Help us get to over 8,755 articles in 2024.
If you know of a magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them. Contact us at magicpediahelp@gmail.com
Hofzinser Ace Problem
Hofzinser Ace Problem, which appears to be mistakenly credited to Hofzinser by Dai Vernon, is the Card Problem which poses the following effect:
- Four aces are on the table. You ask a spectator to pick a card from the deck and remember it. You take back his card and loose it in the deck. You say that the four aces will help you find his card. You show the aces one by one and after snapping your fingers show that one of the ace has turned face down. Say that as it is for example the ace of hearts that turned face down, his card must be a heart. You once again snap your fingers over the deck and show that one card has also turned face down in the deck. You ask for the identity of the chosen card. When the spectator has answered, you show him that the face down card in the deck is in fact the ace of heart and his chosen card is the face down card between the aces.
Apparently the trick was put together by Jack Avis in 1958, and when Vernon saw it he said it was Hofzinser's lost ace routine, which he'd "read about in a letter". According to Vis a Vis: A Jack Avis Book, Avis was inspired by Edward Victor's The Deo-Ace Trick (in Magic of the Hands - 1937), and "there seems to be little evidence to back up Vernon's claim that he ostensibly read this plot of Hofzinser's in a letter. No one else has been located who claims to have seen such a letter."
A perfect example of urban legend.
Proposed Solutions
| Date | Creator | Routine |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Marlo Edward | Choice Transposition |
| 1967 | Jennings Larry | Tell-Tale Aces |
| 1969 | Fulves Karl | Two Unsolved Problems |
| 1970 | Chesbro Verne & West Larry | Larry Flipper |
| 1970 | Swinford Paul | Three Different Ways |
| 1970 | Warlock/Haxton/Ryland/Kort | Platform Hofzinser |
| 1971 | Avis Jack | The "Lost Ace" Trick |
| 1971 | Fulves Karl | The Red Backed Hofzinser |
| 1971 | Warlock/Haxton/Ryland/Kort | Platform Hofzinser |
| 1972 | Hartman J.K. | Hof Zingers |
| 1972 | Warlock/Haxton/Ryland/Kort | Platform Hofzinser |
| 1973 | Cyprian Fr | Hofzinser-70 |
| 1976 | Britland David | Tell Tale Aces |
| 1977 | Christensen JL | Pyramide Aces |
| 1977 | Fare Jean | Criss Cross Triumph |
| 1977 | Fulves Karl | In Re Hofzinser |
| 1977 | Racherbaumer Jon | Decking Hofzinser |
| 1978 | Busby Jeff | Cased Prediction |
| 1978 | Cyprian Fr | Fr Cyprian on the Hofzinser Card Problem |
| 1978 | Nelson Barry | Jennings Improved |
| 1978 | Racherbaumer Jon | About the so-called Hofzinser Problem |
| 1978 | Racherbaumer Jon | Decking Hofzinser Delux |
| 1978 | Racherbaumer Jon | Hofzinser Triumphs |
| 1978 | Solomon David | Triumphant Aces |
| 1979 | Walton Roy | Grown Up Hofzinser |
| 1980 | Cyprian Fr | Hofzinser's Departure |
| 1981 | Lees Walt | Hofzinser/Jennings |
| 1982 | Duffie Peter | Hofzinser In My Pocket |
| 1982 | Jennings Larry | Hofzinser Ace Problem |
| 1982 | Kaufman Richard | The Hofzinser Ace Tunnel |
| 1982 | Sanvert Jean-Jacques | Another Hofzinser Twist |
| 1983 | Simon Frank | Hot Zinger |
| 1984 | McCarthy Daniel | No Shuffle Hofzinser Aces |
| 1984 | McCarthy Daniel | One Shuffle Hofzinser Aces |
| 1984 | Tropeano David | Hofzinser Triumphs ! |
| 1986 | Jennings Larry | A Problem with Hofzinser |
| 1987 | Duffie Peter | Hofzinser's Alternative |
| 1987 | Giobbi Roberto | Hofzinser's Aces |
| 1988 | Goldstein Phil | Twisted Hofzinser |
| 1989 | Bengel Robert | One-Shot Hofzinser |
| 1989 | Cyprian Fr | New Hofzinser Four Aces |
| 1989 | Cyprian Fr | Hats Off To Hofzinser |
| 1989 | Edwards Doug | Half-Shot Hofzinser |
| 1989 | Fulves Karl | Dollar Hofzinser |
| 1990 | Higham Justin | Hofzinser Triumphs In One Shuffle |
| 1990 | Marlo Edward | Marlo's 3rd Solution to Hofzinser's Card Problem |
| 1990 | Racherbaumer Jon | A Case For Hofzinser |
| 1991 | Aldrich St | Aldrich Hofzinser Ace Trick |
| 1991 | Elmsley Alex | Bare-Aced Hofzinser |
| 1991 | Elmsley Alex | Hoftwister in Minch |
| 1991 | Hartman J.K. | Hof Zingers |
| 1991 | McCarthy Daniel | Another Hofzinser Aces |
| 1992 | Yedid Medid | Sandwichange For Hofzinser |