Puzzle jug
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A puzzle jug is a puzzle in the form of a jug. The challenge—to drink the contents without spilling, which, because the neck of the jug is perforated, is impossible to do conventionally—is often written on the jug. Some such inscriptions are these:
- Come drink of me and merry be.
- Fill me up with licker sweet for it is good when fun us do meet.
- Gentlemen, now try your Skill / I'll hold your Sixpence if you Will / That you dony drink unless you spill.
- Here, Gentlemen, come try your skill / I'll hold a wager if you will / That you don't drink this liquor all / Without you spill and let some fall.
The earliest example in England is the Exeter puzzle jug, a fine example of medieval pottery in Britain, dating from about 1300 and made in Saintonge, Western France.
Puzzle jugs of varying quality were popular in homes and taverns, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The solution to the puzzle is that the jug has a hidden tube, one end of which appears to be the spout. The tube usually runs around the rim and then down the handle, with its other opening inside the jug and near the bottom. To solve the puzzle, the drinker must suck from the spout end of the tube. To make the puzzle more interesting, it was common to provide a number of additional holes along the tube, which must be closed off before the contents could be sucked.
The puzzle jug is a descendant of earlier drinking puzzles, such as the fuddling cup and the pot crown, each of which has a different solution.
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Footnotes
- ^ Puzzle jug from the Buckley Heritage Centre
- ^ Puzzle jug, Liverpool, about 1750
- ^ The Exeter Puzzle Jug
