Cryptoquote Spoiler – 03/19/20

“The democratic faith is that every human being born is born to live like a gentleman of leisure.”   —   H. M. Kallen

(I have no idea what he is saying.  Maybe, we all have an air of entitlement?  I tried reading one of his works, but he seems to suffer from diarrhea of the mouth.  However, this appears to be his first quote used in the Cryptoquote, so we welcome him to the Cryptoquote Club!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 03/19/20

Visual Description:  Johnny rosin up yer bow!

GITDI  =  DIGIT,  PAATD  =  ADAPT,  MSILDA  =  DISMAL,  FMULFE  =  MUFFLE   —   Giving us:  DIIAATDSLFFE

Clue/Question:  After Charlie Daniels had his favorite violin repaired, it was – – –

Answer:  FIT AS A FIDDLE

(Musical puns can’t be stinky.  They can sometimes it a sour note, but one way, or another, they usually strike a chord.  FIT AS A FIDDLE is kind of a strange idiom.  Nowadays it means to be healthy, but the original meaning has changed over the years.  FIT didn’t originally have anything to do with health, it just meant suitable.  But, don’t ask me what suitable as a fiddle means!  Another strange expression is “brown as a berry”.  Apparently, back in the day, the word “brown” was used to mean shiny and dark, and not necessarily the color of woods and such. 

All of today’s clue words are familiar old friends.  Three of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve definitely seen “gitdi” sometime in the past.  The jumble for “muffle” tripped me up for a minute, or so.  The answer letter layout was a super twelve letter jumble.  I bet all the double letters threw some of you off.

A very fine likeness of Charlie Daniels . . . about twenty years ago.  He’s quite a bit grayer these days.  But, he’s always had that paunch, and the beard.  I was always a big fan of CDB, and Southern Rock in general!  See below.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google