Jumble Solved – 05/29/23

Visual Description:  The kickoff to Summer!

NUSGW  =  SWUNG,  FETUL  =  FLUTE,  KEYWEL  =  WEEKLY,  IEKYLL  =  LIKELY   —   Giving us:  WUNFLEWKLLEL

Clue/Question:  His wife figured he’d eat too much at the Memorial Day cookout because she – – –

Answer:  KNEW FULL WELL

(This is a marvelous pun!  And, not at all stinky . . . unless he starts in with hotdog burps!  Then it could get really ugly.  I have these memories – as a small child – of visiting my paternal grandparents and wondering why their house always smelled like Vienna sausages!  That’s my German side of the family, and I guess my Grampa really liked having Vienna sausages with his beer.   Strange, the things that stay with you.

All four of today’s clue words are on the world famous ralis95 clue word database!  The big guy just recently turned 88 years young!  We should all wish him a very Happy Birthday!  Three of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve definitely seen “keywel” in an earlier Jumble.  The answer letter layout was a twinkling twelve letter jumble.  Somewhat cryptic, but the final answer came to me very quickly.

Great cartoon of the devoted wife, tending to her hurting hubby.  The guy should know by now that he is no longer a teenager, and that his eyes are bigger than his stomach.  But we all tend to overindulge a bit when it comes to holiday barbecues.  Everything just smells SO good coming off of the grill!  Besides greeting the summer, we all should remember the real reason for Memorial Day, to remember all those who selflessly gave their lives in service of our country.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Jumble Solved – 05/28/23

Visual Description:  The demon seed!

SSITIN  –  INSIST,  SMCOIA  =  MOSAIC,  ULHPLI  =  UPHILL,  SRONPE  =  PERSON,  RYEONR  =  ORNERY,  NMRAAT  =  MANTRA   —   Giving us:  NTOSAHISONNEYATA

Clue/Question:  The sound of his fingernails on the chalkboard was – – –

Pre-Answer:  Four Words  (1-letter)  (5-letters)  (4-letters)  (6-letters)

Answer:  A NOISE THAT ANNOYS

(A wonderful stinky pun!  But probably one that only our older readers would get.  Do yinz remember the scene in “Jaws”, when the town is holding a meeting to figure out what to do about the great white attacks?  Everyone was panicked, and talking all at once, and captain Quint just slowly raked his fingernails down the blackboard.  To say it got people’s attention is quite an understatement.  Everyone immediately STFU!

All six of today’s clue words are already on the world famous ralis95 clue word database.  Yet, all six jumbles are coming up as new for me.  One through five came to me immediately, but “nmraat” had me stymied.  I had to back into MANTRA.  It’s a good thing that the first thirteen letters of the answer letter layout was enough for me to see the final answer.  Knowing now that I needed the ATA got me to singing the familiar tune.  Even completed, there was nothing obvious about the answer letter layout.  I think it was the spacing of the final answer slots that clued me in.

Today’s cartoon could almost be called a period piece.  I don’t think that many schools use chalk/blackboards anymore.  They mainly use whiteboards, with dry-erase markers.  I always thought that chalk was pretty cheap.  Probably cheaper than those markers.  But I guess today’s teachers don’t want to deal with full erasers.  I remember teachers assigning us kids the chore of cleaning the – chalk – erasers.  I don’t remember if everyone took their turn, or if they used it as a form of punishment.  Did they ever link the inhalation of chalk dust to any lung problems???  Still seems like it would be cheaper, to me.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

 

Jumble Solved – 05/27/23

Visual Description:  BM (Before Merriam.)

NIEMC  =  MINCE,  NHOMT  =  MONTH,  BROIFD  =  FORBID,  GPOIEN  =  PIGEON   —   Giving us:  MNEMNTFOIDIGEN

Clue/Question:  When Noah Webster published his first dictionary in 1806, it was a – – –

Answer:  DEFINING MOMENT

(Exceptional odoriferous pun!  Glorious jumbles.  Great clue words.  Grand final answer.  It wasn’t until the 1840s that the Merriam brothers bought the rights to Webster’s dictionary, to give us Merriam-Webster.  But young Noah got it all started back in 1806.

All four clue words are on the ralis95 clue word database.  But all four of the jumbles are coming up as new, for me.  The first three were cake, but “gpoien” was a toughie for me.  The answer letter layout was a forceful fourteen letter jumble.  Admirably cryptic.  But I thought that the clue/question was very leading.

