1989
Coded Nursery Rhymes
May 1989

“Coded Nursery Rhymes,” Friend, May 1989, 26

Coded Nursery Rhymes

By June Swanson

Here are the first lines of well-known nursery rhymes. The letters of each word in them are in order, but the spaces between the words have been moved. Can you adjust the spaces so that the lines make sense?

  1. The rew asa noldwo man whol ivedi nas hoe.

  2. Ja ckan djil lwen tup ahil ltofet chap ailo fwa ter.

  3. Lit tleb ope epha slos the rshe epan dcan ttel lwhe ret of in dthem.

  4. Hu mpt ydu mptys at onaw all.

  5. He ydid dled id dlet heca tan dth efid dle.

  6. Ol dki ngco lewa same rryol dso ul.

  7. Sim ples imo nme tap iem ango ingt ot hef air.

  8. Lit tlem is smuf fets ato nat uf fet.

Answers:

  • (1) There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. (2) Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water. (3) Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep and can’t tell where to find them. (4) Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. (5) Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle. (6) Old King Cole was a merry old soul. (7) Simple Simon met a pieman going to the fair. (8) Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet.