Easy to Do Entertainment and Diversions

Easy to Do Entertainment and Diversions - R.M Abraham

R.M. Abraham was a popular British creator of puzzles and games.
His bag of tricks was filled with a variegated collection of ingenious problems, tricks, surprises, diversions with string, paper, wood, etc., and many other curiosities and amusements.
This volume is a compilation of 319 of these pastimes and puzzles - a book that is sure to delight and challenge youngsters and adults alike.

There is an extensive two-part section on problems and brain-teasers (66 "easy," 34 "not so easy") involving reasoning, rearrangements, relations, riddles, and mathematical recreation.
Full solutions are provided.
This is followed by over 50 games and tricks to try with matches and coins, checkers and chess diversions, balancing feats, and sleight-of-hand.

You will also find "strong man" tricks and stunts for parties and get-togethers and many other amusing and challenging ideas to test your and your friends' agility and cunning.
Other sections include knot and string games, paper folding and cutting, and miscellaneous tricks, such as telling time by the North star, card tricks, magic squares and others. 

Contents 

1 Section I Card Tricks
3 1 Spelling Out The Cards
5 2 Picking Out Named Cards
6 3 Turning Over The Ten Cards
6 4 Kings And Queens
7 5 Another Spelling Trick
7 6 The Sum Of The Pips
8 7 A Simpler Form Of No 6
8 8 The Card Clock
9 9 Treasure Trove
10 10 Divining The Top Cards
10 11 To Tell The Number Of Cards Moved
12 12 Another Form Of No 11
13 13 A Russian Patience Game
13 14 Four Fives To Count Sixteen
14 15 Poker Patience
15 16 The Tower Of Bramah
16 17 Six Card Arithmetical Problem
16 18 Ten Cards To Count Eighteen In Four Ways
16 19 Nine Cards To Count Seventeen In Three Ways
17 20 Nine Cards To Count Fifteen In Eight Ways
17 21 Twelve Cards To Count Twenty-Six In Seven Ways
17 22 Counting Up To Fifty
18 23 The Sixteen Court Cards
18 24 Pelmanism
19 25 Demon Patience

23 II Paper Folding
23 26 Drinking Cup
24 27 Aeroplane
25 28 Snap Dragon
26 29 Paper Hat
26 30 Cutting The Rings
27 31 Cocked Hat
27 32 Box Of Cards
28 33 Tray
28 34 Binder
29 35 Chinese Junk
30 36 Pine Tree
30 37 Ball
31 38 Ladder
31 39 Lace Cap
32 40 Tray On Legs
33 41 A Hole Through The Hand
34 42 Kettle
35 43 Cordon Of Police
36 44 Bird
37 45 Vase
38 46 Cruet
39 47 Tea Cloth
40 48 Cutting A Hole
40 49 Pop Gun
41 50 Aeroplane
41 51 Paper Chain Decoration
42 52 Cat Box Or Water Bomb
43 53 Folding A Billet-Doux
43 54 Another Method
44 55 Laughing Man
44 56 Hell
45 57 Double Boat
45 58 Windmill
46 59 Wild Man From Borneo
47 60 Raf Cap
47 61 Band
48 62 Boomerang
48 63 Sugar Tongs

64 III Coin Tricks
51 64 The Five-Pointed Star
51 65 Houdin’s Coin Counting
51 66 Diameter Of A Penny
52 67 Brushing A Coin From The Palm Of The Hand
52 68 The Coin In The Handkerchief
52 69 Eight Coins Trick
53 70 Ten Coins In Five Rows Of Four
53 71 Nine Coins In Ten Rows Of Three
53 72 Sixteen Coins In Fifteen Rows Of Four
53 73 Nineteen Coins In Nine Rows Of Five
54 74 Eighteen Coins In Nine Rows Of Five
54 75 Nineteen Coins In Ten Rows Of Five
54 76 Card And Penny
55 77 Count Eleven With Three Coins
55 78 Q Trick
56 79 Three Heads And Three Tails
56 80 Sixpence And Tumbler
56 81 Camel Through The Eye Of A Needle