I always enjoy Jeff’s period cartoons.  Noah would have been about 48 in 1806, so I don’t think that the other two are his parents.  So, maybe it’s his wife and his publisher?  We have to give the artist creative license in these matters.  Fun Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Solved – 05/26/23

Visual Description:  Knights errant?

RRNEU  =  RERUN,  SMEAU  =  AMUSE,  FESLUU  =  USEFUL,  CLEINH  =  LICHEN   —   Giving us:  RRASEEFLCEN

Clue/Question:  The men who volunteered to reenact medieval warfare on horseback were – – – 

Answer:  FREELANCERS

(Gotta love it!  People really seem to love this “romantic” time period.  The times of heraldry and chivalry.  We have an annual Renaissance Fair around here that has been going on for over 40 years.  And, there’s that chain theme restaurant called Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament.  There are 9 of them in the U.S. and 1 in Canada.  We celebrated my son’s – 8th or 9th – birthday with one of his school friends, at one not too far from us.  Considering it was dinner and a show I thought that the price was fairly reasonable.  But life in the middle ages was tough even for the privileged.   Medicine/healthcare was very primitive back then, and when you couple that with really poor hygiene – when folks started using perfumes – a lot of people succumbed to disease.  And, the majority of folks were dirt poor, and there was little law protection.  Not the best of times.

All four clue words are on the world famous ralis95 clue word database.  All four of the jumbles appear to be new though.  I had the hardest time figuring out that “cleinh” was “lichen”.  I had to back into it.  Fortunately, there was just enough in the first eight letters of the answer letter layout for me to see the final answer.  The cartoon knight calling his lances “spears” was a BIG hint to the final answer.  But overall the answer letter layout was an earnest eleven letter jumble.

Fun cartoon of the jousting reenactment characters.  I like the king and queen in the gallery viewing the tilting proceedings.  Jousting was a dangerous “sport” exhibition, with some of the participants getting severely injured, and even killed.  A step up from the old gladiator games, but full of pageantry.  Fun Friday Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Solved – 05/25/23

Visual Description:  Interviewing the great one!

KLCEF  =  FLECK,  MIREP  =  PRIME,  ORPWED  =  POWDER,  LONCAA  =  CANOLA   —   Giving us:  FEKPRMOERCOA

Clue/Question:  He was the NBA’s “MVP” six times, which made Abdul-Jabbar the – – –

Answer:  “KAREEM“ OF THE CROP

(Kareem may, or may not, like this pun, but I cannot get myself to call it “stinky”.  The guy is just SO awesome.  As a kid, just entering my love of sports years, I can remember when he was a college phenom, playing for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.  It seemed like UCLA was always winning when I was a kid, but with Lew Alcindor – his birth name – they won three consecutive national championships!  And, he won three most outstanding player awards of the NCAA tournament!  When he got drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks I immediately became a Bucks fan.  The announcer for the Bucks back then was the best I’ve ever heard.  “Basket by Alcindor!”  They also had the great Oscar Robertson and Lucius Allen, who had played with Kareem at UCLA.  Right around the time the Bucks won the 1971 NBA Championship they finally started to use his new, adopted, Muslim name of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  There used to be a kind of reluctance to acknowledge these religious based name changes back then.  Muhammad Ali went through the same thing for a while.  The announcers would continue to call him Cassius Clay out of some kind of spite.  Anyway, Kareem was also very active in civil rights, along with Ali and the great – recently departed – Jim Brown.  But, Kareem is not just a gifted athlete with multiple records and accolades, and a champion of civil rights, he also amazed people with his general/broad knowledge playing Celebrity Jeopardy!  Besides being a 7’2″ tall NBA Champion, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is simply a giant among men.

It’s looking like Hoyt is giving us yet another new clue word today, in FLECK.  It is not on the ralis95 clue word database.  All four of the jumbles appear to be new too.  The answer letter layout was a terrific twelve letter jumble.  Deliciously cryptic.  It kept me guessing, until I rewrote all the vowels and then consonants in alphabetical order.  It was only then that the quotation marks dawned on me.

Great cartoon of Kareem being interviewed.  The interviewer looks a little like Deborah Roberts.  Deborah is married to everyone’s favorite weatherman, Al Roker!  Did you know that there are alternate spellings of the name Kareem?  There is also Karim, Karym, and I know a guy who spells it Koryem.  I guess there could be more too.  But it is definitely not a stretch to refer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the cream of the crop!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

PS.  Not to take anything away from LeBron James, but of all the points he has scored, 6783 came from 2261 3-point shots.  Only 3 of Kareem’s points came from a single 3-point shot that he made!  The 3-point shot wasn’t even a thing in the NBA for the first 8 years of Kareem’s career.  Of course, the bulk of Kareem’s points came from his patented sky hook, which was virtually impossible to defend.  And, of course Kareem dominated in rebounds and blocked shots.  Kareem’s additional five inches made a big difference in those categories.  Two great champions from two different eras!   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Solved – 05/24/23

Visual Description:  Day one doorman.

