Cryptoquote Spoiler – 06/30/17

“I am a humanist because I think humanity can, with constant moral guidance, create a reasonably decent society.”   —   James Michener

(I completely agree with Mr. Michener!  A great writer, who liked being married.  He married both his second and third wives within a year of divorcing his previous spouse.  I couldn’t find any photos of his first two wives, Patti and Vange.  His third marriage, to a Japanese-American woman, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, lasted the longest.  Nearly 40 years.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Jumble Spoiler – 06/30/17

Visual Description:  Taking notice of Otis.

WYLOL  =  LOWLY,  PODTA  =  ADOPT,  RHOFUT  =  FOURTH,  GULAPE  =  PLAGUE   —   Giving us:  ODOFRLE

Clue/Question:  When elevators in buildings started to become popular, people were – – –

Answer:  FLOORED

(And, all the youngsters are wondering:  “What’s with the guy in the monkey suit?”  Well, children, back in the early days of elevators they were not automatic, as they are today.  They required an elevator operator, to do things like open and close the inner and outer doors, and work the lever to make it go up and/or down.  And, the elevators didn’t stop by themselves level to the floors, like they generally do today.  The elevator operators had to control that.  It took some practice and, of course,  some were better at it than others.  They were kind of like the ride operators, at carnivals and amusement parks.

All of the clue words are old favorites again.  Three of the jumbles came up as new.  We’ve seen “podta”  before.  And, I know I’ve told you this before, but “adopt” spells out in alphabetical order.  Oh!  And “gulape” is Swahili for fly.  No, really!  Not sure if that is from the verb, to fly, or from the noun, for the annoying critter that carries germs and such.  It would be really ironic if flies carried the “plague”, but I think that was more fleas.  And, fleas do not fly, they jump.  The answer letter layout was a dandy of a jumble.  It was not obvious, at all.  The cartoon was a nice turn of the century piece.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR