Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations... but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada's murder mystery? 'If James Joyce and Agatha Christie had a literary love child, this would be it.' The Daily Telegraph In 1934, the Observer's cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written. The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible - through logic and intelligent reading - to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers. Only three puzzlers have ever solved the mystery of Cain's Jawbone: do you have what it takes to join their ranks? Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted. 'A unique hybrid of word puzzle and whodunnit.' Literary Review

Chock-full of jokes and entertaining twists of the tongue, this lighthearted but scholarly guide to humorous language is a sure?re hit with word lovers. The examples are entertainingly bawdy, with a delightful narrative voice in word sleuth and author, Jim Bernhard. He provides examples and puzzles, teaching a smidgen of historical and etymological scholarship, but above all, amusing his audience. Puns from Greek dramatists, Shakespeare, the Bible, George S. Kaufman, and Groucho Marx vie for attention with comical spoonerisms, droll malapropisms, witty anagrams, and humorous palindromes—plus original material by the author—including limericks, clerihews, crossword puzzles, acrostic puzzles, tonguetwisters, and other kinds of word play. Some examples: Why does a match box? Because it sees a tin can. Time ?ies like an arrow. Fruit ?ies like a banana. The pony was unable to talk because he was a little hoarse. Two peanuts went into a bar. One was a salted. The chicken that crossed the road was pure poultry in motion. As the gardener said when asked why he was cutting grass with a pair of scissors: “That’s all there is; there isn’t any mower.”

Published by the British author Edward Powys Mathers, under the pseudonym of Torquemada, this literary puzzle is considered to be the hardest in the world. As you read and analyze each part of this intriguing plot, the reader finds himself immersed in an investigative and challenging suspense and is encouraged to use logic and analyze the details, in order to become a true detective. Who are the victims? And the killers? This unique novel invites you to discover. Six mysterious murder crimes and their respectiveexecutors. A series of clues and riddles carefully hidden in parts of a randomly printed plot, and only one correct order out of millions of combinations to reveal the real culprits and solve the mystery. This is the proposal of the police thriller Cain's Jawbone, by Edward Powys Mathers, whose work won the public's attention due to the incredibly enigmatic content that, almost ninety years later, reignited the fascination of readers from all around the world.

“If you’re ready for an extra-hard, old-time challenge, have at it!”-- Will Shortz From the creator and publisher behind the viral sensation Cain's Jawbone: A Very Novel Mystery, is a collection of 112 difficult cryptic crossword puzzles. Before Edward Powys Mathers wrote the world's most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle, he was a cryptic crossword creator. Under his pseudonym "Torquemada", his puzzles would taunt readers for days. He created his first cryptic crossword puzzle in 1924 and went on to set them for the Saturday Westminster and the Observer for the next 15 years. His true identity was only revealed when he died in 1939. As well as earning the reputation for setting the world's toughest crosswords, Torquemada - or 'Torq' as he was often referred to - was also delightfully creative: with many puzzles written in perfectly constructed verse, or delivered as mini-narratives to their solvers. There's even a version where the clues are knock-knock jokes. For many years cryptic crosswords were simply known as puzzles in the 'Torquemada style'. This selection of Torquemada's best crosswords was originally published in 1942 and contains three short accounts of Torquemada's life and achievements, including one by his widow, R.C. Mathers as well as a foreword by the crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times, Will Shortz. The successful revival of Cain's Jawbone has inspired a new generation of puzzle solvers. Here then is the next challenge for Torquemada's fans - dare you take it on?

Over half a million copies sold Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible combinations… but only one is correct. Can you solve Torquemada’s murder mystery? In 1934, the Observer’s cryptic crossword compiler, Edward Powys Mathers (aka Torquemada), released a novel that was simultaneously a murder mystery and the most fiendishly difficult literary puzzle ever written. The pages have been printed in an entirely haphazard order, but it is possible – through logic and intelligent reading – to sort the pages into the only correct order, revealing six murder victims and their respective murderers. Dare you take it on? Please note: this puzzle is extremely difficult and not for the faint-hearted.