CHESMAYNE

Midi: Help-frd

 

Riddle

01 Riddle: a question or statement so framed as to exercise one’s ingenuity in answering it or discovering its meaning - conundrum - a puzzling question, problem, or matter - a puzzling thing or person - any enigmatic or dark saying or speech - to propound riddles.   At the core of a quest lies the riddle as asked by the Sphinx, the questions asked by the QU of Sheba of Solomon, of a hero/ine, who must prove s/he has brawn as well as brains, or die.   A riddle may lie in asking the right question or, may conceal an esoteric teaching or, in a story offering different levels of meaning.   Numbers 12:8.   ‘Dark speeches’, ‘dark saying’.   

02 Taliesin asked KI Maelgwyn’s 24 court bards: “a strong creature without flesh, blood, hand, bone, foot, head or feet, invisible and unborn, from before the flood and as wide as the earth’s surface?”   The answer: the wind. 

03 Sir Lancelot, horse-riding in a Lost Forest, finds a castle where spellbound KTs and Ladies dance endlessly, in which there was a magic chess board on which the MPs/mps, moving of their own accord, could be checkmated only by the best KT on earth.   Lancelot checkmated and all gained their release. 

04 Lycophron of Alexandria was known as a riddling poet.   In modern times ‘The Riddler’ appears in Batman. 

05 Aesop: the story of Aesop begins in the 5^th century BC, when the Greek historian Herodotus claimed Aesop’s fables were penned a century earlier by a slave of this name.   Likewise, an Egyptian biography of the first century AD describes Aesop as a slave on the isle of Samos who, freed by his master, served KI Lycurgus of Babylon as ‘Riddle-Solver’ before returning to Greece to die at Delphi.   Also in the first century AD, the Roman writer Plutarch identified Aesop as an adviser in the court of the Lydian KI Croesus (6^th century BC).  

06 Puzzle: a toy or other contrivance designed to amuse by presenting difficulties to be solved by ingenuity or patient effort.   To cause to be at a loss - bewilder - confuse - perplex - confound, as the understanding - to exercise (oneself, your brains) over some problem or matter.   To make, as something obscure, by careful study or effort - to puzzle out (to puzzle out the meaning of a sentence) - to be in perplexity.   Puzzle, riddle, enigma refer to something baffling or confusing which is to be solved.   A puzzle is a question or problem, intricate enough to be perplexing to the mind.   It is sometimes a contrivance made purposely perplexing to test one’s ingenuity.   A riddle is an intentionally obscure statement or question, the meaning of or answer to which is to be arrived at only by guessing: the riddle of the Sphinx.   Puzzler, puzzlement. 

07 Enigma: originally meaning riddle, now refers to some baffling problem with connotations of mysteriousness.   Puzzle, bewilder, perplex imply mental confusion and consequent inability to decide or to act.   Puzzle suggests mental embarrassment amid a complexity of possible decisions. 

08 Bewilder: suggests complete bafflement, the mind being lost in a multiplicity of considerations and alternatives. 

09 Perplex: suggests such an entanglement of your judgment that one is uncertain as to what to think or how to act. 

10 Turandot by Fiacomo Puccini: opera.   Fairy-tale story of a cruel Chinese Princess, Turandot, who sets her suitors three riddles.   If they can guess the riddles, they take her as their bride.   If not she has them executed.   Prince Calaf answers all three riddles but allows Turandot to escape her part of the bargain by challenging her to discover his name before dawn.   In the morning Turandot realizes that his name is ‘Love’ and agrees to become his bride.  

 

Jigsaw puzzle Pal-Tool: This puzzle tool is very helpful and handy for those puzzle lovers that need the extra stability or have a hard time picking up small pieces. 

Jigsaw puzzle Roll-Up: Rolls up without disturbing pieces!  Puzzle Roll Up Mat.  One of our most sought-after items, this handy jigsaw roll-up mat is perfect at home or on vacation.  Put away your puzzle in seconds and keep it out of harm’s reach. 

·  Measures a full 36” x 48”. 

 

 

 

Try this riddle?

I come with visions,
A device transilient.
Sometimes traumatic,
Other times brilliant.

What am I?

Answer: A flashback, memory, thought, or dream (anything that deals with the brain). 

  

Sam Loyd - US problem composer and puzzle inventor.

 by Bill Wall

The most famous American chess composer.   He modified an Eastern board game and popularized it as Parcheesi. He was known as “The Puzzle King”.   He served as president of the New York Chess Club and organized the first international tournament on American soil.   He composed about 3,000 chess problems. 

 

 

 

Above: Kate Winslet in “Enigma”

Film: “Enigma”:  a story about an English group of eccentrics who crack German cyphers.  The movie is set in 1943 [WW2] in Bletchley Park, the British code-breaking headquarters that was so top secret it wasn’t even acknowledged as existing until the mid 1970s.