ght takes a corner on his first play, Cross must take
the centre at once, or again be beaten with certainty. If Nought leads
with a side, both players must be very careful to prevent a loss, as
there are numerous pitfalls. But Nought may safely lead anything and
secure a draw, and he can only win through Cross's blunders.

110.--_Ovid's Game._

The solution here is: The first player can always win, provided he plays
to the centre on his first move. But a good variation of the game is to
bar the centre for the first move of the first player. In that case the
second player should take the centre at once. This should always end in a
draw, but to ensure it the first player must play to two adjoining
corners (such as 1 and 3) on his first and second moves. The game then
requires great care on both sides.

111.--_The Farmer's Oxen._

Sir Isaac Newton has shown us, in his _Universal Arithmetic_, that we may
divide the bullocks in each case in two parts--one part to eat the
increase, and the other the accumulated grass. The first will vary
directly as the size of the field, and will not depend on the time; the
second part will also vary directly as the size of the field, and in
addition inversely with the time. We find from the farmer's statements
that 6 bullocks keep down the growth in a 10-acre field, and 6 bullocks
eat the grass on 10 acres in 16 weeks. Therefore, if 6 bullocks keep down
the growth on 10 acres, 24 will keep down the growth on 40 acres.

Again, we find that if 6 bullocks eat the accumulated grass on 10 acres
in 16 weeks, then

12 eat the grass on 10 acres in 8 weeks,
48 " " 40 " 8 "
192 " " 40 " 2 "
64 " " 40 " 6 "

Add the two results together (24 + 64), and we find that 88 oxen may be
fed on a 40-acre meadow for 6 weeks, the grass growing regularly all the
time.

112.--_The Great Grangemoor Mystery._

We were told that the bullet that killed Mr. Stanton Mowbray struck the
very centre of the clock face and instantly welded together the hour,
minute, and second hands, so that all revolved in one piece. The puzzle
was to tell from the fixed relative positions of the three hands the
exact time when the pistol was fired.

We were also told, and the illustration of the clock face bore out the
statement, that the hour and minute hands were exactly twenty divisions
apart, "the third of the circumference of th