Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/21/21

“My little old dog; a heart-beat at my feet.”   —   Edith Wharton

(I guess they’re woman’s best friend too!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 01/21/21

Visual Description:  Downtime at our favorite M*A*S*H unit.

ELHVA  =  HALVE,  GNSIE  =  SINGE,  PRUTIN  =  TURNIP,  TBINTE  =  BITTEN   —   Giving us:  HAESINTNIBTT

Clue/Question:  The mobile living quarters seen on the TV show “M*A*S*H”were home to – – –

Answer:  “INHABIT–TENTS“

(At the time that the show went off the air, I believe that it was the longest running sit/com of all time, at eleven years.  But that was a long time ago, in 1983!  I loved the show.  It was funny and irreverent, with a great cast of characters.  And, even though it took place during the Korean Conflict it was decidedly anti-war.  It didn’t play quite as well with the more conservative crowd.

All of the clue words were familiar old friends.  Three of the jumbles came up as new, but we’ve definitely seen “prutin” before.  It was also the only one to give me pause.  I guess I’m not a fan of turnips!  The answer letter layout was a tantalizing twelve letter jumble.  It hid the final answer nicely.  The quotation marks and the hyphen in the final answer slots were the big clues for me.

Great “M*A*S*H” mock-up cartoon!  This must be from season four on, as it’s B.J. Hunnicutt and Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce who are in the tent, while Walter “Radar” O’Reilly tries to delay a testy looking – extra – MP.  A total of seven of the actors who played characters on the show have passed on, while six of them are still with us.  The actors playing the three mentioned characters are thankfully still with us.  Always fun going down memory lane!  Grape Nehis for everyone!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/20/21

“I am an American and therefore what I do, however small, is of importance.”   —   Maxwell Struthers Burt

(Who is someone who has never been in my kitchen???  Okay, he was a novelist, poet, and short story writer.  But, today was the first I’ve ever heard of him.  We welcome him to the Cryptoquote Club today!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 01/20/21

Visual Description:  Planetarium plenitude.

TISEU  =  SUITE,  PUCEO  =  COUPE,  SRBABO  =  ABSORB,  RYPITU  =  PURITY   —   Giving us:  SUECOUASOPRIT

Clue/Question:  With more than 100 billion stars all light-years apart, the Milky Way galaxy is  – – –

Answer:  OUTER SPACIOUS

(This Pale Blue Dot that we live on isn’t the center of our solar system, let alone the center of our galaxy, or the universe.  We’re merely a speck of cosmic dust in an immensely vast megacosm.  And, we’re all just one of 7.8 billion souls who occupy that speck, who are only here for a relative blink of an eye.  We owe it to ourselves to be kind and decent to each other.  The Golden Rule is our fundamental guideline.

None of today’s clue words are new, but three of the jumbles appear to be so.  I can only confirm that we’ve seen “puceo” before.  None of them tripped me up today.  The answer letter layout was a tremendous thirteen letter jumble.  A rarity where the consonants were second to the vowels.  I think that might have made for a more challenging solve.  Initially, I thought the first word was SPACE, but then I saw SPACIOUS.

Fine cartoon of a lecture in a planetarium.  They can be very educational and entertaining.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/19/21

“There is no adequate defense, except stupidity, against the impact of a new idea.”   —   P.W. Bridgman

(The man was brilliant!  He won the Nobel Prize in Physics back in 1946.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 01/19/21

Visual Description:  Aww, nuts!

CEYDA  =  DECAY,  HNAKT  =  THANK,  BYUHCB  =  CHUBBY,  VOPNER  =  PROVEN   —   Giving us:  DECTAKCUBPROE

Clue/Question:  The expensive walnuts didn’t taste right and weren’t what they were – – –

Answer:  CRACKED UP TO BE

(I think this qualifies as more of an idiom than an adage, but either way I’m not sure of its origins.  Does it have something to do with nuts, that need to be cracked?  I’m seeing now that it’s old English/Irish for not being what it’s talked/rumored up to be.  Okay?  By the way, stale, funky nuts are very disappointing.

No new clue words today.  Two of the jumbles are coming up as new, while we’ve definitely had “ceyda” and “hnakt” before.  They all came to me very quickly today.  I really don’t hear “proven” that much these days.  It seems to me that they use proved much more frequently.  By the way, proved is not in the ralis95 world famous clue word database, Hoyt!  Just sayin’, as they say!  The answer letter layout was a terrific thirteen letter jumble.  But, the final answer came to me immediately.

Cute cartoon of an older couple, disappointed with their pricey purchase.  Jeff went with two different kind of nut crackers, the ornate toy soldier looking one, that you traditionally see at Christmas, and the more conventional handheld version.  Maybe these folks can get a refund!   Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/18/21

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”   —   Albert Einstein

(It’s important for us to stay focused in stressful times, so those opportunities can be realized.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 01/18/21

Visual Description:  Paper store.

GYRBU  =  RUGBY,  PTNUI  =  INPUT,  CAATUL  =  ACTUAL,  SRTOYP  =  SPORTY   —   Giving us:  RYINATASOT

Clue/Question:  The owner of the stationery store didn’t like it when her products were – – –

Answer:  STATIONARY

(That’s right.  She likes it when her products are . . . moving, moving, moving!  No customers mean no sales.  No sales means no money.  Standing still for very long can kill a business.

No new clue words today.  Three of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve surely seen “srtoyp” before.  Getting “rugby” took me a couple of looks!  The answer letter layout was a tidy ten letter jumble.  Nothing obvious, but I didn’t hesitate to go for the obvious pun.

Fine cartoon of a static stationery store.  I feel bad for the ladies, and all the suffering small businesses out there.  Support them, folks.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

 

(Tough) Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 01/17/21

Visual Description:  The popular landscaper.

CRLAGI  =  GARLIC,  NIFTAN  =  INFANT,  CRNWEH  =  WRENCH,  CATDHE  =  DETACH,  COYCPU  =  OCCUPY,  DOTIUS  =  STUDIO   —   Giving us:  GLIFAREHDHOYST

Clue/Question:  The company known for installing the best new lawns was – – –

Pre-Answer:  Three Words  (6-letters)  “(3-letters)”  (5-letters)

Answer:  HIGHLY “SOD“ AFTER

(Once I got it, I loved it!  But, hoo boy!  Getting the final answer was a piece of work, for me.  Not sure if Hoyt came up with this on his own, or if it was suggested by a fan, but I thought it was tough.  Both me and my daughter thought of SOD right off the bat, but neither of us could see it as being the pun word!  So, we toyed with TIL and FAR, and I thought possibly GRO, but no.

No new clue words today, but all of the jumbles came up as new for me.  All of the clue words came to me instantly.  It was the answer letter layout that threw me.  A beautiful fourteen letter jumble that had me stymied.  Finally, I wrote out just the consonants, in alphabetical order, then the Y – since it can go either way, then the vowels, in alphabetical order.  That’s when I saw HIGHLY, and I realized that SOD was a spoof on sought!  And, of course, the FRTAE came after.

Great cartoon of landscapers laying sod.  It was just a little hard for me to pick up the clue from the couple’s dialog.  Even though there was sod all over the place!  Great example of hiding in plain sight.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Cryptoquote Spoiler – 01/17/21

“The structure of a play is always the story of how the birds came home to roost.”   —   Arthur Miller

(No N’s in this quote!  Just something I noticed as I corrected PLAN to PLAY.  Something told me to check myself, and I’m glad that I did.  Arthur must’ve been one cool dude, to have been married to Marilyn Monroe!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google