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Visual Description: Complaining conservative rookie cooks and a confident cuisinier.
ORNMO = MORON, SCAEE = CEASE, CMTASO = MASCOT, TOOPNH = PHOTON — Giving us: MONCESMSCOTN
Clue/Question: The young chefs had not mastered . . .
Answer: COMMON “SCENTS“
(I must have gotten a very good night’s sleep, last night. Because I saw every clue word, and I got the answer without even reading the dialog or the clue/question. The answer letter layout was superlative, so there was nothing obvious there. I did notice the two “M”s, the two “O”s and the two “C”s, and I immediately knew that one of the words almost had to be COMMON. From the remaining letters I saw SCENTS, and the read the cartoon, and confirmed my suspicion. It almost reminds me of the amazing Wheel Of Fortune solve that this one girl/woman did this week. Actually, it was a re-run from earlier in the year, but that’s besides the point. It was a seven word “Phrase”, and the only given was an apostrophe in the second position of the first word. I think the guy before her called an “R” to start off. This guy always tried to start with an “R”, was always wrong, and went home with the charity thou. But, I digress. Now, the young lady calls for an “L”. Why, with a seven word puzzle she didn’t ask for a “T” or an “S”, I can only guess. But, she was correct, and there was a single “L” in the fourth position of the fifth word. Pat’s in the middle of telling her she can buy a vowel or spin the wheel, when she says that she’d like to try to solve the puzzle. Everybody is kind of stunned. What do you mean solve the puzzle, little lady? You’ve got ONE LETTER! Pat, reluctantly, gives her the okay to try to solve it, and she very excitedly blurts out: I’VE GOT A GOOD FEELING ABOUT THIS. She was right. The crowd, the other contestants, and Pat all just kind of looked around saying: Huh! All she said was she had a good feeling about it. It was a “Prize Puzzle“, so she figured the reward was worth the risk. I can see, now, how she saw it. But, with a puzzle that big I wasn’t even contemplating an answer.
My personal best was a long, long time ago. The category was “Thing”, and it played out like three words, all separated by two hyphens. The first word was five letters, then a hyphen, then one letter, then the other hyphen, then four letters. I bet that some of you might know the answer! Give it a shot, people!) — YUR
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Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
YUR, you must have had a good night’s sleep. I struggled through a couple of the scrambles – “mascot” in particular, which I had to back into. Also, a pretty long blog for a Saturday morning! : )
For your WOF bonus, the only word I can come up with is “whack-a-mole,” but i doubt that is the answer – it’s more of a game than a “thing.”
Yur…are you going to give us the RSTLNE letters for your puzzle? 🙂
MASCOT took me 2 re-run episodes of “2.5 Men” to finally figure out! Then I had PHOTON early on, and I did not believe it was a word until my husband cheated. I still don’t know what it is! I’m still thinking about that “Wheel of Fortune” word with the hyphens. I saw that gal get win the prize puzzle with the one letter. I almost choked on dinner! WOW! My girlfriend’s sister was one of the top all time winners on “Wheel,” and she also won “$10,000 Pyramid” years ago. I love that show!
@ Keith,
That fits! But, it’s not the answer. It’s definitely a “Thing”. Try to think circa 1920.
@ Mommyduck,
There is an R, a T, an L and an E . . . somewhere in there. But, that’s giving you more than I had to work with! But, maybe with these letters and the above “clue” you or Keith can figure it out.
🙂
YUR
@ Lesley,
Pyramid was fun. But, my all time fave is still Jeopardy! I never seem to do well on the online contestant test. At least I’ve never been called. They don’t tell you the results.
— YUR
I don’t know what its ties may be to the 1920s, but did think of another possibility – round-a-bout?
I love Keith’s “whack-a-mole!” I’m totally stumped! Yur…please put us out of our misery! 🙂
Keith and Mommyduck,
1920, specifically, might have been a *little* misleading. They actually produced it from 1908 – 1927. The answer was . . . MODEL-T-FORD
I was pleased with myself for getting it, but it doesn’t really compare with the one that the young woman got this past year.
— YUR
Wow, YUR! MODEL-T-FORD! I was never going to get that! Next time the Wheelmobile comes to your town, you totally need to try out for Wheel of Fortune!!
Thanks, Mommyd!
I think I mentioned it here before, I did a tryout here in Manhattan, a few years back, and I did very well. They had three stages of the evaluation, and I made it all the way to the end. The other finalist seemed to think I was a shoe-in, but I don’t think the female producer liked me. I might not have been Nu Yawk enough for them, as I’m not a native, although I’ve lived here now for 31 years. Or, I reminded the producer of someone from her past that she didn’t like. Or, I’m on some shit list at Sony. Who knows? I’ve done the online registration a few times since, but they haven’t contacted me.
Same with Millionaire. Made it all the way to the interview with a producer, another young woman, and I thought this one liked me. But, I got the: Don’t call us, we’ll call you! letter.
I’ve heard with some shows they don’t want you to be too good in the auditions. I don’t know if my performance was deemed *too good*, or what. All I know is that I could use the cash!
— YUR