Jumble Spoiler – 01/09/15

Visual Description:  Without the dialog, it looks kinda like a Food Network knife fight.

VECOT  =  COVET,  SEEEG  =  GEESE,  GLANTE  =  TANGLE,  NUTICD  =  INDUCT   —   Giving us:  CETGETNGIDU

Clue/Question:  The chef’s new high-tech knife was – – – 

Answer:  CUTTING EDGE

(I found today’s pun to be pretty obvious.  The phrase is old enough for anyone to pick up on, and it had it’s origins with knives and swords anyway.  Advertising has made it fairly cliché, along with “state of the art”, when it comes to any kind of *technology*.  None of today’s clue words are new, but three of the jumbles appear to be new, to me.  Only “vecot” has definitely been used before, based on my *records*.  I’m having fun today, with punctuation!  The answer letter layout was another nice jumble.  The cartoon does a nice job of capturing the lunacy of some of these cooking show stars.  A lot of these cooking competition shows can be fairly entertaining, if you’re into that whole “reality” nonsense.  Most of those shows just leave me cold.  I much prefer well-scripted shows, with real actors.  I want to be told an actual story.  I don’t want to feel like a voyeur to a bunch of “regular” people’s soap-operatic melodramas.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/09/15

“It’s all right to look on the bright side, but it’s wiser to look on both sides.”   —   Old Proverb

(We shouldn’t just take things on face value, anyway.  We should always weigh the pros and cons, and not be afraid to ask questions.  Being better informed might lead to a kind of uncertainty, but the kind of ignorance that is responsible for certainty can be much more dangerous.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR