Alphabetical Card Puzzle or Game.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 30th Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Alphabetical Card Puzzle or Game.
I THOMAS FERRIER GELLATLY of Gordon House 79, East India Road, London,
Master Mariner, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a new or improved puzzle or game and has for its object
to provide an alphabetical puzzle which shall be difficult to accomplish and which
will afford considerable amusement to persons of all ages.
In carrying my invention into practice, I provide a pack of cards, each one being
printed with a separate letter of the alphabet, the puzzle or game being to arrange
the whole or any part thereof so that when the required number of cards are held
face downwards in the hand, the top card may be placed at the bottom of the pack
and the next turned up upon the table, which should be A, and again shifting one
card from the top to the bottom of the pack and placing the next card on the table
which should be B, and so on, shifting one card from the top to the bottom of the
pack and turning the next one up alternately until the number of cards are
arranged in their respective order.
The key, Fig. 1, shows the arrangement of the cards for the whole of the
alphabet in rotation. The cards are placed in the hand face upwards one on the
top of the other as shown in the horizontal lines of letters in the key, the pack
being then reversed face downwards.
As an example we will suppose it is required to arrange the letters A to L of
the alphabet in their proper order, in this case it will be seen on referring to Fig. 1
and counting down the column marked 1 until we come to the letter L that we have
12 letters which must be arranged in the order shown in the horizontal line opposite
that letter viz. K, A, G, B, J, C, H, D, L, E, I, F, and when arranged in this order,
and manipulated as above described they will be found to come out in their correct
positions viz. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L.
The key, Fig. 2, shows the numerical numbers of the letters of the alphabet
from A, 1, B, 2, to Z, 26.
This key is for the purpose of arranging any word, words, or sentence, containing
any number of letters into a puzzle.
We will take the word "BRIGHTON" for example, this word will be found to
contain eight letters, and upon referring to the key (Fig. 2) and counting down the
column marked a until we come to 8 it will be seen that any word of eight letters
has to be arranged as shown in the horizontal line opposite that number, that is the
eighth first, first second, fifth third, second fourth, seventh fifth, third sixth,
six seventh, and fourth eighth, which in this case would read as follows,
N, B, H, R, O, I, T, G, the first card being placed face upwards in the hand and
the other cards placed one upon the top of the other they are then reversed being
placed face downwards and manipulated by removing the first card and placing it
at the bottom of the pack, the second card being placed on the table forming the
first letter of the word, the third card is then placed at the bottom of the pack,
and the fourth card placed on the table which is the second letter of the word,
and so on every alternate card being placed at the bottom of the pack, the card
between being placed on the table until the word is spelled out.
The puzzle or game is to arrange the cards without the use of the keys.
Any puzzle may be arranged in this manner and if the word, words, or sentence,
contains several similar letters, cards from various packs may be used. Different
puzzles of popular names may be used such as London, Liverpool, Gladstone,
Prince of Wales, Salisbury, &c.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
The new or improved puzzle or game substantially as herein described and shown
and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 6th dor of November 1893
F. G. CASSELL,
Of Cassell & Co.,
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London, W.,
Agent for the Applicant.