Curtain Raiser

This is one cogently written piece! It’s a little long, but well worth the read. — YUR

CollTales

The Expediency of Tomahawks, Colltalers

It’s easier to bomb than to talk. The Trump administration has tried hard to get to this point, when headlines are about hitting another country. It’s already got North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran, on its crosshairs, but Syria has had the best excuse, so it got struck twice. More to come?
Very likely, indeed. Even that bombing changes nothing, only kills more people, at both times, timing was most convenient. But the strikes we’d rather support are those by teachers. For what they demand, from West Virginia to Arizona, will improve our life without killing anyone.
To this president, who dodged the draft and never had to fire a bullet to save a soul, war is always a handy diversion. Whenever lies, sex and incompetence threaten to derail his week, talk about bombing someone does the trick, playing the compliant media as Nero did with…

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Jumble Spoiler – 04/17/18

Visual Description:  Comedy is hard . . . believe me.

GAVAU  =  GUAVA,  TELUF  =  FLUTE,  NIEAFL  =  FINALE,  GUTHHO  =  THOUGH   —   Giving us:  GUFLFIATOH

Clue/Question:  The stand-up comedian was a huge flop.  It would be tough for him to – – –

Answer:  LAUGH IT OFF

(But, that’s just what he’s got to do.  Laugh it off!  Dust his self off, and get back on that horse!  But of course, it’s rare for any comedian to actually employ all those hackneyed visual aids these days.  The clue words today are tried and true.  The jumbles were two for two, with both “teluf” and “guthho” having been used before.

The answer letter layout was an expertly constructed jumble.  There was nothing obvious about it, and it took me a minute to see the answer.

The manager/owner of the comedy club looks like he fits the stereotype.  The failed comedian is employing a number of desperation props.  The smiley face t-shirt, the classic rubber chicken, and the arrow-through-the-head.  I can’t tell exactly what is in his right hand.  Some kind of noisemaker, maybe?  If anyone knows, please comment.  The last guy I can think of that got away with these kind of props was Steve Martin.  He can make anything funny!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 04/15/18

Visual Description:  Valley so low.

OSSANE  =  SEASON,  UNHAME  =  HUMANE,  LYASAW  =  ALWAYS,  DILERV  =  DRIVEL,  FOTTIU  =  OUTFIT,  GEBINN  =  BENIGN   —   Giving us:  SSOUNEWSDIEOTTBNG

Clue/Question:  The hotel at the bottom of the Grand Canyon was done, and the owners were ready to – – –

Pre-Answer:  Four Words  (3-letters)  (4-letters)  (2-letters)  (8-letters)

Answer:  GET DOWN TO BUSINESS

(A nicely challenging Jumble!  And, one of those literal/figurative puns.  All of the clue words are well established on the world famous ralis95 clue word database.  All of today’s jumbles appear to be new.  I thought that “lyasaw”, “dilerv”, and “gebinn” were the best of the bunch.  I always struggle with words like “drivel”, because of the EL versus LE thing.  Fortunately, you can pen it in as LL until it becomes readily apparent.

The answer letter layout was a very impressive seventeen letter jumble.  It did a wonderful job of concealing the answer.  The answer was not obvious to me, but the Ss did lead me to the long word of BUSINESS.  And then, all the pieces fell into place.

Great cartoon of the Grand Canyon!  I’m guessing that the sign, mentioning the bottom of the canyon, and the arrow, was a bit of a bonus clue.  The hotel, at the bottom, reminds me of a Monopoly hotel!  Great fun, huh folks?  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 03/18/18

Visual Description:  Non-committal neutral ground.

TFOINY  =  NOTIFY,  VTRIED  =  DIVERT,  GEWLAG  =  WAGGLE,  RRHEAD  =  HARDER,  DONORI  =  INDOOR,  MOLARN  =  NORMAL   —   Giving us:  TFDERALEHDIDOOM

Clue/Question:  There was nothing special about the boulevard’s new median.  It was just – – –

Pre-Answer:  Four Hyphenated Words  (6-letters)-(2-letters)-(3-letters)-(4-letters)

Answer:  MIDDLE–OF–THE–ROAD

(Was this a wishy-washy pun, or a great stinky pun?  Hmm!  We were actually treated to a brand new clue word today, in “waggle”.  I penned it in ever so softly, because I was not sure it was a legitimate word.  I also lightly penned in the ALE in the answer letter layout, before looking at the cartoon and the clue/question.  It all worked out in the end, so I guess we need to alert ralis95, to add “waggle” to his world famous clue word database.

The other five clue words were well-jumbled, established clue words.  And, all six jumbles appear to be new.  The answer letter layout was a wonderfully cryptic jumble.  I found nothing about it to be obvious.

The cartoon, it’s dialog, and the clue/question made getting the answer easy for me.  For some strange reason the cartoon put me in mind of the tragic pedestrian bridge collapse in Miami, Florida this week.  A brand new bridge!  That one just boggles the mind!  Not what one would expect of a first world nation.  Sympathies and condolences to the families of all those who were killed or injured.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 02/15/18

Visual Description:  I’m going with Memphis.

NGUTS  =  STUNG,  VLAHE  =  HALVE,  BRMEAK  =  EMBARK,  GUMSPY  =  GYPSUM   —   Giving us:  STNHLEEBAGSU

Clue/Question:  When B.B King passed away in 2015, his fans – – –

Answer:  SANG THE BLUES

(But, of course!  It was the passing of a musical legend.  One of the “Thee Kings of the Blues”.  An all-time American icon.  The Blues had probably the biggest influence on Rock and Roll music.  From Elvis, to the Stones, to Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers, to Hendrix and Clapton.  The list goes on and on.  Even more contemporary Rock and Alt-Rock acts, like Alabama Shakes, Gary Clark Jr., Gov’t Mule, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Cray, Rag’n’Bone Man, and Susan Tedeschi, just to name a few.  Oops!  Can’t leave out the Jeff Knurek Band!  Guys like B.B. King made it all possible.

There were no new clue words today, but they were all lightly used clue words.  All of the jumbles came up as new.  I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you tripped up on “vlahe”, “brmeak” and “gumspy”.  The answer letter layout was a dandy of a cryptic jumble too.  Hopefully, the answer was as obvious to you as it was to me.  But, I certainly can’t speak for everyone.

Loved the cartoon.  I really liked how Jeff had all the people singing along with the performer.  A really fine Jumble, guys.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 02/14/18

Visual Description:  Coffee shop courtin’.

LAYEL  =  ALLEY,  IZEES  =  SEIZE,  EBOWLB  =  WOBBLE,  COVIRT  =  VICTOR   —   Giving us:  EYSEWEVTR

Clue/Question:  When he gave her a heart-shaped sugar cookie, she thought it was – – –

Answer:  VERY SWEET

(WHAT?  A SUGAR COOKIE!  Where’s the CHOCOLATE, bub?  This is Valentine’s Day, not Christmas.  Oh, well.  It’s the thought that counts.  And, maybe she’s one of those rare females who don’t like chocolate.  There are a few of them.  And besides, red frosting on a sugar cookie looks better than on a chocolate one.

I was REALLY surprised to find that two of today’s clue words are coming up as new!  Both “alley” and “victor” are not on my most recent copy of the ralis95 – world famous – clue word database.  And, it’s from November of 2017, so it’s not very old.  All of the jumbles came up as new.  The word “seize” goes against the ‘I before E, except after C’ rule.  I’m sure there must be some kind of loophole in that rule.  The answer letter layout was an awesome jumble.  It gave nothing away.

Ya know, Millennials call those hats “beanies”.  Those aren’t beanies!  They’re toques, or tuques, and sometimes tukes!  From my Doug and Bob McKenzie days!  When I was a kid, they were called either watch caps, or just knitted hats/caps.  Beanies were always those funky – read ugly – little hats that college kids wore.  They were more like yarmulkes, and covered pretty much just the tops of your head.  But, the kids are calling ’em “beanies” now, so we folk who know better don’t argue with ’em, cause that just makes us old!  Any who, I hope everybody has a Happy Valentine’s Day!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Sunday Jumble Spoiler – 02/11/18

Visual Description:  Jumble meets the Jetsons.

OPTEKC  =  POCKET,  GEEERD  =  DEGREE,  OIWTTU  =  OUTWIT,  PLUARB  =  BURLAP,  DAWHOS  =  SHADOW,  GYMHIT  =  MIGHTY   —   Giving us:  PODEEOTRASHOMG

Clue/Question:  When the Mars colony opened its first restaurant, customers really liked its – – –

Pre-Answer:  Two Words   (4-letters)  (10-letters)

Answer:  GOOD ATMOSPHERE

(Just stay away from the potato salad!  This was a very ambitious Jumble.  Maybe not as ambitious as sending a red Tesla roadster on a Falcon Heavy rocket, complete with an astronaut mannequin in the front seat, playing David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?”, off towards the planet Mars, but still ambitious.

All of today’s clue words are old favorites.  Yet, all of the jumbles came up as new.  It took me a few looks to come up with “degree”.  I was seeing dredge and edger, before the right word came to me.  The other clue words I saw right away.  The answer letter layout was a dandy of a jumble.  Definitely not obvious.  The maître d’ asking for the climate helmet, and the lady liking “the vibe” were the big giveaways to the ten-letter word.  ODOG gave me GOOD.  Jeff’s drawing was both impressive and amusing.  The guy with the pilsner glass looks like George Jetson, but the lady with the champagne flute doe not look like Jane, to me.   If Jane finds out, George might be sleeping with Astro when he gets home.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google