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This is less of a riddle and more of a puzzle, but its fun anyway. It has to do with the Christian bible, but its still fun even if you're not a Christian.


This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends. One friend in Illinois worked on this while fishing in his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fundraising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The local paper, the Chronicle, surveyed more than two hundred patrons who reported that this puzzle is one of the most difficult puzzles they have ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, “The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will here great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answer. Remember there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are thirty books of the bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph, waiting to be found.


See if you can identify all thirty books (yes, I know there are 73 books in the Christian bible, not all of them are used, obviously.) I have only managed to get 29. I can't seem to find the last one, but anyway, here you go.

@Nominal, good job so far. You're on the right track. Some clues: all four gospels are in there; acts of the apostles is abrieviated to just acts; hmmm.... you got a lot of the hard ones, there is one book left in the first sentence.

Only 7 books left. 1 of which I can't find.

Clues: You still haven't found Matthew; Nahum's in there somewhere as is Esther -- just so you have a goal for books to look for. (I put these clues in white just so those who don't want to know three more books that are still missing are.) cool

Yes!! You have made my day. I have been looking for number 30 for almost a month (well not very diligently, I've only looked at it for about an hour all together.) Anyway, Hosea was the only one I didn't have, so I thank you profusely.

This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends. One friend in Illinois worked on this while fishing in his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fundraising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new record. The local paper, the Chronicle, surveyed more than two hundred patrons who reported that this puzzle is one of the most difficult puzzles they have ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, “The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will here great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answer. Remember there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are thirty books of the bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph, waiting to be found.

aha, Asura, you found Romans... I knew it had to be in there somewhere... lol

Looks like you guys have found all thirty, congrats!

Group effort indeed! Good work people... and now to lock this one down, but I'll leave it up for a bit so people can see the results of our efforts. lol