Visual Description: Haughty cuisine?
TTOEC = OCTET, CIVEO = VOICE, TYKONT = KNOTTY, TFOHMA = FATHOM — Giving us: OTTOICKNYFATO
Clue/Question: The new bistro was the most elegant in town, and diners – – –
Answer: TOOK A FANCY TO IT
(Oooh . . . fancy! Very chichi, indeedy. It’s hard to call this one a stinky pun. But, it’s a pun nonetheless. Yer uncle has very little use for these kind of restaurants. These places are more about the presentation, or “the plating”, which to me is NOT worth paying extra for. And, usually the portions are a little lacking. Granted, some restaurants’ portions are a little too big. But, at least that gives you the discretion to eat what you can, and bring home the rest for later . . . or for the dog. I don’t relish the idea of eating something pretty – and pricey – and going home hungry. But, to each their own.
All old favorite clue words today. Three of the jumbles came up as new, with “civeo” having definitely been used sometime before. The word “knotty” spells out in alphabetical order. And, I had to skip “ttoec” and come back to it, before I saw “octet”. Most excellent answer letter layout! Very cryptic, and nothing obvious about it. I think today’s answer might have been more challenging than yesterday’s. Although, based on the number of queries on my Stats page, it looks like a good number of you struggled to get “DIFFER-RENTS”.
Today’s cartoon is great! The snooty looking waiter, carrying a steamed lobster on a tray. The little candelabra on the back table. The origami swan napkins on the front table. I think it’s just a coincidence that the one woman looks like Mrs. Garrett, from “The Facts of Life” – Ya know, Charlotte Rae is still hanging in there at 92 – because her dining partner is a little nondescript, TV-wise. BUT, the two gentlemen, at the back table, are most definitely Niles and Frazier Crane! THEY are probably the main thing that screams FANCY in this cartoon. I really loved that show, “Frazier”. Great writing, and great characters. So sad about John Mahoney. Fine actor. Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
Images courtesy of Google
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
OCTET tripped me up the first time I encountered it in Jumble, but I remembered it right away this time. I just looked it up in a dictionary to see the language of origin, because I think of it as a foreign word used in English, but it’s an English word, from the Latin “-octo” for eight. Not a commonly used English word, for sure, but certainly fair game for Jumble.
I saw an article online yesterday about restaurants in the San Francisco area, at all price levels having trouble getting service staff. The economics don’t work anymore for low-paying service jobs generally there, because the cost of housing and therefore everything else is so high, so people doing those jobs can’t afford to live within two hours of work. Customers don’t want to pay $20 for a burger, but that’s what it costs to hire staff to cook and serve them there. So an increasing number of restaurants, even modestly upscale ones, are going self-serve. You order at the counter and bus your own dishes, like fast food. Another reason restaurant owners like it, besides cutting their costs: tables turn over much faster.
Octet was the problem today. And I also don’t much like paying a lot for an extremely small portion and then having to stop somewhere on the way home for a snack! 😀
Agreed, UR, Frasier is an all-time-great show! …made me laugh to see Niles and Frasier sitting at the table in this Jumble! And agreed as well about John Mahoney’s passing…so sad…wish we had a Ballantine beer to toast him! Take care all, and happy 4th!
This is why I always check back to our Unc’s blog for every jumble. With the small cartoon in our paper, it is hard to see all of the nuances of our wonderful Jumble cartoons, and our Unc is so good at pointing them out. Well, that, and out of respect to the time and effort the guyz put into the Jimble and the time our Unc takes to blog it. I am very appreciative. LL
Certainly the guys love what they do, but they also get paid to do it. The ONLY reason I continue to post these spoilers is because of people like you, LL. You guys keep me going. — YUR
And you, Unc, amp up our enjoyment of the jumbles! LL