lit. the old man lost his horse, but it all turned out for the best (idiom) / fig. a blessing in disguise / it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good
北
=
丬
+
匕
:
A compass rose. In the Eiffel Tower, Beelzebub tries to build a compass. As a baseplate he uses a piece of wood, on which he sticks the north pike of a compass rose. On the south pike he balances a ladle, which is supposed to adjust itself to earth's magnetic field.
叟
=
支
+
臼
:
Socrates (s) is cooking with the old gentleman (叟) in the outhouse (ou3). They use mortars (臼) to process branches (支) which they want to use to cook a soup.
失
=
𠂉
+
大
:
Sherlock (sh) locked himself out of the space station (Ø1)! He lost (失) his key (𠂉)! After he was floating in front of the space station for an eternity, a robot (大) came by with a lost+found box (失) which contained his lost key.