THE ST. NICHOLAS LEAGUE.
Terms of Competition No. 41
STEP-OR-JUMP PUZZLE.
In the diagram herewith printed are contained the names of more than a dozen well-known articles often mentioned in the advertising pages of St. Nicholas. They are to be spelled out by starting at a letter in the square and then moving either one or two squares in a straight line from each letter to the next in order. Thus, starting at the S in the second line from the top, and moving two squares left, you reach T; then one diagonally down gives N, one square above is I, one above is C, two to the right is H, one below is O, one diagonally down is L, one to the right is A, and one diagonally upward is S; spelling St. Nicholas.
In the same way, there are at least a dozen more.
Write out all you find in alphabetical order, and number them. After each put the number of the squares that spell it, thus: “St. Nicholas, 12-10-17-9-1-3-11-18-19-12.”
The prizes will be awarded for the best and fullest solutions, Other things being equal, neatness and age will be considered in awarding the prizes.
Report on Competition No. 39.
The advertisements submitted to this competition, considered as a whole, were unusually bright and interesting. Almost all were original and amusing either in clever writing of the advertisement, or in the skilful drawing of the illustration; and often in both.
The work averaged more highly than usual, while the judges were pleased to see that not only the more confident and finished work of the older competitors was worthy of being considered for prizes, but that of the younger advertisers was equally clever in ideas; showing, we hope, that both old and young enjoyed the competition.
The judges especially wish to say that the spirit of winter (which was the chief idea of competition) was so well expressed in the advertisements as to make those who examined the competition in danger of suffering severely from the imaginary cold; and that to look at the drawings of the snowy winter storms might prove dangerous to those sensitive to grip, colds, or rheumatism. Indeed, the judges even found it impossible to touch some of the chilliest pictures without first protecting the hands with mittens!
Really, the advertisements are striking reminders of the severe weather that is to come, and warnings against carelessness in winter clothing and heating; while they also are strong advocates of the many modern antidotes to the cold advertised in the magazines.
Perhaps we had better repeat here a few old reminders, as they may prove helpful in your future work. One of the judges informs us that a few of the advertisements referred to Bible characters, or quoted sentences from the Bible. We hope the advertisers have not forgotten what we said not long ago warning them against drawing on such a source for advertising ideas—even for practical reasons only; and we urge the competitors to be sure that the familiar quotations or proverbs in their advertisements do not come from the Bible or any writing that is not distinctly secular. Advertisements must attract, not offend.
We were sorry to see that some of our competitors did not understand that the advertisements must have reference to the writer in this competition.
We were obliged for this reason to pass over some that would almost certainly have taken prizes had they fulfulled this fundamental condition,
But in spite of these occasional. disappointments, the judges enjoyed the wit and talent that was shown in almost all the advertisements, and take pleasure in awarding these prizes; and we wish those who have not received prizes in this competition should know how often they came very near being among the successful ones, and hope and expect that their names will be among the prize-winners in future competitions.
See pages 24-28.
