ple of the Frogs' Ring, the number of moves would be 62.

For a general solution of the case where frogs of one colour reverse
their order, leaving the blank space in the same position, and each frog
is allowed to be moved in either direction (leaping, of course, over his
own colour), see "The Grasshopper Puzzle" in _A. in M._, p. 193.

THE STRANGE ESCAPE OF THE KING'S JESTER

Although the king's jester promised that he would "thereafter make the
manner thereof plain to all," there is no record of his having ever done
so. I will therefore submit to the reader my own views as to the probable
solutions to the mysteries involved.

49.--_The Mysterious Rope._

When the jester "divided his rope in half," it does not follow that he
cut it into two parts, each half the original length of the rope. No
doubt he simply untwisted the strands, and so divided it into two ropes,
each of the original length, but one-half the thickness. He would thus be
able to tie the two together and make a rope nearly twice the original
length, with which it is quite conceivable that he made good his escape
from the dungeon.

50.--_The Underground Maze._

How did the jester find his way out of the maze in the dark? He had
simply to grope his way to a wall and then keep on walking without once
removing his left hand (or right hand) from the wall. Starting from A,
the dotted line will make the route clear when he goes to the left. If
the reader tries the route to the right in the same way he will be
equally successful; in fact, the two routes unite and cover every part of
the walls of the maze except those two detached parts on the left-hand
side--one piece like a U, and the other like a distorted E. This rule
will apply to the majority of mazes and puzzle gardens; but if the centre
were enclosed by an isolated wall in the form of a split ring, the jester
would simply have gone round and round this ring.

See the article, "Mazes, and How to Thread Them," _in A. in M._

51.--_The Secret Lock._

This puzzle entailed the finding of an English word of three letters,
each letter being found on a different dial. Now, there is no English
word composed of consonants alone, and the only vowel appearing anywhere
on the dials is Y. No English word begins with Y and has the two other
letters consonants, and all the words of three letters ending in Y (with
two consonants) either begin with an S or have H, L, or R as their second