Conundrums, Riddles, Puzzles and Games

Why is a cyclone like a waiter? (It carries everything before it.) Over a thousand riddles, puzzles and parlor games from 1896 — with a riddle-a-day and cards to stump your friends.

About the Book

1896Published
Sarah J. CutterAuthor
53Riddles & Games

Sarah J. Cutter's Conundrums, Riddles, Puzzles and Games (Buffalo, 1896) gathered 'over one thousand' of the conundrums that ruled Victorian parlors — Biblical riddles, flower riddles, military riddles, and whole party programs to deploy them in.

The conundrum was the meme of its day: short, groan-inducing, endlessly repeated. This site adds a riddle-of-the-day and shareable stump-a-friend cards, which is exactly what Mrs. Cutter would have wanted.

This site reproduces the complete text of the original 1896 edition, digitized page by page from the original printing. The book is in the public domain.

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Conundrums, Riddles and Puzzles (1901) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.