Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/31/20

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”   —   A.A. Milne

(Ya gotta have that plan, baby!  Winging it just won’t do.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 03/31/20

Visual Description:  Picking from the parcel.

NPTEI  =  INEPT,  ULYOS  =  LOUSY,  ELVARB  =  VERBAL,  COLAAN  =  CANOLA   —   Giving us:  IETLOSVBALALA

Clue/Question:  When asked how many home sites were left, she said they had – – –

Answer:  LOTS AVAILABLE

(Ooh!  A classic stinky pun!  There had been kind of a renewed building boom, before this Coronavirus hit.  Now, there seems to be a halt on all construction, as it’s not considered essential.  One exception seems to be the SoFi Stadium, going up in Los Angeles.  I guess billionaires are excluded from helping to stem this pandemic!  I guess it won’t be too long before L.A. surpasses NYC as the leader in cases and deaths from COVID-19.  That project surely can’t be helping things.

All of today’s clue words already reside on the world famous ralis95 clue word database.  However, all four of today’s jumbles are coming up as new.  The first two came to me immediately, but the next two were toughies.  I was able to get “verbal” legitimately, but I had to back into “canola”.  Fortunately, there was enough in the incomplete answer letter layout for me to see the final answer.  But, a thirteen letter jumble is pretty impressive.  Especially for a Tuesday.

Nice cartoon of a salesperson showing a couple the plans of the development.  I guess on the tabletop, at the bottom, is the layout of the golf course.  I’m just not sure what that black thing is.  Maybe it’s a creek leading to a pond.  Golf courses like to throw in some water hazards.  Does anybody else have a guess as to what it might be?  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/30/20

“Dress unaffectedly, and without haste, follow the changes in the current taste.”   —   Molière

(I get what he means.  Dress simply and quickly, but don’t look terribly antiquated.  Those wide, floppy lapels are coming back . . . never!  Hopefully.  The only hitch in this quote is if the “current taste” is decidedly “affected”.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 03/30/20

 

Visual Description:  An Australian subway!

EMNVO  =  VENOM,  OMRHU  =  HUMOR,  KANWEE  =  WEAKEN,  DADCIN  =  CANDID   —   Giving us:  NOURWENDD

Clue/Question:  When the tourists used Sydney’s Metro to get around, they were – – –

Answer:  DOWN UNDER

(A Monday morning gimme!  And, a silly harmless pun.  Australia is another place that I’ve never been, but would love to see some day.  I’ve got some cousin in-laws there, and the language shouldn’t be an issue.  Who knows?  My fortunes could change.

All of today’s clue words are familiar old friends.  Three of the jumbles came up as new, but we’ve definitely seen “kanwee” sometime in the past.  The answer letter layout was a fine nine letter jumble, but it couldn’t hide a fairly obvious answer.  I’m pretty sure we’ve had other DOWN UNDER final answers over the years.

An admirable subway track scene cartoon.  Nothing hidden in it.  Pretty straightforward.  Lots to see in Sydney!  Someday!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/29/20

“It is well known that the older a man grows the faster he could run as a boy.”   —   Red Smith

(Ha!  As a young boy, I was actually pretty fast.  One of the big boys in the neighborhood used to organize these track and field games, for all us kids.  This one girl, who was about a year and a half younger than me, was the fastest thing on two feet . . . except when she ran against me.  I would always just beat her.  Apparently, even at that young age, she had a crush on me.  She passed away, way too young.  I think of her often.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 03/29/20

Visual Description:  Civilized beasts!

NYERST  =  SENTRY,  NFTIAN  =  INFANT,  CYOUCP  =  OCCUPY,  TRMEAU  =  MATURE,  NLNAAU  =  ANNUAL,  ROOWRB  =  BORROW   —   Giving us:  SERFTOCCMTEAURRO

Clue/Question:  The animals built a lounge in the jungle and were enjoying the – – –

Pre-Answer:  Two Words  (8-letters)  (8-letters)

Answer:  CREATURE COMFORTS

(A super Sunday Jumble!  With a literal/figurative pun.  A very entertaining and fairly challenging Jumble, with lots to like.  There should be no complaints today.

