were employed, and rightly divined the meaning of the fifth. The fact that the word always appeared in every other sentence ought to have opened the eyes of those who fell into the trap.
The “noise less ly” in the third admonition also gave much trouble, and various quaint solutions were suggested, as, for instance, “leisurely” and “sparingly.”
These two solutions, it should be noted, were generally associated with the particular kind of soup indicated in the puzzle:—
“A well-bred girl always eats and drinks sparingly (or, leisurely) not even excepting mock-turtle soup.”
It would not have occurred to us that active greediness in the presence of that particular delicacy was sufficiently usual to call for rebuke. Most unhappily, the fault we do indicate is quite as common as it is unpleasant.
The die in the fourth admonition was generally identified; but a few solvers could make nothing of it excepting weight. A weight naturally suggests a balance, and accordingly we learn that “A well-bred girl always refrains from balancing articles of weight during meals.” We believe she does, though experiments of a kindred nature with the lighter articles at hand are not wholly unknown to us. They seldom prove much, excepting the clumsiness of the experimenter, and they do not conduce to that repose which is the essence of refinement.
One would have thought that the fifth sentence was simplicity itself; but many solvers wrote “speaks” instead of “talks.” It must have required a violent effort of imagination to convert the depicted stalks into “sspeaks”!