Cain's Jawbone: A Novel Problem Paperback – 8 July 2021

I bought this book for my boyfriend and I because he loves puzzles and I thought this might be really fun to do together. I think this is wayyyyy out of my league lol. But it is exciting to try and figure out little clues here and there. I fully expect to be unable to solve this, just like reading through it for the fun of exercising my mind.

Excellent book

I think it's a puzzle within a puzzle, as each page is pretty difficult to comprehend in itself. It was a bit time-wasting that I had to tear out every single page in order to do anything with it, hence only 4 stars. I bought it because I was too curious, but it really was too tough. I think I found two pages that went together plus a page which might be the last page.

Lovers of cryptic crosswords owe a lot to Torquemada, who laid the groundwork for the modern version. Ximenean rules on clueing were yet to come - so we have a great many 'unfair' clues, which may not contain both a definition and a cryptic indication, may be a quotation (often very obscure), and may have a topical allusion lost on a modern solver. In particular, the setter felt no obligation to encourage successful solving. Some ideas are still used occasionally such as narrative cluing and 'knock knock' clues, but clues such as indirect anagrams and vague definitions are now frowned on. We are given the year of original appearance - but some clues need the precise date to solve readily. The vocabulary is often obscure, but so it should be. It's more fun to attempt these using only reference books, but solving any puzzle completely will take a very long time for most of us (so you get your money's worth) as the first pass through the clues will usually result in only one or two solutions. A wonderful collection for the enthusiast.

bought as a gift but intend to get another for myself at some point

Bought as a present . They loved it

ive seen people saying you have to cut out all 100 pages with scissors. Dont do this, its a waste of time and the dotted line is too close to the edge for this to be easy, youll just end up with a jagged edge. if you heat the spine with a hairdrier the glue melts, making the pages easy to pull out (no tearing and a smooth edge)

really good mind boggling puzzle, not cracked it yet but had a group of friends round for drinks and spent hours trying solve it