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In 1904, the American author George Schorb published a lengthy collection of Riddles and Drawing-Room Magic, containing several hundred word games, parlor games, card tricks, and lateral thinking puzzles designed to keep readers and families entertained in the evening.
Many of the riddles in Schorb’s book were little more than punning quips and question-and-answer jokes (“Why does a duck put its head under water?” / “For divers reasons”)—and a great many of those were overtly pious or biblical in theme (“Why were Adam and Eve a grammatical anomaly?” / “Because they were two relatives without an antecedent”). But amid all the quips and one-liners were some surprisingly fiendish verse riddles, including the one below. Can you work out what is being described in the quiz below?
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