Cryptoquote Spoiler – 10/20/20

“Faithfulness and truth are the most sacred excellences and endowments of the human mind.”   —   Cicero

(WordPress doesn’t like “excellences”.  I have to admit that I found it a little awkward myself.  But, who can argue with what Quitilian said about the eloquence of Cicero:  “Cicero was not the name of a man, but of eloquence itself.”  Today’s quote is actually the second sentence of Cicero’s famous quote.  The first reads:  “Nothing is more noble, more venerable than fidelity.”

There are also several attributions of this quote to Vince Lombardi.  I wonder if ol’ Vince gave the proper credit to Marcus Tullius Cicero?  Be well and do good, friends.  Act responsibly during this pandemic and we’ll all get through it, folks!)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 10/20/20

Visual Description:  Railbirds’ rejoice!

CLUKY  =  LUCKY,  RDONU  =  ROUND,  LOTIVE  =  VIOLET,  VIRHET  =  THRIVE   —   Giving us:  LCYRODVOTTIE

Clue/Question:  When the racehorse got off to such a great start right out of the gate, it – – –

Answer:  LED TO VICTORY

(This pun was clearly a wire-to-wire winner!  The only thing that I smell is leather, horse sweat, and horse apples!  Okay, maybe a little desperation from the bettors.  But, besides that, it’s all roses!

All familiar old clue words today.  Three of the jumbles are coming up as new.  We’ve definitely seen “lotive” before, and it was the only jumble to give me pause.  The answer letter layout was a thoroughbred of a twelve letter jumble.  Nicely cryptic.  The final answer didn’t come to me immediately, but after figuring on the smaller words the rest just ran its course.

Awesome horse racetrack cartoon!  It looks like 7 was this horse’s lucky number.  I think Jumble Jeff would be a great name for a thoroughbred!  I know it says Jumble Downs, but this looks like it could be Santa Anita, with the Santa Ana mountains in the background.  Be well and do good, friends.  Be responsible during this pandemic, and we’ll all get through it, folks.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google