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!