An old illusion in which the dead rise again.  From Spook Crooks by Julien J. Proskauer, 1932.

Before turning a woman into an orange tree, be sure your climate zone accommodates citrus.  From The Magic Catalogue by William Doerflinger.

From Le Journal Amusant, 1906.

There are actually some good (though unspoken) reasons why magicians rarely attempt to pull rabbits from hats anymore.  Plus, this magician looks like our wizardly mentor Larry Hass, proving to our satisfaction that he's a time traveler.  From Unknown, 1943.

"The wizard represented himself as the fountainhead of all knowledge.  He knew the secrets of the past, present, and future."  From Magician's Magic by Paul Curry, 1965.

Note that the 9-letter grid forms a rather difficult Boggle-style game board.  How many words can you find?  Here are some clues:

1. To obtain by deceit (4 letters).

2. An alcohol molecule containing two hydroxyl groups (4 letters).

3. A temporary release (4 letters).

4. Having a strong, disagreeable smell (4 letters).

5. (Archaic) having obeyed; from Arabic, a servant or worshipper (4 letters).

6. Put to death (obsolete form) (4 letters).

7. About 2.2 pounds (4 letters).

8. To open a locked door by sliding a thin piece of plastic between the door edge and frame to force open a spring lock (4 letters).

Answers [highlight to view]: 1. bilk; 2. diol; 3. bail; 4. olid; 5. abid; 6. kild; 7. kilo; 8. loid.  Three-letter words: aid, ail, bad, bid, bio, cid, dab, dib, ilk, jib, jol, kid, lib, lid, oik, oil, old.