57 IV Match Tricks
59 82 Ten Matches In Pairs
60 83 Lifting The Tripod
60 84 Six Matches In Four Equilateral Triangles
60 85 A Finger Trick
61 86 The Moorish Stool
61 87 Three Match Bridge
61 88 Five Matches To Count Fourteen
62 89 Six Matches, Add Five, Make Nine
62 90 Seventeen Matches, Six Squares
62 91 Collecting The Matches
63 92 Thumbs And Fingers
63 93 Variation Of No 92
64 94 The Disappearing Name
64 95 Twenty-Four Matches In Nine Squares
64 96 Match Spillikins
65 97 One-Sixth Into Unity
65 98 The Fifteen Game
65 99 The Twenty-One Game
66 100 Which Match Will Light?
66 101 The Kissing Lovers
66 102 Match And Safety Pin
67 103 Three And A Half Dozen
67 104 Nine To Make Ten
67 105 Seven To Nothing
67 106 Two Triangles With Five Matches
67 107 Eight Squares With Fifteen Matches
67 108 Five Triangles With Nine Matches
68 109 Three Squares And Two Triangles
68 110 Balancing Matchboxes

69 V String Tricks
73 111 The Three-Pronged Spear
74 112 The Tree Climber
75 113 The Flying Bird
75 114 The Eskimo House
76 115 The Hurdle
77 116 The Fruit Blossom
78 117 The Parachute
78 118 Slipping The Lasso
79 119 Crushing The Cocoanut
79 120 Tying The Knot
80 121 The Disappearing Loop
80 122 The Dinghy Puzzle
81 123 The Snail
82 124 The Galloper
84 125 A Lightning Flash
85 126 Church Struck By Lightning
86 127 The Five Boy Scouts
87 128 Scissors And String
88 129 Reversing The Loop
88 130 Cutting The Buttonhole
89 131 The Stick And Chair
89 132 The Bracelet
90 133 The Fly On The Nose
90 134 A Woollen Ball
91 135 The Handcuffs
91 136 Cheating The Hangman
92 137 Netting
93 138 The Ring Off The String
94 139 The Seagull
95 140 The Spectacles
95 141 The Rising Tide
96 142 The Caterpillar
97 143 Cutting Through The Tree
98 144 Removing The Loop
99 145 Trick O’ The Loop
100 146 Threading The Needle
101 147 The Fence

103 VI Knots And Splices
106 148 Overhand Knot
106 149 Figure Of Eight Knot
106 150 Reef Knot
106 151 Grannie Knot
106 152 Tom Fool Knot
106 153 Bowline
107 154 Sheepshank
107 155 Running Buntline
107 156 Clove Hitch
107 157 Marline-Spike Hitch
107 158 Bow Reef Knot
107 159 Stevedore’s Knot
107 160 Bowline On A Bight
108 161 Rolling Hitch
108 162 Timber Hitch
108 163 Topsail Spar Bend
108 164 Blackwall Hitch
108 165 Middies’ Hitch
108 166 Catspaw
108 167 Sheet Bend
108 168 Carrick Bend
108 169 Weaver’S Knot
108 170 Topsail Sheet Bend
109 171 True Lover’S Knot
109 172 Plait Knot
109 173 Chain Knot
110 174 Simple Shroud Knot
110 175 Anchor Bend
110 176 Wall
110 177 Crown
110 178 Matthew Walker
111 179 Shroud Knot
111 180 Hangman’s Knot
111 181 Vanman’s Knot
111 182 Whipping A Rope
111 182a American Whipping
111 183 Whipping A Fishing Rod
112 184 Turk’s Head
112 185 Turk’s Head Or Bracelet
112 186 Fishing Line Knot
113 187 Slinging A Barrel
113 188 Short Splice
113 189 Eye Splice
114 190 Serving The Handle Of Hot Water Jug
114 191 Sandal Knot Of The Ancients
115 192 Diamond Knot
115 193 Long Splice
115 194 The Monkey’s Paw

117 VII Games For The Agile
119 195 Lifting A Chair
119 196 Knocking Over The Cork
119 197 Smashing The Match-Box
120 198 Test Of Balance
120 199 Bottling The Cork
120 200 Memory Game
121 201 Broomstick Over The Back
121 202 Laying Down The Cork
121 203 Trial Of Strength
122 204 Placing The Pebble
122 205 Blowing The Coin
123 206 Pebble And Shovel
123 207 Round The Broomstick
124 208 Gyroscope
124 209 Picking Up The Pin
124 210 The Tall Hat
125 211 Lighting The Candle
125 212 The Vacuum
125 213 Another Vacuum
125 214 The Newspaper
126 215 Blowing The Match-Box
126 216 Revolving The Scissors
127 217 Card Bridge
127 218 Picking Up Die Cork
127 219 Spheroidal State Of Water
127 220 Candle And Funnel
128 221 Skitdes
128 222 The Squeaker
128 223 Cock Fighting

129 VIII Toys
131 224 Kinematograph
131 225 The Dovetail Puzzle
132 226 The Dancer
132 227 Square Peg In A Round Hole
132 228 Blowing A Candle Flame Towards You
133 229 Vacuum And Pressure
133 230 String Axle
133 231 Sucker
134 232 The Diver
134 233 Buzzer
134 234 Snorer
135 235 Mysterious Top
135 236 Radish Sucker
136 237 Stroboscopic Disc
126 238 Christmas Tree Candles
137 239 Camphor Boat
137 240 Balancing A Half-Crown
137 241 Spinning Aeroplane
138 242 The Columbus Egg
138 243 Jacob’s Ladder

139 IX Problems
141 244 Cross Word
141 245 Alphabet Sentence
141 246 The Drunkard
142 247 Striking Clock
142 248 Divining A Number
142 249 Plural Noun
143 250 Cat And Rats
143 251 Eleven Thousand
143 252 Train Speed
143 253 Choose Your Answer
144 254 Reversed Numbers
144 255 Cricket Average
144 256 My Father’s Son
145 257 Reading Backwards
145 258 Average Speed
145 259 Puzzle Rhyme
145 260 Another Rhyme
146 261 Blind Beggar
146 262 Puzzle Sentence
146 263 Puzzle Punctuation
147 264 Quick Calculation
147 265 Three Very Old Ones
148 266 How Many Squares
148 267 The Hiker
148 268 Buying Cigars
148 269 The Bookshelf
148 270 Anagram
149 271 Lord Macaulay’s Riddle
150 272 Missing Letters
150 273 Weighing The Sugar
150 274 Arithmetical Problem
150 275 Weights Problem
151 276 Magic Square
151 277 The Eight Draughtsmen
152 278 The Tailor’s Helper
152 279 The Farmer’s Cows
153 280 The Sandwiches
153 281 The Snail
153 282 The Family

159 X Miscellaneous
159 283 Boys Climbing A Wall
159 284 Handkerchief Doll
160 285 Five Finger Exercises
160 286 Drawing An Oval
161 287 Reversing The Marlin-Spike
161 288 Electrified Paper
162 289 Breaking The Thumb
162 290 Soap Solution
163 291 Blowing A Triple Bubble
164 292 Opening Flower
164 293 Bubble In A Barrel
165 294 Balloonist
165 295 Frame Bubbles
165 296 Fire Pictures
166 297 Every Rose
168 298 Paddy Murphy
169 299 Patsy Mcgilligan’s Daughter
170 300 We Buried His Corpse
172 301 Johnnie Johnnie
173 302 Paddy Kane
173 303 Solitaire
174 304 Noughts And Crosses
174 305 Serviette Ring
175 306 Fox And Geese
175 307 Fox And Geese
175 308 Floating Needle
176 309 Die Trick
176 310 Croquet Lawn
177 311 Cutting The Melon
177 312 Nine Draughtsmen
177 313 Cricket Crease
178 314 The Mysterious Apple
178 315 Laying Out A Right Angle
178 316 Lay-Out Of A Hockey Field
179 317 Lawn Tennis Court
179 318 Fives Court
179 319 Racquets Court
180 320 Squash Court
180 321 Badminton
180 322 Rugby Football
180 323 Association Football
181 324 Baseball
181 325 Lacrosse
181 326 Curling
181 327 Height Finding
182 328 Bowls
182 329 Watch Compass
182 330 Counting Up To Fifty
182 331 Cutting An Apple
183 332 Smudgeography
183 333 Thermometer Conversion
184 334 Sweepstake
185 335 Morse Code
186 336 Treasure Hunt
186 337 Improvised Stretcher