assumptions (_s_ = 1, _b_ = 2/3, and _s_ = 1/2 _b_ = 5/6), and (naturally) ends in contradictions. Then she returns to the first assumption, and finds the 3 unknowns separately: _quod est absurdum_. STILETTO identifies sandwiches and biscuits, as "articles." Is the word ever used by confectioners? I fancied "What is the next article, Ma'am?" was limited to linendrapers. TWO SISTERS first assume that biscuits are 4 a penny, and then that they are 2 a penny, adding that "the answer will of course be the same in both cases." It is a dreamy remark, making one feel something like Macbeth grasping at the spectral dagger. "Is this a statement that I see before me?" If you were to say "we both walked the same way this morning," and _I_ were to say "_one_ of you walked the same way, but the other didn't," which of the three would be the most hopelessly confused? TURTLE PYATE (what _is_ a Turtle Pyate, please?) and OLD CROW, who send a joint answer, and Y. Y., adopt the same method. Y. Y. gets the equation _s_ + 3_b_ = 3: and then says "this sum must be apportioned in one of the three following ways." It _may_ be, I grant you: but Y. Y. do you say "must"? I fear it is _possible_ for Y. Y. to be _two_ Y's. The other two conspirators are less positive: they say it "can" be so divided: but they add "either of the three prices being right"! This is bad grammar and bad arithmetic at once, oh mysterious birds! Of those who win honours, THE SHETLAND SNARK must have the 3rd class all to himself. He has only answered half the question, viz. the amount of Clara's luncheon: the two little old ladies he pitilessly leaves in the midst of their "difficulty." I beg to assure him (with thanks for his friendly remarks) that entrance-fees and subscriptions are things unknown in that most economical of clubs, "The Knot-Untiers." The authors of the 26 "accidental" solutions differ only in the number of steps they have taken between the _data_ and the answers. In order to do them full justice I have arranged the 2nd class in sections, according to the number of steps. The two Kings are fearfully deliberate! I suppose walking quick, or taking short cuts, is inconsistent with kingly dignity: but really, in reading THESEUS' solution, one almost fancied he was "marking time," and making no advance at all! The other King will, I hope, pardon me for having altered "Coal" into "Cole." King Coilus, or Coil, seems to have reigned soon after Arthur's time. Henry of Huntingdon identifies him with the King Coël who first built walls round Colchester, which was named after him. In the Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester we read:-- "Aftur Kyng Aruirag, of wam we habbeth y told, Marius ys sone was kyng, quoynte mon & bold. And ys sone was aftur hym, _Coil_ was ys name, Bothe it were quoynte men, & of noble fame."