4. The Players then score as follows--(N.B. When a Player is said to `lose' marks, it means that the other scores them.)

This ends the first move.

5. For every other move, the Players proceed as for the first move, except that when a Player is `not ready', or has guessed a word wrongly, he has not a new nucleus set to him, but goes on guessing the one in hand, having first, if necessary, set a new nucleus for the other Player.

6. A `resigned' nucleus cannot be set again during the same game. If, however, one or more letters be added or subtracted, it counts as a new one.

7. The move, in which either scores 10, is the final one; when it is completed, the game is over, and the highest score wins, or, if the scores be equal, the game is drawn.

Nov., 1882.

On the 29th of March, 1879, the following article appeared in Vanity Fair:--

The readers of Vanity Fair have during the last ten years shown so much interest in the Acrostics and Hard Cases which were first made the object of sustained competition for prizes in this journal, that it has been sought to invent for them an entirely new kind of Puzzle, such as would interest them equally with those that have already been so successful. The subjoined letter from Mr Lewis Carroll will explain itself, and will introduce a Puzzle so entirely novel and withal so interesting, that the transmutation of the original into the final word of the Doublets may be expected to become an occupation to the full as amusing as the guessing of the Double Acrostics has already proved.

In order to enable readers to become acquainted with the new Puzzle, preliminary Doublets will be given during the next three weeks--that is to say, in the present number of Vanity Fair and in those of the 5th and 12th April. A competition will then be opened--beginning with the Doublets published on the 19th April, and including all those published subsequently, up to and including the number of the 26th July-- for three prizes, consisting respectively of a Proof Album for the first and of ordinary Albums for the second and third prizes.

The rule of scoring will be as follows:--

A number of marks will be apportioned to each Doublet equal to the number of letters in the two words given. For example, in the instance given below of `Head' and `Tail', the number of possible marks to be gained would be eight; and this maximum will be gained by each one of those who make the chain with the least possible number of changes. If it be assumed that in this instance the chain cannot be completed with less than the four links given, then those who complete it with four links only will receive eight marks, while a mark will be deducted for every extra link used beyond four. Any competitor, therefore, using five links would score four, and any using twelve links or more would score nothing. The marks gained by each competitor will be published each week.

`DEAR VANITY,--Just a year ago last Christmas, two young ladies--smarting under that sorest scourge of feminine humanity, the having `nothing to do'--besought me to send them `some riddles'. But riddles I had none at hand, and therefore set myself to devise some other form of verbal torture which should