Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/28/11

Image by NaturaLite via Flickr

“One’s friends are that part of the human race with which one can be human.”   — George Santayana

(As most of you probably know by now, yer uncle is not the biggest fan of poetry.  But, that being said, this man’s quotes are pure pragmatic poetry!  Check them out.  If you don’t agree . . . well, then you’re a dolt!)   — YUR

PS.  This memorial is at Harborside, in Jersey City, New Jersey.  One of my old stomping grounds.   — YUR

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_santayana.html

 

Jumble Spoiler – 02/28/11

Image via Wikipedia

Visual Description:  The first and last(?) pairing of the 3 Amigos(?).  Mike passing the baton to David . . . and Jeff blending in.

AERCZ  =  CRAZE,  OSMEO  =  MOOSE,  ESYRJE  =  JERSEY,  MDSWIO  =  WISDOM   —   Giving us:  CROOSRSWSD

Clue/Question:  What the rival puzzle makers had when they met.

Answer:  CROSS WORDS

(Gotta side with Mike, on this one!  Maybe they’re just trying to ease us into the new guy.  Or, maybe they’re going to go with a NYT crossword puzzle daily progression of difficulty, or something.  But either way, today’s was as obvious as the shine off David’s dome.  The clue words were – individually – well scrambled, but changing the order of “CRAZE” and “MOOSE” – and also, but less so “JERSEY” and “WISDOM” – would have gone a long way in making the answer letters better scrambled/more challenging.  No matter the scrambling, I don’t think many would have had all that hard a time getting the answer.  The cartoon kind of says it all.  Although, there are some newspapers out there that print the Jumble reduced just enough where they might not have been able to make out what’s on the newspapers the guys are holding.  I’m certain that things will get better.  But, for today?  Meh!  Hear that, cuz?)   — YUR

(Perplexing) Sunday Jumble Spoiler(?) – 02/27/11

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Visual Description:  Modern artist with his muse.

DIELEY  =  EYELID,  SLIMAD  =  DISMAL,  HALNIE  =  INHALE,  TARREY  =  RARETY (or ARTERY),  TERRAH  =  RATHER,  INIBIK  =  BIKINI   —   Giving us:  IDDSINHREHEBI (or replace the R with an A)

Clue/Question:  When the artist completed his work, the canvas was . . .

Answer:  Not feelin’ it, yo!  I was thinking the first word had to be either:  HIDDEN, BEHIND, or BESIDE.  Bu . . . Never mind!  I got it.

BEHIND HIS IDEA

(Wow!  That was a tough one.  I labored, mainly, under the false assumption that “TARREY” was “RARETY”.  When I substituted “ARTERY” I only looked at the possibilities of “HIDDEN” and “BESIDE”, forgetting all about “BEHIND”.  Which is strange, because I had been leaning towards “BEHIND” with the first set of answer letters!  Whew!  Saved me the trouble of asking for suggestions.  Pretty sneaky, guys.  Great way to end Mike’s run?  Do good, friends.)   — YUR

PS.  If the Academy values subtlety over “ACTING” then Annette Bening might upset Natalie Portman tonight.  “Black Swan” was Ms. Portman’s “Raging Bull” performance, but some feel this might be some kind of make up time for Ms. Bening’s body of work.  Tough decision! — YUR

PSS. Good luck to “God of Love”!

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Sunday Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/27/11

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“Though a man often pleases by inferiority, there are few who desire to give such pleasure.”   — Samuel Johnson

(When I was a kid, I always used to take pleasure in people who were over weight, had bad teeth, and/or were bald.  Then I became best friends with a guy who had horrible teeth and was about as bald as they come.  Fortunately, I’ve kept most of my hair.  There’s been a certain amount of receding, but not as much as most of my contemporaries.  I still have great teeth.  Sure, they’re a bit longer now . . . but, they’re still mine.  But the weight issue?  Hoo boy!  I could stand to drop about 30.  It’s just so damn easy when you’re young.  The concept of a slowing metabolism just does not hit home, until all your bad habits become entrenched, nearly unbreakable, vices.  Be careful what you scoff at, young ones.  Life has a way – many ways – of biting you on the butt. )   — YUR

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/26/11

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“When there is pain, there are no words.  All pain is the same.”   — Toni Morrison

(Nonsense, Toni!  There are plenty of words.  Ouch, ooch, eech and ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh come immediately to mind.  Then, of course, there is Son of a bi . . . and a whole slew of nasty curse words that my teacher readers can’t share with their students.)   — YUR

😉

Big Jumble News!

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For some of you – who CAN be bothered reading the Comments section – this may already be *old* news.  But, for the rest of you, dig what one of the Jumble creators, and current Uncle Rave visitor/fan, Jeff Knurek, has imparted upon us:

Dear Uncle Rave and Jumblers…
We have some BIG news for all of you. We are sad to announce that long time Jumble co-creator, Mike Argirion, will be retiring. His last Daily Jumble will be February 26th. We wish Mike LAL HET SEBT!
With that announcement, we welcome Master Puzzle creator, David L. Hoyt, who will take the torch and along with puzzle partner, Jeff Knurek (me),and will be creating the Jumble puzzles that you all play and love. David and Jeff’s first Daily puzzle will run Feb. 28th. Please take a good look at it, for it stars Jeff, David and some other puzzle guy that some of you may recognize.
David and I have been puzzle partners for 8 years now and together are the two most syndicated puzzle creators in the world. (Sounds impressive!) The Jumble will only change for the better. We hope to remove archaic words from the word list. We also hope to challenge and entertain you with fresh new puns and fun cartoons filled with clues, special guests (David, myself and more) and things that make David and I giggle. We promise to try to use quotation marks when and where they are necessary, but will still look here to see when we goofed. I certainly have appreciated Uncle Rave’s descriptions and discussions on the Jumble (for the past three years of lurking) and look forward to the future. Keep up the great work and thank you so much for Jumbling. It’s going to get real fun!
LAL ET SEBT,
LUJBEM FEJF

Soave!

YUR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPs9WMWlbaU

(Special!) Jumble Spoiler – 02/26/11

Image via Wikipedia

Visual Description:  A joyous, festive parting!

OMBOL  =  BLOOM,  THAPC  =  PATCH,  LAURIB  =  BURIAL,  CHEWEN  =  WHENCE   —   Giving us:  OOCHIAWC

Clue/Question:  What the Italian couple served at the going away party.

Answer:  CIAO CHOW

(All around great scrambling!  For the first time, in quite a while, I had to play around with the letters to come up with “burial”.  I love the word “whence” – I like archaic words – so it kind of jumped off the page for me.  Very appropriate cartoon.  Check out the Comments section.  Very appetizing cartoon, too.   I might have to request spaghetti and meatballs tonight!  Be good, do good, friends.)   — YUR

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/25/11

Image by mlaaker via Flickr

“Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies.”   — Elie Wiesel

(Apathy kills!  Save Darfur!)   — YUR

Jumble Spoiler – 02/25/11

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Visual Description:  Auto shopper beginning to haggle.

KULCC  =  CLUCK,  HOPNY  =  PHONY,  CLYMAL  =  CALMLY,  WHERDS  =  SHREWD   —   Giving us:  UHOCMHW

Clue/Question:  Often said when the cost is questioned.

Answer:  HOW MUCH

(Not very tough today.  The clue words were pretty common.  We’ve even had “wherds” before.  There could always be some joker out there arguing for HOW CHUM, or WHO CHUM . . . or even HUM CHOW, but I’m pretty sure the rest of us considered the answer to be fairly obvious . . . despite the good scrambling.  Here’s hoping most of the snow will melt away, today!  It’s supposed to rain all day, here.  And, I hope we don’t all blow away.  We’re in for more wicked winds, as well.  Stay safe, friends.)   — YUR

Jumble Spoiler – 02/24/11

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Visual Description:  Anxious beginner, ready for the bunny slope.

FRYOE  =  FOYER,  BLAUM  =  ALBUM,  WREABE  =  BEWARE,  SNIPOO  =  POISON   —   Giving us:  FOAUWRPS

Clue/Question:  How the novice skier felt when he started down the slope.

Answer:  HE WAS “UP“ FOR IT

(Not bad.  The clue words and the answer letters were all well scrambled.  Whenever the answer has two or three short words it’s usually pretty easy to get.  And, today was no exception.  It kind of looks like they removed some dialog/comment bubbles, at the last moment.  I wonder what the guys had them saying?  Do good, people.)   — YUR