Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/28/19

“You can imagine me as a kid growing up in redneck Texas with ballet shoes, tucking the violin under my arm.”   —   Patrick Swayze

(Maybe not the world’s greatest actor, but very talented to say the least.  And, he had great looks.  He was People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in the early 1990s.  He was in a slew of very memorable films, like “The Outsiders”, “Uncommon Valor”, “Red Dawn”, “Dirty Dancing”, “Road House”, “Ghost”, “Point Break”, and more!  I knew about the ballet, but I didn’t know he also played the violin!  He died, way too young, from pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver.  He had been a heavy smoker most of his life, and that likely was a factor in his illness.  Don’t smoke people!  Nothing good comes from it.  We welcome Patrick to the Cryptoquote Club today.  Too bad he’s not around to enjoy it.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 02/28/19

Visual Description:  Extensive European bus tour.

VRFEE  =  FEVER,  SOEBE  =  OBESE,  SOLIRA  =  SAILOR,  TONEMM  =  MOMENT   —   Giving us:  FEEOESSORMET

Clue/Question:  Between the Baltic and the Mediterranean, they visited sites – – –

Answer:  FROM “SEE“ TO “SEE“

(Wow!  You could probably see a good ten, or twelve, countries on a tour between those two seas!  More, if you zigzag a little.  Seems a little ambitious, but I’d be game to try.  Some of the countries, that were once part of other countries, are pretty small, but they all offer some great sights.  I wonder how long a tour like that would take.  Ten days to two weeks, I suppose.

All of today’s clue words are on the latest version of the ralis95 clue word database, that the big boss man sent to me and Hoyt last week.  We are only eight words shy of a full 33 pages of clue words!  That brings us to a current total of 3,259 clue words.  And, ralis95 made a number of suggestions to David L. Hoyt for some other – as of yet – unused clue words.  All of today’s jumbles are coming up as new.  “Soebe”  reminds me of the line of drinks called SoBe.  If you drink too many of them you will likely become “obese”.  “Solira” sounds like another new pharmaceutical that we need to ask our doctors about!  What a racket!  The answer letter layout was a grand 12-letter jumble.  Nice and cryptic.  I think today’s answer would qualify as being on the difficult side.

The cartoon is great.  I can’t tell what country and city they ended up at, but with all the beach activity it looks to be a warm climate.  Maybe Monaco, or the Cote D’Azur.  That looks like our buddy Jeff getting off the tour bus!  Great maritime vista, with the classic sinking sailboat on the horizon.  Plenty to like about today’s Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google