(Timely) Jumble Spoiler – 07/12/12

English: Howard Stern in 2000. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Visual Description:  One of the American Idol clones . . . and it’s clowns.

SOGOE  =  GOOSE,  CIXTO  =  TOXIC,  TUNTAR  =  TRUANT,  SCAWEH  =  CASHEW   —   Giving us:  GOETCTRTAHE

Clue/Question:  The performer struggled until he got his . . .

Answer:  ACT TOGETHER

(Not bad!  Probably a little easier than the last few days, but not bad.  They were all old reliable clue words, but they were also all nicely jumbled.  The answer letter layout was good and cryptic.  The combination of the cartoon magician fumbling everything, and the fill in the blank clue/question answer made it fairly obvious, but not too.  Great Howard and Howie!  Jeff made Sharon a little too large, but I think most people got the idea.  I know from Googling around that this is a little take on America’s Got Talent.  With all the Xs I thought it might be The X Factor, but that’s the American Idol clone that Simon Cowell ran away to.  They’re all kind of the same to me.  I watch American Idol, with the wife, but mainly because she likes it.  It gives us something to do together, that she really likes.  It’s the same reason why I watch Dancing With The Stars.  I still think they’re a little hokey, but I guess I’ve grown to like them.

Great unintentional timing, though, on the guys’ part!  I just saw on the news this morning that Howard Stern is upset with Howie Mandel for not X-ing out, similar to giving the gong, to some novelty singer named, or dubbed, Big Barry.  After watching a clip of Big Barry, I have to agree with Howard.  The guy can’t sing!  The fact that he hasn’t been X-ed out means that the audience gets a chance to vote for him to advance, to the detriment of more deserving, and presumably more talented, contestants.  You just know that there’s a group of people out there, probably pretty organized too, that want to turn this into a total sham.  It’s like the people who voted for William Hung, a bunch of years ago, on American Idol.  My son hates these kind of shows, and I could see him voting for this guy, just to point out the inanity of these kind of shows.  When I was his age I might have done the same thing.  I’ve kind of mellowed.  As I said, I’m not a big fan of these kind of shows anyway, but I agree with Howard that it’s unfair to the other contestants, and I think it’s a little exploitative of short people.  The little guy really sings horribly, and I think that Howie Mandel isn’t taking his job seriously enough.  But Hoyt and Knurek couldn’t have timed this Jumble any better!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

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(Rare) Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/12/12

 

Dr. Seuss cartoon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”   —   Dr. Seuss

(Why “rare”?  Well, it was rare . . . for me.  It’s the first time I’ve ever solved a cryptoquote without having to write down a single letter.  Sorta like my MODEL-T-FORD Wheel of Fortune solve, back in the early ’80s!  The apostrophes, the semi-colon, and the fact that it ended with a period, and not a question mark, were the keys to the solve.  The placement of the “A”s in the puzzle told me that “YA’H” was IT’S, and because the quote ended in a period told me that “MVK’A” had to be DON’T, and not CAN’T or WON’T.  With the semi-colon, and the “V” being the O, I reasoned that “VFPI” was OVER.  DON’T  blank  blank IT’S OVER; then seeing  IT on the second line, following the repeated “UPOEGHP”, and the double letters in the last cipher, got me into the whole rhythm of the quote.  Because of inspirational emails, etc., this quote has become kind of an engraved cliché upon my psyche.  I’m not saying this is a once in a lifetime solve, and I bet that a certain amount of you may have seen it the way that I did.  But, I still consider this a rare solve.  As it stands, I’m still a legend in my own mind!  LOL!!!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

PS.  Who wants to tell me which Dr. Seuss story this line comes from?  I could look it up, but I’d rather have one of you guys tell me!   —   YUR

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