Jumble Spoiler – 08/31/20

Visual Description:  Ticket counter trouble?

HMUTP  =  THUMP,  LOICC  =  COLIC,  SINWUE  =  UNWISE,  CATEPK  =  PACKET   —   Giving us:  THMCOIUNEPAC

Clue/Question:  When there weren’t enough business-class seats, the baseball player said – – –

Answer:  PUT ME IN COACH

(You can never go wrong with sports related puns, in my book.  Well, some of them are definitely overdone, but this one felt kinda fresh.  And, at least it’s a seasonal Jumble/pun.

None of today’s clue words are coming up as new.  They are all pretty recognizable.  However, all of their jumbles are coming up as new.  I think Hoyt is aiming to give us different jumbles, because the clue words are pretty much completed.  The answer letter layout was a surprising twelve letter jumble, for a Monday.  The final answer did not come to me immediately, but I didn’t exactly struggle to get it.  I was looking for something a little more baseball specific, as this phrase is pretty universal to all sports.  Every player on the bench, or the sideline, wants to get in the game.  So, this is a very common request.  Of course, John Fogerty’s song, “Center Field”, kind of cemented it into baseball lore.  The song is so full of baseball idioms.

Swell airport ticket counter cartoon!  I like how the clerk is kind of blasé, the manager is trying to be the tough guy, and the player just wants to get on the darn plane!  I was at JFK on Saturday, and it was kind of surreal.  I was at an international terminal, it was the middle of the afternoon, but it was like a ghost town.  The COVID-19 pandemic has really shut down leisure travel, and most countries are only allowing essential travelers.  I can fully appreciate why they’re doing it, but it just looked so strange.  Enjoy the song, folks.  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google