South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild Shop

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Victorian enigma.

Image: Freefoto.com
Can you discover the answer to this riddle?  It is an "enigma" from Godey's Lady's Book from July 1855.

Enigma 25. 
TAKE a cross letter, and two-thirds of the sea,
Unite them together; the product will be
What some people say gives to scandal a zest,
And oft is found worst where they say it is best;
A traitor’s its doom—for ‘tis quartered away,
And for such execution too dearly we pay;
Yet ‘tis treated still worse, for, by royal desire,
In the palace ‘tis “drawn” through hot water and fire. 

The clue to the answer is in the photo above!
at

2 comments:

  1. AshleyJune 28, 2012 at 11:29 AM

    I would guess "tea" since "t" is a "cross letter" and 2/3 of "sea" could be "ea." :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. South Bay Ladies' Tea GuildJuly 3, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    Yes! You got it. Sometimes the enigmas in Victorian magazines are so obscure, and you have to have the next issue of the magazine to get the answer ...

    ReplyDelete