INTRODUCTION
far have baffled all efforts. But it is not certain that it cannot
be done.
Though the contents of the present volume are in the main
entirely original, some very few old friends will be found, but these
will not, I trust, prove unwelcome in the new dress that they have
received. The puzzles are of every degree of difficulty and so
varied in character that perhaps it is not too much to hope that
every true puzzle lover will find ample material to interest—and
possibly instruct. In some cases I have dealt with the methods of
solution at considerable length, but at other times I have reluctantly
felt obliged to restrict myself to giving the bare answers. Had the
full solutions and proofs been given in the case of every puzzle,
either half the problems would have had to be omitted, or the size of
the book greatly increased. And the plan that I have adopted has its
advantages, for it leaves scope for the mathematical enthusiast to work
out his own analyses. Even in those cases where I have given a
general formula for the solution of a puzzle, he will find great interest
in verifying it for himself.
xxm
