Honourable Mention.
Mrs. Adkins, Muriel V. Angel, Mrs. Astbury, Mrs. L. Bishop, M. Bolingbroke, Louie Bull, Helen M. Coulthard, Constance Daphne, B. Duret, Annie K. Edwards, C. M. A. Fitzgerald, Edith E. Grundy, Edith M. Higgs, S. D. Honeyburne, J. Hunt, Ethel L. Jollye, Edith B. Jowett, Carlina V. M. Leggett, Mrs. R. Mason, Wm. E. Parker, A. A. L. Shave, Helen Singleton, Clara Souter, W. Fitzjames White, Emily Wilkinson, Henry Wilkinson, Amy G. Wiltshire, Emily C. Woodward, Diana C. Yeo, Sophia Yeo.
EXAMINERS' REPORT.
The general opinion seems to be that "Prepositions" was a very difficult puzzle. It was certainly unpopular, judging by the number of solutions sent in, but we were inclined to think that this was accounted for by the subject. Who wants to learn anything about prepositions in the middle of summer, and who would be so extremely foolish as to spend any of the precious—not to say "honied"—hours over a grammatical puzzle? In the summer of 1897 about fifteen hundred individuals tried to unravel a page full of curious suppositions. But then suppositions are always dear to the girl mind, while prepositions seldom are, because they pertain to a science which the girl mind (as a rule) little understands. So the subject repelled, and as the difficulty also repelled, we begin to be surprised that there were any solutions at all.
With these unpopular features to contend with, it was particularly unfortunate that the puzzle should have been marred by two serious mistakes. In line 11 no amount of solving ingenuity could convert gr divided by rown into "grown," though a shrewd guess helped nearly all the solvers to the right word. In line 15 the minus sign should have been the sign of division, giving hold divided by u. The point of this mistake was not so widely apprehended, and no wonder.
Of the rest of the puzzle little need be said. Probably the ninth line was the most obscure, and it needed a truly expert solver to discover that lake plus a short line (inserted in the right place) becomes take. The waits were now and then taken for a German band, giving the quaint reading, "But if you take a German noun." Obviously, the alteration that an English preposition would undergo if tacked on to a German noun would be extremely serious, though the precise nature of it would not be easy to define. Many solvers failed to notice that an e was left out of different in line 12. The word was intended to be so written, with of course the addition of an apostrophe, because of the rhythm.
We must not fail to thank M. T. M. for her exceedingly kind and encouraging letter. Referring to our puzzles generally she writes: "I am an invalid, and the diversion of thought and interest is very welcome to me." It is indeed good for us to know that even our more frivolous efforts can be so helpful, and no form of commendation could give us more sincere pleasure.
We append our foreign award on Fluctuations. It is rather late, but we have been anxious to include solutions from the remotest parts of the world. One comes to us from Coomooboolaroo, wherever that may be, and the author mildly suggests that she is afraid her solutions do not arrive in time as she has never had honourable mention. Now that we allow a reasonable extension of time, we hope the writer will continue to solve, for if The Girl's Own Paper can reach even a place with eight os in it so can a Puzzle Poem Prize.
It is very odd, but a puzzle which is popular at home is certain also to be popular abroad.