Guess Me (1879)

Jun 22, 2016



Illustrated by George Cruikshank among others, this example of good old-fashioned and wholesome entertainment offers a collection of enigmas, conundrums, acrostics, "decapitations", and a series of incredibly tricky rebuses. The preface explains that an enigma can have many solutions whereas a conundrum only has one, and that "The essence of a good conundrum is to be found in its answer, which should be itself something of a pun, a puzzle, or an epigram, an inversion of the regular and ordinary meaning of the word." Some of the 631 conundrums included in the book:
Why is a clock always bashful? – Because its hands are ever before its face.Why are persons fatigued, like a wheel? – Because they are tired.Why are good resolutions like fainting ladies? – They want carrying out.When is a kiss like rumour? – When it goes from mouth to mouth.
Perhaps the highlight of the book are the rebuses — called here "hieroglyphics" — the solving of which vary from difficult to near on impossible. Some highlights below.