Curtain Raiser

Trump is decidedly the most dangerous political *figure* – I don’t want call him a “leader”, or even a person – of our lifetime. We need to vote him out, and we need to be prepared that he will violently resist leaving office. We are living in unprecedented times, my friends. — YUR

CollTales

Don’t Watch it From the Shadows, Colltalers

The Democratic Convention brought comfort and hope to part but not all of the party’s constituency. But the Republican one, held while protests raged against police brutality and white supremacists killed three (white) people in the ‘inner-city chaos‘ they see, was everything supporters wished it to be.
Meanwhile, the U.S. still tops the world with six million Covid-19 cases and near 190,000 deaths, California wildfires are burning an area larger than Delaware, and about 20 million Americans are unemployed. To the GOP, though, these are not a priority; only the consecration of Donald Trump is.
We’ll go back to the Democrats’ half-delivered message and to the Republican lying feast, but first, let’s ask once again, why almost as many have rallied in big cities against the use of masks as those denouncing the killing of Blacks and people of color? While the latter…

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Cryptoquote Spoiler – 08/31/20

“We grow best when clouds hang over us because clouds bear rain and rain refreshes us.”   —   H. W. Beecher

(My wife gets a little out of sorts on cloudy, and rainy, days.  They don’t bother me at all.  I always say:  “Into every life a little rain must fall.”  Rainy days are essential to life/growth.  And, how can you appreciate the sunny days if you don’t experience the rainy ones?  I’m with Henry on this.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 08/31/20

Visual Description:  Ticket counter trouble?

HMUTP  =  THUMP,  LOICC  =  COLIC,  SINWUE  =  UNWISE,  CATEPK  =  PACKET   —   Giving us:  THMCOIUNEPAC

Clue/Question:  When there weren’t enough business-class seats, the baseball player said – – –

Answer:  PUT ME IN COACH

(You can never go wrong with sports related puns, in my book.  Well, some of them are definitely overdone, but this one felt kinda fresh.  And, at least it’s a seasonal Jumble/pun.

None of today’s clue words are coming up as new.  They are all pretty recognizable.  However, all of their jumbles are coming up as new.  I think Hoyt is aiming to give us different jumbles, because the clue words are pretty much completed.  The answer letter layout was a surprising twelve letter jumble, for a Monday.  The final answer did not come to me immediately, but I didn’t exactly struggle to get it.  I was looking for something a little more baseball specific, as this phrase is pretty universal to all sports.  Every player on the bench, or the sideline, wants to get in the game.  So, this is a very common request.  Of course, John Fogerty’s song, “Center Field”, kind of cemented it into baseball lore.  The song is so full of baseball idioms.

Swell airport ticket counter cartoon!  I like how the clerk is kind of blasé, the manager is trying to be the tough guy, and the player just wants to get on the darn plane!  I was at JFK on Saturday, and it was kind of surreal.  I was at an international terminal, it was the middle of the afternoon, but it was like a ghost town.  The COVID-19 pandemic has really shut down leisure travel, and most countries are only allowing essential travelers.  I can fully appreciate why they’re doing it, but it just looked so strange.  Enjoy the song, folks.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google