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George L. Carlson was an American illustrator and author, best known for his work as a newspaper cartoonist (and for producing the dust jacket for one of the best-selling novels of all time, Gone with the Wind). In 1959, however, he published a collection of children’s quips, one-liners, and lateral-thinking puzzles and riddles under the title Jokes and Riddles.
Although some of the questions in Carlson’s book sound a little of-their-time today (“Why is it useless to send a telegram to Washington?” asks one riddle*), most have stood the test of time, including the simple puzzle below. Can you work it out?
*In this case, Washington isn’t the state, but the president—and he died in 1799. It’s useless to send him a telegram because he’s dead.
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