Cain's Jawbone

The phrase Cain's Jawbone refers to the first ever murder weapon as described in the Bible story of Cain and Abel.[1]

The puzzle consists of a 100-page prose narrative with its pages arranged in the wrong order. The first edition is part of a hardback book. The second edition is a boxed set of page-cards. To solve the puzzle, the reader must determine the correct order of the pages and also the names of the murderers and victims within the story. The story's text includes a large number of quotations, references, puns, Spoonerisms and other word games. The pages can be arranged in a very large number of orders, but there is only one correct order. The solution to the puzzle has never been made public.

When the puzzle was first published in 1934, a prize of £15 was offered "to the first reader who could re-order the pages and provide an account of the 6 persons murdered in Cain's Jawbone and the full names of their murderers."[2] Two people, Mr S. Sydney-Turner and Mr W. S. Kennedy, solved the puzzle in 1935 and won £25 each.[3][4]

The publishers of the 2019 edition ran the competition a second time, saying: "The prize of £1,000 (roughly how much £15 was worth in 1934) will be given to the first reader to provide the names of the murderers and the murdered, the correct order of the pages and a short explanation of how the solution was obtained. The competition will run for one year from the date of publication."[2] In November 2020 it was announced that comedian and crossword compiler John Finnemore had correctly solved the puzzle,[3] doing so over a period of six months during the COVID-19 lockdown. Finnemore said: "The first time I had a look at it I quickly thought 'Oh this is just way beyond me.' The only way I'd even have a shot at it was if I were for some bizarre reason trapped in my own home for months on end, with nowhere to go and no-one to see. Unfortunately, the universe heard me".[3][4]