Jumble Spoiler – 01/06/15

English: March Air Force Base, CA, November 20, 2007 — Edward Coulter, left, a FEMA worker, and Anthony Johnson, a FEMA Individual Assistance liaison, discuss inspecting the first mobile home slated for use in the aftermath of the devastating wild fires. The kitchen cabinets were tied shut for transport to the base. Amanda Bicknell/FEMA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Visual Description:  Shoddy and shady.

MENVO  =  VENOM,  HROON  =  HONOR,  SESECX  =  EXCESS,  LARTEL  =  TALLER   —   Giving us:  VENHOEETLL

Clue/Question:  The crooked carpenter wasn’t – – –

A spirit level, used for the home or carpentry. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Answer:  ON THE LEVEL

(This seems almost like a classic Jumble, from the old days.  The pun, I mean.  The artwork is new, of course.  None of the clue words were though.  They’re all old favorites, but their jumbles are all new.  Great job on the answer letter layout, though.  That’s it.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

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Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/06/15

A portrait of the American writer Mark Twain taken by A. F. Bradley in New York, 1907. http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/publications/siycfall_05.pdf http://www.twainquotes.com/Bradley/bradley.html See also other photographs of Mark Twain by A. F. Bradley taken in March 1907 in New York on Mark Twain Project Online. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Let us not be too particular.  It is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.”   —   Mark Twain

(Always very humorous, that Twain!  Doesn’t it seem like “secondhand” and “used” have almost become like dirty words these days?  I mean at least here in the U.S.?  Nowadays they’re always asking for “new”, or “nearly new”, when they’re collecting for the underprivileged.  Isn’t there still value in well used articles?  I’m not talking about dirty, holey rags or anything.  No one wants to look like some Dickensian pauper, but there’s a wide range between that and brand new.  Have we really become so proud?  I don’t know.  It seems to me that secondhand of anything would be better than none at all.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

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