Cryptoquote Spoiler – 04/24/21

“I firmly believe that respect is a lot more important, and a lot greater, than popularity.”   —   Julius Erving

(The legendary Doctor J!  Arguably the greatest all around basketball players of all time!  The man could do it all, but he was mostly known for his spectacular, long range dunks.  They say he was “the first man to weaponize flight”!  Can you imagine what a powerhouse the Milwaukee Bucks would have been had they been allowed to draft him back in 1972?  With Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Oscar Robertson?  Oh my god, they would have been unstoppable!  But, his old ABA team – the Virginia Squires – threw a monkey wrench into those plans, eventually trading him to the New Jersey Nets.  After a few years with them he went on to play for the Philadelphia 76ers.  Both the Nets and the 76ers retired his jersey.  And, to think that my Knicks turned down the opportunity to acquire him from the Nets!  SMH.  This is his first quote to be used in the Cryptoquote, since I’ve been posting the spoilers.  So, we welcome the Hall of Famer to the Cryptoquote Club today!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 04/24/21

Visual Description:  From the depths!

VONEW  =  WOVEN,  TIDOT  =  DITTO,  GJLGUE  =  JUGGLE,  ARNWRO  =  NARROW   —   Giving us:  WODTOGLENW

Clue/Question:  They took a guided tour of the Grand Canyon so they could – – –

Answer:  GET THE LOWDOWN

(And, NOT to be mistaken for the DOWNLOW, which means to keep secret, and which may – or may not – be a single compound word.  LOWDOWN is information, which is what the hikers/visitors were seeking.  I’m only providing the obvious for those who might have thought it was DOWNLOW.  Some of today’s youngsters aren’t always familiar with our old school jargon.

While not exactly from the Neogene period – like when the Grand Canyon started to form – none of today’s clue words are new.  Three of the jumbles arose as new, for me, but “tidot” definitely has to be considered an older jumble.  The answer letter layout was a tough ten letter jumble.  I probably could have struggled to get the final answer the way it was, because I did figure on GET.  But, I wrote out the consonants and the vowels in alpha order again, and it seemed to make solving it easier.

Great cartoon of folks at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  Ranger Bob really seems to know his stuff!  If you look very closely at the upper left-hand portion of the cartoon you’ll see both people on foot, and people on either horseback, or mule/donkeyback, coming down the trail.  It’s all – barely – legible, with the aide of a magnifying glass.  Thanks, Jeff!  Great Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google