All of today’s clue words are familiar old friends.  However, all six jumbles appear to be new.  Three of them were very easy, but the other three gave me varying amounts of trouble.  I had to skip over both “nyerst” and “nftian”.  Got “occupy” right away.  Then, I had to skip over “trmeau”, but got both “annual” and “borrow” right away.  Of the three toughies, “infant” came after a few looks.  “Mature” took much longer than I would like.  And, I thought I might have to back into “sentry”, but I saw it after writing out “synert”.  The answer letter layout was a splendid sixteen letter jumble.  In and of itself, it gave nothing away.  For me, the combination of the leading nature of the clue/question, and the length of the two final answer slots, made the final answer come to me immediately.

The cartoon is a hoot!  Reminds me of the Commander’s Club at the airport, with critters.  A beautifully maned lion, an African elephant, a hyena and some kind of antelope – possibly a rhebok.  Oh, and there’s some kind of bird taking a snooze, in a nest on a shelf.  What’s not to like?!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

PS.  I made a grocery run this morning for my buddy who’s tending after his wife, who is fighting off COVID-19.  I maintained a safe distance.  We’ve all got to do our parts, folks!   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google, Flickr and Old Town Antiques

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/28/20

“I’d like to dial it back five or ten percent and try to have a vacation that’s not just e-mail with a view.”   —   Elon Musk

(Try to take a vacation without a cell phone and/or laptop!  These security blankets are really more like anchors.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 03/28/20

Visual Description:  Learnin’ th’ little uns.

SEYMS  =  MESSY,  SSEEN  =  SENSE,  SUEYNA  =  UNEASY,  LAPLOG  =  GALLOP   —   Giving us:  ESSSENNESLLO

Clue/Question:  When the teacher taught subtraction to the students, it was a – – –

Answer:  LESSEN LESSON

(I love it!  An arith-matic stinky pun!  I just made up the word.  But, hey!  It amuses for me.  And, that’s all that really matters.  Writing a blog is hit or miss anyway. 

Zilch clue words were new today.  Two of the jumbles were noticeably new.  But, Hoyt has surely used both “seyms” and “sseen” in prior Jumbles.  It took a couple of seconds to see “uneasy”.  UN words are UNCOOL, in my book.  The answer letter layout was a twelve letter jumble.  Neither good, nor bad.  With so many letters being alike it makes solving the final answer pretty easy.

Nice cartoon of a Kindergarten teacher and a few of her charges.  Ya gotta love how easily the little ones get distracted!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 03/27/20

Visual Description:  Dealing with cabin fever?

IRPVE  =  VIPER,  FWREA  =  WAFER,  MYCLPO  =  COMPLY,  TURVIE  =  VIRTUE   —   Giving us:  VIPEWAEOMPVIRE

Clue/Question:  The on-demand documentary about wood pulp production was a – – –

Answer:  “PAPER“-VIEW MOVIE

(Good thing this isn’t smell-o-vision, because the heat and chemicals used to pulp wood chips for making paper creates a big stink.  The reaction produces stinky sulfur gases called “total reduced sulfur” or TRS gases.  Oh, and also ammonia and other funky smelling chemicals.  Besides the stink, these gases can cause health issues.  I’d expect the worker in the documentary would be wearing some kind of mask.  You do not want to live downwind of one of these paper mills.

No new clue words today.  All old friends.  However, all of today’s jumbles do appear to be new.  I thought both “myclpo” and “turvie” were fairly challenging!  The answer letter layout was a massive fourteen letter jumble.  Not obvious, in and of itself.  The quotation marks and the hyphen led me fairly quickly to “PAPER-VIEW”.  The VIEOM got me to MOVIE.

Kind of an unusual cartoon.  A nice, big flat-screen TV above the roaring fireplace.  Clearly, the two men are in a cabin.  One of them appears to be a lumberjack, and the other either a park ranger, or a Mountie! I’m going to try to not read too much into the relationship.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/27/20

“People will not look forward to prosperity who never look backward to their ancestors.”   —   Edmund Burke

(In order to know where you’re going, you have to know where you have been.  History, personal and otherwise, is more important than a lot of people think.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google