Jumble Spoiler – 12/19/14

Visual Description:  Ethnic specialty shop.

RUNPS  =  SPURN,  POATD  =  ADOPT,  MESSEA  =  SESAME,  VEWTEL  =  TWELVE   —   Giving us:  SURATSMTWE

Clue/Question:  The most-popular items at the German deli were the – – –

Answer:  “WURST“ MEATS

(Ahh.  A little irony thrown into today’s stinky pun.  By the way, some of these sausages can be pretty pungent themselves, but once you cook them up they are delicious.  Pretty sure Knurek has a good bit of German in him.  Hoyt too, but the name Hoyt can be Dutch and English too.  I guess the Hoyts got around!  We have no new clue words today . . . for a change.  Three of the jumbles were new to me though.  “Adopt” is another one of those words that spells out in alphabetical order.  Today’s answer letter layout was USDA Grade A Select!  Without the great cartoon and the hint word “German” I don’t think a lot of you could have gotten the answer, just from the answer letter layout.  Nice job.  That’s it, folks.  One really great week of Jumbles!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR 

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 12/19/14

“Buy only because something excites you, not just for the simple act of shopping.”   —   Karl Lagerfeld

(Of course a designer is going to say something like this.  He’s got to generate buzz for his high-priced nonsense.  Me?  I try to buy only what I need.  What excites me is getting quality . . . at a fair price.  All this glamorized consumerism is why we have dwindling resources, but increased pollutants and CO2 levels.  And of course, this feeds into the more stuff, but less values equation too.  Pay no attention to these fancy-pants people, and those who are generally only out to make a buck, folks.  They are leading us down the road to ruin.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR