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THE WEDGE (WITH ONE WHIST PACK)

TWENTY-FOUR cards are laid out, face upwards, in five rows, disposed as shown in the diagram below:

The card W is called the "Wedge," and plays a special part in the game. Building on the board has to be done downward in alternate colours (red on black and vice versa), and as soon as the aces can be got out they are to be built upon upward, according to suit.

The five cards marked E are "exposed," and may either be built upon, or removed for building; the two cards marked B may be built upon, but must not be moved. During the early part of the game, the object is to drive the "Wedge" inward along the middle line to 10, and then downward to 21. This is done by first removing card 21 (as soon as the rules for building permit of it), when cards 16 and 10 drop down one place, and cards 11 to 15 are shifted one place to the left. By continual repetition of this process, the "Wedge" eventually gets down into the place of card 21, and the middle row (10 to 15) ceases to exist.

At this stage the board consists of two independent parts, each composed of two rows. In the upper part, cards 5 to 9 are the ones "exposed." In the lower part, the "exposed" cards are, the same as originally, the five cards marked E. Whenever an exposed card is moved the card immediately above it becomes exposed, and can also be moved. Vacancies can always be filled by dealing from the pack, or by taking the topmost card of the rubbish-heap, but the only card that can be moved from the board into a vacancy made in the upper row of either of the two parts of the lay-out is a king. Sequences can be moved bodily; and a king moved into a vacancy takes with himself any cards that have been built upon him.

The novelty of the game makes it difficult to understand from description only, but a game played completely through will make everything clear.

THE WEDGE (original lay-out).

Build the 9 of diamonds upon the 10 of clubs. The 8 of clubs, thus released, will go on the 9 of diamonds. We have now two spaces into which we can move, in succession, the 4 of hearts and the 2 of hearts underneath it. Move down the 4 and 6 of diamonds into the two places thus vacated by the hearts, and shift the middle row to the left, so that the 6 of spades (which is our "Wedge") comes under the king of spades. The 7 of hearts might now be built upon the 8 of clubs, but you should wait to see what further cards are dealt before making any moves that are not necessary for the purpose of driving in the Wedge. The cards dealt from stock (in order) turn out to be 2 of diamonds, 10 of spades, 5 of spades, 3 of clubs. The first three are useless and are put into the waste-heap; the 3 of clubs is put on 4 of diamonds. Move 2 of hearts on to 3 of clubs; then shift the whole sequence of three into the space thus vacated. The 6 of diamonds and 6 of clubs now descend, and the three remaining cards of the middle row move one place farther to the left. Next cards dealt are ace of clubs and ace of diamonds, both of which are put out for foundation cards. Next come 7 of clubs, knave of diamonds, 4 of spades, knave of hearts, 5 of clubs. The first four are put on to the waste-heap; the 5 of clubs goes on 6 of diamonds, and on these goes the 2-of-hearts-to-4-of-diamonds sequence. Now the whole sequence of 5 cards is moved into the space under the 4 of hearts, and we release the 6 of clubs. This will go upon the 7 of hearts, so that we can put out the ace of hearts, bring down the queen of spades to the left-hand place in the bottom row, and dissolve the middle row altogether by getting the "Wedge" into the lowest row but one.

You have now arrived at the second stage of the game. The "Wedge" has done its work, and the board has been split into two separate segments. From the waste-heap move the top card, the knave of hearts, upon the queen of spades. Put the 6 of clubs and 7 of hearts upon the 8 of spades, exposed in the upper segment. Fill their place with the 4 of spades from the waste-heap, and on the 4 build the 3 of diamonds. The 5 of diamonds, thus exposed, goes on the 6 of clubs; the 3 of diamonds and 4 of spades go on the 5 of diamonds. Fill the spaces from the waste-heap, the top one with knave of diamonds, the lower one with 7 of clubs, on which place the sequence from 2 of hearts to 6 of diamonds. Put the 5 of spades into the space in bottom row; then 10 of spades on knave of hearts, and the 2 of diamonds will go out on the ace, exhausting the waste-heap. The next card dealt is queen of hearts; put her on king of spades; and on her the knave of clubs. Deal 4 of clubs into the space vacated by the knave of clubs; put out 2 of hearts on the ace. The 2 of clubs, which you deal next, goes out, as well as the 3 and 4 of same suit. Also put out the 3 of diamonds, but not the 4 as yet, because you may need a red 4 for building purposes, and the 4 of hearts is not exposed.

Deal the 9 of spades into space next to knave of clubs, and the king of diamonds into space next to king of hearts. On the king of diamonds place the sequence from 10 to queen of spades. The "Wedge," coming down into bottom row, becomes an ordinary exposed card and is put on the 7 of diamonds. Into the space on left of knave of diamonds you can now move one of the kings that are blocking the game in the upper segment of the board. Choose the king of clubs, as you can then move the 10 of hearts upon the knave of clubs. Into the space thus vacated between the 9 and 3 of hearts move the 10-of-hearts-to-king-of-spades sequence. Put 9 of spades on 10 of hearts. Now deal from stock to fill up all the vacancies. The cards you get are ace of spades, 2 of spades, 8 of diamonds, 8 of hearts, 6 of hearts, 7 of spades. The two first go out for a foundation packet; the other four, dealt out in order, bring the board into the state shown below:

THE WEDGE (nearing completion).

We now proceed as follows. Put 8 of diamonds on 9 of clubs, and 8 of hearts on 9 of spades. Put 5 of spades on 6 of hearts, which releases the 4 of hearts, to go on the 5 of spades. The sequence from 4 of diamonds to 7 of clubs goes on the 8 of hearts; the 7 of spades goes on the 8 of diamonds. The sequence from 8 to 10 of clubs will go on knave of diamonds, and the sequence from 4 to 6 of hearts on 7 of spades. The 6 of spades and 7 of diamonds go on the 8 of clubs; the 9 of hearts on 10 of spades.

You have now unblocked all the board, and can put out the 3 of hearts on to its foundation packet. As the card next dealt is the 3 of spades (which goes out), and the next the 5 of hearts, the game is won. There are but three cards left in stock — the queen of clubs, queen of diamonds, and knave of spades; and all the foundation packets can be built up in succession from exposed cards.