Cryptoquote Spoiler – 12/05/19

“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth:  not going all the way, and not starting.”   —   Buddha

(Ya know, I always liked this Buddha cat.  Today’s puzzle was at least easy to start.  But, because I always save up entering the T’s and E’s until the very end, it took a bit of effort to complete.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 12/05/19

Visual Description:  Silly billies!

TURTE  =  UTTER,  NEESS  =  SENSE,  GSITTH  =  TIGHTS,  BIBRAT  =  RABBIT   —   Giving us:  UTESETISBBT

Clue/Question:  The ram friends, who loved to smash their heads together, were – – –

Answer:  BEST “BUTTIES“

(This is a silly, stinky pun!  It was a fairly simple solve, as the cartoon’s dialog, and the word “friend” in the clue/question, really set things up nicely.  And of course, the quotation marks in the answer slots.

There were no new clue words today.  Two of the jumbles appear to be new, with both “neess” and “gsitth” having definitely been used before.  For me, “gsitth” was the only challenging jumble, even though we’ve had it before.  “Tights” is one of the few semi-plural words that are eligible as a Jumble clue word.  As an article of clothing you can’t have one tight, just as you can’t have one pant.  For me growing up, you also can’t have one scissor, although it is pretty common here in the greater metropolitan NYC region.  And, WordPress accepts it, so maybe it’s common in the U.K. too.  Well, you can scissor something, meaning to cut it with scissors, but lots of New Yorkers use scissor as a noun.  And, New Yorkers are never wrong, so don’t try to argue it with them!  LOL!  One of the reasons that I’m bringing this up is because WordPress did NOT object – highlight as an incorrect spelling – the answer word “BUTTIES”!  It puzzled me, so I Googled it, and it’s the plural form of butty, which is a type of savory sandwich!  Very often bacon.  See above.  So, I guess we learn something new – almost – every day!  Fine eleven letter jumble for the answer letter layout.  On its own, I wouldn’t find it obvious.

The cartoon is great!  A nice mountain scene, with a couple of pairs of rams.  Maybe when they’re young, they kind of do it for fun.  But, when they’re mature it’s a way to show who the dominant male is.  The winner gets the primo ladies!  The loser has to do Farmers Insurance commercials.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google