PHEDT  =  DEPTH,  ELLAG  =  LEGAL,  YLIEKL  =  LIKELY,  VGRENO  =  GOVERN   —   Giving us:  ETLEELYVRN

Clue/Question:  His new job as a doorman at the high-rise building was – – –

Answer:  ENTRY LEVEL

(Hey!  Ya gotta start somewhere.  Right?  Have you ever noticed that in businesses and careers you start at the bottom, and work your way to the top.  But in music – and in baseball – you take it from the top, and you finish at the bottom!  Very strange, no?  For a long time this confused me in baseball.  Well, the English language –  and the entire world – is just full of contradictions.  What are ya gonna do!  You live and you learn.

Today, all four of the clue words are already on the – world famous – ralis95 clue word database.  Three of the jumbles appear to be new.  But we’ve definitely seen “phedt” in at least one previous Jumble.  None of them gave me any trouble this morning.  The answer letter layout was a terrific ten letter jumble.  I’d say it was cryptic enough.  But the cartoon and the clue/question set it up for an obvious answer.

Fine cartoon of a long-time tenant/resident of the apartment building/condo/hotel, and the brand new doorman.  Boy, those Jumble guys are into everything, aren’t they?!  Good looking poodle too.  Although, I’ve never been a fan of the haircuts that they give them.  They’re too foo foo.  When I was a kid I always got a kick out of doormen, with their snappy uniforms, and their abilities to hail a cab.  A wonderful Wednesday Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Solved – 05/23/23

Visual Description:  Sightseeing sibs.

MYREH  =  RHYME,  DTLIA  =  TIDAL,  RAYWML  =  WARMLY,  TOESOH  =  SOOTHE   —  Giving us:  METIWAOT

Clue/Question:  When the twin sisters arrived at the clock tower that houses Big Ben, they were – – –

Answer:  TWO AT A TIME

(Okay.  Alright.  Always appreciate a good destination Jumble.  Even when the pun is little on the lame side.  But at least there is a kind of freshness to it.  I can’t remember this phase being used for a Jumble answer before.  I could very well be wrong though.  I’ve been posting the answers for a little over 15 years, but the Jumble has been around for about 69 years, so who knows!

David L. Hoyt has been on a roll lately, with the new clue words!  Today he has given us TIDAL.  I did not expect it to be a new word, but it isn’t appearing on the ralis95 clue word database.  All four of the jumbles are also coming up as new.  I had just a little trouble with “myreh”, but I had a lot of trouble with “dtlia”.  I had to write out six different combinations before seeing that LADIT was TIDAL  in reverse.  Not sure why I didn’t see it immediately.  I got no beef with the tides.  The answer letter layout was great eight letter jumble.  I saw A TIME right away . . . and then there were TWO.

Wonderful cartoon of the sisters – they didn’t necessarily have to be twins – sightseeing in Jolly Old London.  It looks like they just stepped off a double-decker sightseeing bus, right down the block from the Elizabeth Tower, renamed from the “Clock Tower” in 2012, to commemorate the diamond jubilee of – the dearly departed – Elizabeth II.  I’ve been there, and it’s pretty cool.  Fun Jumble.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Jumble Solved – 05/22/23

Visual Description:  After dinner hint?

ARKDN =  DRANK,  SEBSL  =  BLESS,  RODFIB  =  FORBID,  TKHESC  =  SKETCH   —   Giving us:  AKBEFDEC

Clue/Question:  The restaurant chain was looking to improve its business and wanted customers’ – – –

Answer:  FEEDBACK

(Phew!  After Sunday’s tough Jumble today’s was a relative piece of . . . molten lava cake.  That’s what I like to order when I do get dessert at one of those chain restaurants.  It’s like a hot fudge sundae and a brownie/cake, all in one!  But it’s rare for me to order desserts these days.  I’m supposed to be watching my blood sugar.  Of course I do cheat on occasion, but I do try to be a good boy.  Life is too short NOT to enjoy yourself from time to time.

All four clue words are on the ralis95 clue word database.  Two of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve definitely seen both “sebsl” and “rodfib” in previous Jumbles.  They all came to me immediately.  The answer letter layout was an easy eight letter jumble.  It was decently cryptic.  Better than decently actually, but the final answer came to me very quickly.

