Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/31/21

“A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician.”   —   Samuel Johnson

(A horse is a horse . . . of course, of course!  But a remarkable mathematician probably isn’t as entertaining as the horse that can count to ten.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 07/31/21

Visual Description:  Going, going . . . gulp!

TOQAU  =  QUOTA,  LOIYD  =  DOILY,  SILAMD  =  DISMAL,  NHITZE  =  ZENITH   —   Giving us:  QUDLDIAEIT

Clue/Question:  When the bottled water company went out of business, everything was – – –

Answer:  LIQUIDATED

(This pun is all wet!  And, it’s leaving my thirsty for more.  Let me make myself crystal clear, I’m not a fan of sparkling water.  I don’t find it refreshing.  Give me still, freshwater any day.  I don’t think I can get this spoiler flowing, so I’m going to put a cork in it.

No new clue words today.  But all of the jumbles appear to be new!  It took me a few seconds to see “zenith”.  The answer letter layout was a tenacious ten letter jumble.  Fairly cryptic.  But the QU made for a quick solve for me.

It’s kind of an unusual supermarket cartoon.  Or, is it the the bottling plant?  I do like the watername, “Molan Springs” though!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/30/21

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”   —   James Baldwin

(We had this exact quote on January the 28th of this year!  Such a shame, because Mr. Baldwin is very quotable.  At least I didn’t realize it until after I had finished solving it.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Happy 80th birthday to Paul Anka!

Jumble Spoiler – 07/30/21

Visual Description:  Ben and the Brits.

XTREE  =  EXERT,  SUPEA  =  PAUSE,  MRENSO  =  SERMON,  SAECRC  =  SCARCE   —   Giving us:  ETPAESEMCAR

Clue/Question:  The 1784 Treaty of Paris, signed by the U.S. and Great Britain, was a – – –

Answer:  “MASTERPEACE“

(Surrre it was.  Pretty much like all treaties, pacts, and agreements, it wasn’t really worth the paper it was written on.  As far as actual peace goes that is.  Otherwise we wouldn’t have had the War of 1812.  Of course our history books try to paint us in the more positive light, but the underlying reason for going into that war – like all U.S. wars of the 19th Century – had more to do with Expansionism, than anything else.  And, guess who suffered as a result of that?  That’s right.  The indigenous peoples on our frontier.  We are really good at putting lipstick on the pig!

All of the clue words already reside on the ralis95 clue word database.  Two of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve definitely seen both “xtree” and “supea” before.  I had a bit of trouble unscrambling “mrenso”.  I had to skip it, and then come back to it.  I guess I’m not much for sermons!  The answer letter layout was another impressively long jumble.  I thought it was beautifully cryptic.  I was able to see MASTER pretty quickly . . . and then I PEACEd the rest together.

Great period peace cartoon.  Although, it was signed in 1783, not 1784.  The only easily identifiable person is Benjamin Franklin.  The guy to Ben’s immediate right looks like a little Fred Flintstone in a powdered wig!  I’m guessing that the dopey looking guy to Ben’s left is some British signatory, who’d never heard of John Hancock’s famous signature.  Another great Jumble!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

PS.  Yesterday’s spoilers were delayed by auto issues, grocery shopping, and streaming “Mare of Easttown”.  Apologies.   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Happy 85th Birthday to George “Buddy” Guy!

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/29/21

“One way to prevent conversation from being boring is to say the wrong thing.”   —   Frank Sheed

(And, it doesn’t even have to be factually wrong!  It all depends on who you are speaking to.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Happy (belated) birthday to Patti Scialfa, of The E street Band!

Jumble Spoiler 07/29/21

Visual Description:  The very unlikely scenario.

YLCEC  =  CYCLE,  LATVE  =  VALET,  ATINYV  =  VANITY,  RFOALL  =  FLORAL   —   Giving us:  CCEVLEITYLOL

Clue/Question:  The siblings had amassed an amazing assortment of rare coins – – –

Answer:  COLLECTIVELY

(Superb Jumble pun!  It’s rare that you get a single word answer as large as today’s.  It was a little intimidating for a few seconds.  The clue/question didn’t possess the usual flow of most clue/questions.  I was drawn to a likely answer ending in LY, with an outside chance of an it ending in ITY.  I think the word “assortment” kind of struck me as a little odd.  As a kid – and somewhat to this day – I was/am a coin collector.  Mostly pennies, but a few others too.  The boy’s assertion of a 1974 aluminum penny made me do a double take!  What did I miss?  I know I have a few 1943 steel pennies, and I know that the very few 1943 copper pennies are rare and valuable.  But I don’t ever remember seeing, or even hearing of, an aluminum penny!  So, I Googled it!  It turns out they were proposed back in 1973, and about a million and a half were produced.  But they were never circulated!  A couple dozen, or so, were given to some Congressmen and Senators, who were on some banking committees, but they were supposed to be just for reviewing and debating.  Copper had been increasing in value, and the thought was that using aluminum would be cheaper.  For a few different reasons, they decided to scrap the idea and stay with copper.  Everyone was supposed to return them to the Mint, but . . . well, you know Congress people!  A handful, or so, never made it back.  Surprise, surprise!  And, like our cartoon, the son of a guy – who said his dad had received one as a gift – tried to sell it, but the Mint said he couldn’t, because it had never been officially “circulated”.  So, despite the rarity of these aluminum pennies, there’s really no – legitimate – market for them.  Wild, huh?

