Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery cryptic puzzle novella in the form of 100 pages presented in the wrong order, has many millions of possible solutions but only one that is correct. 86 years after it was published, writer, comedian and crossword constructor John Finnemore solved it. And then, craving another 100-page cryptic puzzle murder story, he wrote his own.

Get the transcript of this episode, and find links to more information about the people, puzzles and topics therein, at theallusionist.org/solvitude. The original Cain's Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers, and John Finnemore's new The Researcher's First Murder, are both available to buy from unbound.com.

This is the fifth instalment in the Word Play series about word games and puzzles; previous episodes include the history of anagrams, recent developments in crosswords, and turning words into games. The next episode will be about the Scripps Spelling Bee, which I am attending this week. I’ll be posting about my Bee time on facebook.com/allusionistshow, instagram.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, but members of the Allusioverse will be getting Discord updates as well as lolloping odd essays from the Bee, so if you want those, scoot along to theallusionist.org/donate - and you’ll also be keeping this independent podcast going, in return for which you get regular livestreams, inside scoops into the making of this show, watchalong parties, and the company of your fellow Allusionauts in our delightful Discord community.

This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman, with Martin Austwick of palebirdmusic.com.

Our ad partner is Multitude. If you want me to talk lovingly and winningly about your product or thing on the show in 2024, sponsor an episode: contact Multitude at multitude.productions/ads. This episode is sponsored by:

• Understance: comfortable, stylish, size-inclusive bras and undies. Shop the range and learn about your own branatomy - like I did! - at understance.com.
• Bombas, whose mission is to make the comfiest clothing essentials, and match every item sold with an equal item donated. Go to bombas.com/allusionist to get 20% off your first purchase.
• Squarespace, your one-stop shop for building and running your online empire/new home for your cryptic puzzle that takes months to solve. Go to squarespace.com/allusionist for a free 2-week trial, and get 10 percent off your first purchase of a website or domain with the code allusionist.

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195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude

The Allusionist

195. Word Play 5: 100 Pages of Solvitude