LOTCH = CLOTH

DABIE = ABIDE

DBRUSA = ABSURD

REGFTO = FORGET

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE REPTILES HAD PROBLEMS COMMUTING IN THE EVERGLADES BECAUSE OF THE —

LOTAIASRGT = “TAIL-GATORS”

Happy Groundhog Day and warmest woodchuck wishes everyone!  By now you’ve probably heard the word that Punxsutawney Phil prognosticated six more weeks of winter, but don’t despair as spring will be here before you know it.  If we didn’t get an inch of snow yesterday, I would have thought spring had already sprung.  I was surprised that today’s puzzle wasn’t Groundhog Day themed, but we did receive a great puzzle nonetheless.  The most challenging of the quartet were the two A-words but they didn’t slow me down.  I sprinted to the cartoon in a jiffy with my clue letters in tow and decided to stare at the illustration a bit before attempting the answer.  There were five alligators pictured on the edge of the water with the first two exchanging some words about them all being so close together.  At that point I knew it would be a play on words because of the quotation marks so I had alligators and a traffic jam to work with.  Looking at my letters, I found GATOR immediately with LTAIS left over.  TAIL was easily visible and I made GATOR plural for the finish.  What a great pun and excellent artwork by David and Jeff that didn’t disappoint!  I hope you enjoyed the puzzle as much as I did and I’ll see you tomorrow!