PRONUNCIATION PUZZLE.

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 55, 6 March 1937, Page 28

PRONUNCIATION PUZZLE.

In the lines given below the three spaces are to be filled ..with words, which look as if they should rhyme, judging by the way they are spelled, but the rules of pronunciation make them sound quite different from one another. N

He heard the sound, of heavy rain, It seemed to at such a rate, ; He lay beneath the counterpane, And wished the were not so. late. . ■ ■. .. \ ■ . , ' ;■ ; " —— chance to catch that train," .they said. ■■■ . , ..'■.' "You'll lose if you. repose in bed." .• THKEE SUMS OF MONEY. ■ Mr. and Mrs. Suburbs and their small boy went : into town. The father had a good deal of money in £1 notes, which he intended to pay into his bank account. The mother had some silver iri her purse, and the small boy .had.j something in his hand. What : struck Mr. Suburbs as a remarkable thing was that the boy's money came to a fraction of all that he and his mother were carrying, equal to that fraction which" the money of mother' and son made with thnt possessed by all three. How much had each member of the party? DISPOSAL, OF AN ESTATE. Mr. Stuffy left all his money to his. three nieces, Amy, Bessie, and Claire. It was not a large amount, £735, but the odd £35 seems to have been a burden on his mind. In all other respects he'seems to have had a sense of reasonableness and fair dealings towards the girls.- Amy: had been, looking- after him and putting up wjth his temper during- the last months'of his life, and in gratitude for this he ..had made this new will, leaving her twice the amount mentioned in the old will revoked, and then adding the extra £35, which seems to have been his obsession. • This made her share as much" as five times the sum given to Claire. When these details were told to me, I asked: "How much .had been left to Bessie?" and the executor replied: "As a penalty for interrupting me,l leave yoiithat to be discovered. But he-had the same reasons-as before for deciding- Bessie's and Claire!s legacies, and he-was quite a just and sane man in; most things." How much was.left to each of-the. girls? ' ■>'' SUBSTITUTION PROBLEM. A land and estate agent .wrote to a client to-inform-him that he had been able to let a. house placed .on his books, the rent per week being a sum in pounds, shillings, and pence, which for the purpose of the problem may be called £A.B.C. He admitted that this was. 3 per cent, less than- the rent formerly intended, but thought it-for-tunate that the tenant had not insisted on a's per cent, reduction, which.he had tried to get. The problem is to find the values of A, B, and C, from the following clue. The smaller .amount, that is, if 5 per cent, had been agreed on, is a sum such that when reduced to pence,- the three numerals added together make the- same total as the sum of A, B, and C. , ■

ANOTHER RIVER-CROSSING PROBLEM.

An■'officer found.it necessary to get a force of 3000 men across a river, and could only obtain three -boats. for the purpose. The smallest one; could carry only nine men in addition to the. rowers, and it took five minutes to make a trip and return. The second boat could take 11 men, but it took seven minutes for the same performance, ■ and the largest would hold. 13 men, but could not cross and return in less than 11 minutes.- The. civilian,, who was acting as guide, supplied the Information that the river could ;be crossed by- a ford at a point a certain; number of miles: away. ■• A'- selected number of the most active and-able men were sent to cross the, stream at' this place, and return to the ..bank where the-boats were discharging their loads, but the country was so rough that they averaged only 11 miles. per hour on the march. ' The ford- was not. difficult, and the crossing did not;.detain them more than one. minute. These men: marched off just as the boats started work, and the head-of the column marched in just as the -thr.ee boats returned to the loading bank together, having conveyed to the opposite side all'the men ■ they-undertook to ferry across. How. many miles, away was. the- ford, and . how many-men crossed by this route?