All of today’s clue words are old favorites.  Three of the jumbles came up as new for me, but we have seen “latve” sometime in the past.  I was able to see the clue words immediately.  The answer letter layout was a very impressive twelve letter jumble.    Like I said above, I was a little intimidated.  But not for long.

Fun cartoon of “sibling” coin collectors.  I’m guessing that the taller one, with dark hair and glasses is the sister of the short fellow?  Otherwise the guys would have said brothers?  I liked the Jumble cigar box and the coffee can, along with the album.  A very satisfying Jumble!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Happy (belated) to Chris Gorman, formerly with Belly!

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/28/21

“Mistakes are a fact of life.  It is the response to the error that counts.”   —   Nikki Giovanni

(A popular truism.  This appears to be the first quote from Nikki Giovanni to make it to the Cryptoquote, so we welcome her to the Cryptoquote Club today!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Happy birthday to Simon Kirke, of Bad Company!

Jumble Spoiler – 07/28/21

Visual Description:  Belle canto . . . hopefully.

NFLIA  =  FINAL,  KSAHY  =  SHAKY,  NELCGA  =  GLANCE,  GLWEGI  =  WIGGLE   —   Giving us:  FINSAGLEIGL

Clue/Question:  The ladies who wanted to sing karaoke lined up – – –

Answer:  “SING–GAL“ FILE

(Oh, yeah!  That’s a stinker, alright.  No bout a doubt it.  But how long before “gal” ends up on the scrap heap of formerly acceptable euphemisms and slang?  You just know that some extremist is going label the word as “sexist”, or somehow “demeaning”.  Of course, as with all of the other “cancelled” words – and such – there are good intentions behind them.  But as the old saying goes:  “The road to hell is paved with good intentions!”  And, that is a path that I – for one – choose not to travel.

All of today’s clue words already reside on the ralis95 clue word database.  However, every sing-gal jumble has come up as new, for me.  I did not see “final” . . . initially.  And, I’m sure that “nelcga” got some thinking that it was going to be a two syllable word.  The answer letter layout was a swell-egant eleven letter jumble.  Not obvious in the least.  As usual, the quotation marks and the hyphen were the big clues.

Great cartoon of Karaoke Night at the club.  I’ve never been brave enough to sing karaoke.  I sing great . . . in the shower, and when I’m driving . . . by myself.  But not so great on demand.  Which is a little strange, because I have sung in some musicals, WAY back in my college days.  Another issue for the shrinks, I guess!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Happy Birthday to Jonathan Edwards!

 

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 07/27/21

“God made the world round so we could never see too far down the road.”   —   Isak  Dinesen

(I guess we were always meant to have a little mystery in life.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Happy birthday to Tris Imboden, great drummer who played on this song.

Jumble Spoiler – 07/27/21

Visual Description:  Dragon the line!

RMUOF  =  FORUM,  PKEYR  =  PERKY,  VNTIEI  =  INVITE,  TMTOSU  =  UTMOST   —   Giving us:  FRPEIITS

Clue/Question:  The Dragons’ quick tempered teenage daughter was a – – –

Answer:  SPITFIRE

(I think either the Clue/Question, or the Answer, should have included the word REAL.  As in:  YER A REAL SPITFIRE, AIN’T CHA?  Maybe, the guys figured if it was in the clue/question then the final answer would’ve been more obvious?  I dunno.  I just solves ’em, and critiques ’em.  And, not everybody appreciates my critiques.  The guys never complain about it, so I’m not going to worry about comments from the peanut gallery.  Mmm, peanuts!  . . . I’ll be right back!

Okay, peanut break is over.  Where were we?  Oh.  No new clue words today.  However, all four of today’s jumbles are coming up as new.  I thought both “rmuof” and “pkeyr” were fairly challenging.  I saw the six letter clue words right away.  The answer letter layout was a great eight letter jumble.  Very nicely cryptic.  I think the cartoon daughter dragon gave it away, for me.

The cartoon is hilarious!  The dad dragon is all straight laced, with a collar and tie.  Mom looks suitably frumpy.  And, the daughter dragon looks all punky – not to be confused with perky – with her studded collar, a nose ring, and her sorta Mohawk haircut!  And of course, she is literally spitting fire!  And, they all have smoke coming out of their noses!  The guys definitely deserve an A+ for today’s Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Happy birthday to Julian Hatfield, formerly with The Lemonheads!