Sunday Cryptoquote Spoiler – 09/03/17

“He dreamed he was eating Shredded Wheat and woke to find the mattress half gone.”   —   Fred Allen

(NOT a simple solve!  But, it kind of seems familiar.  Almost like we’ve had this one before.  Maybe I just saw it one time when I was looking up other humorous Fred Allen quotes?  I don’t know.  But, cereals like Shredded Wheat, and plain old Cheerios, are pretty bland.  I always preferred Rice Krispies, Puffed Wheat, Corn Flakes, and Raisin Bran.  Even without sugar, they seemed to have a little more flavor.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 09/03/17

Visual Description:  They’re still nice to have on the wall.

KREBRO  =  BROKER,  TCEEND  =  DECENT,  LETHEM  =  HELMET,  TAULCA  =  ACTUAL,  WPAYMS  =  SWAMPY,  EEDILY  =  EYELID   —   Giving us:  BRRDNEMEUASWYEED

Clue/Question:  The puzzle-calendar factory was still profitable, but its – – –

Pre-Answer:  Three Words  (4-letters)  (4-letters)  (8-letters)

Answer:  DAYS WERE NUMBERED

(Ahh.  One of those literal/figurative puns!  Very good.  Likely because I’m NOT a kid, I don’t think it’s such a good idea to be overly reliant on the various handheld devices.  But, clearly you cannot tell these Gen-Xers and Millennials anything, because . . . they know better.  Well, guess what?  Having an old fashioned, published, or personally maintained, phone book comes in handy when there’s a power outage, the internet is down, or your cell phone is dead, or there is satellite interference.  The same thing applies to a landline.  There is the added cost with it, but it’s generally worth it, just for the peace of mind, if for nothing else.  Don’t get me wrong.  I do utilize many of the conveniences of my cell phone, but I make a point not to rely on them.  I can still follow written directions, and I can still figure out a road map.  And, I can tell which way I’m heading based on where the sun is.  Not too many of the younger generations can get by without their GPS.  And, so many of them don’t know/remember any phone numbers, because they feel they don’t have to know them!  The Contacts list on their little handheld computer does that for them, and that is pretty sad.  But, I guess every generation kind of surrenders a bit of their common sense and self-reliance to convenience.  So many of us can’t cook anymore, because of microwave ovens and fast food.  And, one reason why so many of us are overweight is because of the ubiquitous remote control.  Once upon a time we were forced to get off our rumps, and walk over to the TV, and manually change the channel, by twisting a knob.  And, you had to be fairly careful not to twist it too fast, or you’d strip the darn thing.  Now, there are far too many channels for any knob to accommodate.  Back when there were only 3, 4, 5, or 6 channels, television was more structured.  There were only certain shows at certain times of the day, and you had to wait for things like the news, and prime time shows.  And horrors, cartoons were only on Saturday mornings!  Now, pretty much everything is available on demand, between cable TV and the internet, so who needs that little thing called patience anymore?  To a large extent, I think technology has outpaced man’s ability to handle it all.  But, the proverbial genie has been let out of the bottle, and there – seemingly – is no putting it back.  I certainly don’t want a return to foraging for nuts and berries, but it might be nice if we could all hit that big PAUSE button, and just let things return to the old normal for a while.  A return to things like patience and tolerance might do us all some good.

Back to the Jumble stuff!  No new clue words today, but five of the jumbles did come up as new.  We’ve all seen “lethem” before.  I really liked the jumble for “actual”.  I think today’s answer letter layout was outstanding.  Nothing obvious about it.  Beautifully detailed cartoon.  Note the little desk calendar on the manager’s desk!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR