A puzzle jug is a puzzle in the form of a jug, popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. An inscription typically challenges the drinker to consume the contents without spilling them, which, because the neck of the jug is perforated, is impossible to do conventionally.
Known inscriptions include:
Come drink of me and merry be.Come drink your fill, but do not spill.
Fill me up with licker (liquor) 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 don't 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.
Famous quotes containing the words puzzle and/or jug:
“What are you now? If we could touch one another,
if these our separate entities could come to grips,
clenched like a Chinese puzzle . . . yesterday
I stood in a crowded street that was live with people,
and no one spoke a word, and the morning shone.
Everyone silent, moving. . . . Take my hand. Speak to me.”
—Muriel Rukeyser (1913–1980)
“Twit twit twit
Jug jug jug jug jug jug
So rudely forc’d.
Tereu”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)