Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/03/16

Maria Mitchell, painting by H. Dasell, 1851 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests.”   —   Maria Mitchell

English: Buildings of the Maria Mitchell Liones Observatory on Nantucket Island, Mass. (Original size is on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/versageek/2856395419/, under CC-BY-SA-3.0) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(With the universe being so immense, even the most accomplished of us are merely specks of dust.  Don’t let this be a cause for defeatism though.  Be that big speck!  Ms. “Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.”  Be well and do good, friends.  Shoot for the stars!)   —   YUR

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Jumble Spoiler – 02/03/16

English: Author: Irish Tug of War Source: (OWN) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Visual Description:  Getting old is no picnic!

LIRDL  =  DRILL,  CLUPK  =  PLUCK,  MURSEM  =  SUMMER,  TETAMU  =  MUTATE   —   Giving us:  DLLPLCSUEMUAE

Clue/Question:  The tug-of-war was going well until he – – –

Tug of war contested at the 1904 Summer Olympics. It was later dropped from the Olympic program but remains a recognized sport. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Answer:  PULLED A MUSCLE

(I’d say more wordplay than pun.  Not terribly difficult.  A nice long answer though!  All of today’s clue words are old favorites, yet all of their jumbles came up as new.  The only one that took me some thought was “mutate”.  The answer letter layout was actually pretty good.  It’s just that there are two visual clues in the cartoon.  One, you see the guy grabbing his arm, in pain.  And two, the company name on the banner/sign in the background is Kingco, which could be a play on Kinkos.  A kink is a pain, that can be caused by a pull.  And of course, the clue/question was very leading.  Great cartoon.  All the letters might have made it seem like it was going to be more difficult than it ended up being.  I guess size isn’t everything!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

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