Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/01/17

“Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world.”   —   Louis Pasteur

(I guess Scott Pruitt could use a little illuminating!  He’s still waiting for the “science” that will suit his preconceived notions.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Jumble Spoiler – 02/01/17

Visual Description:  Non-seasonal nonsense.

SUDEO  =  DOUSE,  TUBRS  =  BURST,  MOSTOH  =  SMOOTH,  DUNEFO  =  FONDUE   —   Giving us:  DOEBRSSOOFNE

Clue/Question:  Trying to plant flowers in the rocky soil was – – –

Answer:  NO BED OF ROSES

(Maybe they’re doing this one for folks from the southern hemisphere?  Up here it’s winter, people.  You don’t go trying to plant things this time of the year, regardless of the soil type.  LOL!  But, what it reminded me of was that silly Infiniti commercial, where the young family drives their live Christmas tree out into the woods, and then plant it on a snowy day.  Ludicrous!  They probably would’ve needed a backhoe to break ground to do that.  And, anyone who’s planted any tree before knows that that requires copious amounts of water.  I read that they teamed up with the Arbor Day Foundation, to promote the use of live Christmas trees, rather than cutting down trees, for the Christmas holiday.  And, that’s cool.  But, the commercial is just plain silly.  And, apparently it upset some people because they never called it a Christmas tree.  They called it a “holiday” tree.  I don’t focus on nonsense like that, but I guess it’s important to some.

Oh, well.  No new clue words today, but three of the jumbles did come up as new.  Hoyt has used “sudeo” before.  I had a little trouble figuring out “dunefo”, but not too much.  The answer letter layout was a superb jumble!  Very cryptic, and far from obvious.  I really had to key in on Jeff’s great cartoon to get the answer.  I think this was a very visual gag.  You had to see that the couple was trying to plant multiple rose bushes.  A single plant/bush does not constitute a “bed”.  The idiom though – which I personally haven’t heard in quite a while – has nothing to do with flower beds.  A “bed of roses” is a phrase signifying the good life.  The easy life.  Rose petals are soft and very aromatic.  Without the thorns, that would make for a very comfortable bed!  So, when they say it’s “no bed of roses” they just mean that something is hard, or tough.  I think that it made for a splendid Jumble!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR