Jumble Spoiler – 08/16/17

Visual Description:  Wildebeest watering hole welcome.

NALKP  =  PLANK,  AKWEA  =  AWAKE,  SHOTOE  =  SOOTHE,  DUTBEG  =  BUDGET   —   Giving us:  ANWSHUGT

Clue/Question:  When the ox-like antelope met up with his friends, he said . . . 

Answer:  WHAT’S “GNU“?

(One of my favorite, stinky puns of all time!  A true classic!  No new clue words today, however every single jumble came up as new.  Strange, because I saw every word instantly.  Some days are like that.  The answer letter layout was a fantastic jumble.  It was the combo of the leading clue/question, the great cartoon, and the quotation marks that made the answer fairly elementary.  It helped to be passably familiar with African wildlife, too.  Cute cartoon.  I liked the giraffes in the background.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 08/16/17

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”   —   Rosa Parks

(Timely quote, especially considering the horrific chain of events in Charlottesville, VA this past weekend.  As much as I hate racism and bigotry, I support the First Amendment’s rights of free speech, and peaceable assembly.  Unfortunately, the white supremacists assembly was anything but peaceable!  But, neither was a sizable segment of the counter protesters.  The videos I watched of the clashes of the two groups were very disturbing.  The police, and the local leaders, did a horrible job of keeping the two groups separated.   We don’t yet know if the nutjob, who used his car as a deadly weapon, acted as an agent for some of the white supremacists leaders, or was acting solely on his own, for his personal sick and deluded inclinations.  Perhaps the more confrontational counter protesters were infiltrated by anarchists, or white supremacists in sheep’s clothing, but it seems that so much of the bloodshed and death could have been avoided with a more robust police presence.  Truly, a black eye on 21st Century America.  I put a lot of the blame, for all the hostilities, on how “political correctness” has gotten out of control.  Zero tolerance – one sided – policies run contrary to the American spirit that Evelyn Beatrice Hall summed up in her famous quote:  “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”  We can, and must, do so much better people.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR