Visual Description: Not exactly my kinda brew.
ETLYS = STYLE, XMMAI = MAXIM, RMHEPA = HAMPER, OTTPIE = TIPTOE — Giving us: STEAXERTPE
Clue/Question: She sold Earl Grey, Oolong, Darjeeling, etc. Her customers really enjoyed her – – –
Answer: “EXPERT–TEAS“
(Kind of a trendy Jumble pun. Lots of folks are into teas these days. Even I have actually taken up drinking green tea. I like green tea with lemon, or green tea with mint. I was drinking mainly Bigelow Tea, because it’s a New York favorite, and it’s relatively cheap. But I really prefer when I can catch a sale on Twinings Tea. It’s a smoother/less harsh brand of tea. I guess I have to hand it to the Brits, when it comes to tea. As a matter of fact, they’re also very good with my favorite brews . . . beer and ale!
All familiar old clue words today. And yet, all of their jumbles are coming up as new. The only one that I had to look at twice was “ottpie”. Those compound words always kind of freak me out a little. The answer letter layout was a tender ten letter jumble. Sufficiently cryptic. The final answer slots, with the quotation marks and the hyphen, made for a quick solve.
Fun little tearoom scene cartoon. I know that some people REALLY take their teas seriously. Store bought teas, in a bag, just won’t do. They have to get actual tea leaves, and use those strainer things. That’s just too much work for yer uncle. When I was a kid I used to love the Red Rose Tea commercials. They used to use chimpanzees in them. They were hilarious! Aah! Simpler times. Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
Images courtesy of Google
Happy birthday to Aimee Mann, formerly of ‘Til Tuesday!
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
Seeing you mention Red Rose Tea reminded me of the little figurines they used to include in the box!
Hope all is well, Yur! Take care.
I agree, UR. I always have to waver between TIPTOE and POTPIE! One has two Ts, the other two Ps.
I remember this older Irish-American woman, from Queens, I used to work with back in the 1980’s-1990’s. She was very protective of me my first few years on the job. She always used to drink tea, and she always had a collection of those little figurines! Mostly animals from what I remember. She was also a heavy smoker, and could she hold her liquor, so I’m guessing she has passed on by now.
Thanks, for bringing back a fond memory, Mike!
— YUR
“Red Rose Tea Commercials”
Never heard of Red Rose Tea; but, love these commercials with the Marquis Chimps. There’re many !
Here’s three:
And, the figurines are still circulating on various “Used Items” markets.
Etsy is just one:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/664525320/vintage-wade-whimsies-red-rose-tea
Way to do some research, lwc! Really great stuff, bud. Thank you, my friend. — YUR
Unc wrote: “Way to do some research, lwc!”
Every now and again, you or your contributors will mention something I know nothing about, so I have to go look it up.
I suppose my life experiences may not be as broad as others, but at least now, I have the Internet.
Unc, my latest fave green tea is Tazo China Green Tips. Smooth, no bitterness. LL
Sounds yummy, LL! — YUR