Here’s a puzzler to twist your brain a smidge.
Apparently this word puzzle used to hang in a New Hampshire lodge near a fireplace. And the words form a very important series of instructions. Here’s the puzzle.
If the BMT put more : If the B . putting : Never put more : over a - der You'd be an * it
Okay, does your brain hurt yet?
You’re going to hate yourself when you see the answer.
At least give it a good hard try. Sound it out. Think about the fact that some of the characters might have a different description, based upon their use in other media.
Drag your cursor between the two braces below, and the answer will reveal itself in magic Inviso-Text.
[ If the BMT put more :
If the grate be empty (“if the ‘Great B’ MT”), put more coal on (“put more colon”)
If the B . putting :
If the grate be full, stop (“if the ‘Great B’ ‘full-stop’) putting coal on (“colon”)
Never put more : over a – der
Never put more coal on (“colon”) over a high fender (over a “hyphen”-der)
You’d be an * it
You’d be an ass to risk (“asterisk”) it.]
What can I say? New England rural humor.