Fine cartoon of the young family, at what looks like a popular chain restaurant.  It looks like they are satisfied with their meals.  Just not in the mood for a silly survey.  The waitress is just doing what management has asked her to do.  I know a lot of them resent doing things like this, but they really don’t have a choice.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google

Sunday Jumble Solved – 05/21/23

Visual Description:  HIPAA violation!

CAMPIT  =  IMPACT,  RUTFHO  =  FOURTH,  PQUAOE  =  OPAQUE,  NNATFI  =  INFANT,  HBUREC  =  CHERUB,  MASIYD  =  DISMAY   —   Giving us:  MAFROAEFATCHDSA

Clue/Question:  The conversation was making his wife very angry – – –

Pre-Answer:  Five(?) Words   (2-letters)  (1-letter)  “(3-letters)-(3-letters)”  (2-letters)  (4-letters)

Answer:  AS A “MAD–HER“ OF FACT

(Ooh!  A very sneaky, stinky pun!  And, one that I did not pick up on right away.  I guess  all of the HIPAA privacy stuff is to all of our benefit, but all the repetitious papers and forms are a little hard to take.  Why do they have to hit us over the head with it just about every time?  And, they make you fill out information – annually – with doctors you may have been seeing for decades!  I think that the doctors offices hate that aspect of dealing with it as much as we do.

All of today’s clue words are already on the latest version of the ralis95 clue word database.  Five of the jumbles are coming up as new, for me.  But we’ve definitely seen “campit” in an earlier Jumble.  They all came to me right away though.  The answer letter layout was a fantastic fifteen letter jumble.  I thought it was exceedingly cryptic.  Nothing obvious about it.  I didn’t think that there were any BIG tells in the clue/question, or the cartoon.  I had to re-write the answer letter layout into vowels and consonants, in alphabetical order.  The second and fourth words were pretty much gimmes.  The quotation marks and hyphen weren’t the biggest help for me, initially, and overall this took a bit of work!

Fine cartoon of the couple, and their waiter, at a restaurant.  This time Jeff’s proclivity for drawing angry looking women came in very handy!  LOL!  Although, clearly she is – somewhat? – overreacting.  Maybe, since she wasn’t ordering French onion soup, or a chowder, or a bisque, she figured nothing need be said.  But the husband was just thinking of her health and safety.  Some folks are just touchy about those things.  Great Sunday Jumble!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Jumble Solved – 05/20/23

Visual Description:  Plowing the north forty.

TDIOT  =  DITTO,  SRIKF  =  FRISK,  WREIVN  =  VERMIN,  LOWFLO  =  FOLLOW   —   Giving us:  DIOFISVEINFLO

Clue/Question:  The farmer was wearing his new eyeglasses, which made for a great – – –

Answer:  FIELD OF VISION

(A fine farmer stinky pun.  Of course it will be much stinkier once he lays down some manure!  The worlds oldest, safest, and most sought after fertilizer.  City folk – and especially those pooper scooper nazis – just have no friggin’ clue of the value of fecal matter to the soil cycle.  They try to say that it “harms the water table”!  Preposterous!  Just because something stinks doesn’t mean that it’s toxic material.  People should be much more concerned with the plethora of man-made chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis.  Many of them are what trigger the cancer genes that would otherwise stay dormant.

All four of the clue words are on the world famous ralis95 clue word database, of which I have just received the latest issue!  Both UNWELL and UPPITY are on it.  But Mr. Hoyt has given us four brand new jumbles to these words.  The one for “vermin” may have been the toughest.  Not a lot of people use the word these days except for farmers, exterminators . . .  and Neo-Nazis.  The answer letter layout was thrilling thirteen letter jumble.  Wonderfully cryptic.  Although, I was able to see the word VISION pretty quickly.  The rest of the pun came directly after that.

Great farmers on a farm cartoon.  Excellent tractor too.  I like that the standing farmer is wearing boots.  You can’t be mucking around the fields in sneakers, fer chrissakes!  I’m betting that Jeff has a little farmer in his heritage.  My paternal grandparents raised my Dad, uncle and aunts on a farm, that grew mostly corn and tomatoes.  And, my maternal grandparents lived in a country home and raised chickens and pigs, while my Mom, aunt and uncle were growing up.  They also bred English Setters for a time.  That was all during the 1940s and early 1950s.  Neither set of grandparents were what you’d call hardcore farmers though.  A lot of the country was just different back then.  Now we’re much more urban and suburban.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google