puzzle-headedness

Soon divers members of the hunt appeared on the scene, and it was evident from their movements that the chase had been stultified by general puzzle-headedness as to the whereabouts of the intended victim.

The Woodlanders 2006

On the other hand, the wild preachers of unrest and discontent, the wild agitators against the entire existing order, the men who act crookedly, whether because of sinister design or from mere puzzle-headedness, the men who preach destruction without proposing any substitute for what they intend to destroy, or who propose a substitute which would be far worse than the existing evils — all these men are the most dangerous opponents of real reform.

The Man with the Muck-rake 1906

Soon divers members of the hunt appeared on the scene, and it was evident from their movements that the chase had been stultified by general puzzle-headedness as to the whereabouts of the intended victim.

The Woodlanders Thomas Hardy 1884

I found one, the sole but triumphant recommendation of which was the thorough "puzzle-headedness" of its construction.

The Seaboard Parish, Complete George MacDonald 1864

I found one, the sole but triumphant recommendation of which was the thorough "puzzle-headedness" of its construction.

The Seaboard Parish Volume 1 George MacDonald 1864

Brooks was proved to have cheated himself so much more than his lady as to be entirely exonerated from all but puzzle-headedness.

Hopes and Fears or, scenes from the life of a spinster Charlotte Mary Yonge 1862