XLIEE = EXILE

CERKW = WRECK

GAMMUN = MAGNUM

ROYREN = ORNERY

CARTOON ANSWER:

AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF THE YUAN DYNASTY, MANY IN CHINA WERE —

ILEWCMGMONE = “WELCOME-MING”

Happy Friday everyone!  After waiting all week for a more challenging puzzle, it finally arrived.  It wasn’t the clue words that gave me trouble, it was the cartoon answer and I’ll get to that in a moment.  David chose excellent words this morning and those that are new to the game may have had trouble with a couple of them.  ORNERY has been used in the past but it was jumbled so well that it took me a couple of extra seconds to decipher.  With all of the clue words solved it was straight to the cartoon.  Upon seeing that the solution was in quotes and that it contained a hyphen, I didn’t even attempt to guess the answer and went straight to work on the solve.  No words jumped out at me while looking at the clue letters so David did a great job of keeping the final solution cryptic.  After a minute or two of waiting for something to jump out at me, I decided I’d read the dialogue and sentence again for clues.  I picked up on the word “vase” in the dialogue and that’s when MING came to mind.  It was in my letters so I crossed them out and WELCOME was right there for the finish.  What a fun and interesting puzzle and I hope that you enjoyed it just as much as I did.  Have a great day my friends and I’ll see you tomorrow!  😃

SLACS = CLASS

RNIKD = DRINK

TOMSED = MODEST

NRCEWH = WRENCH

CARTOON ANSWER:

HAVING BEEN DEALT A ROYAL FLUSH, SHE WON —

ASDNODWNH = HANDS DOWN

Good Thursday morning everyone!  Today was another fun puzzle with MODEST giving me just a hint of trouble.  With all of the clue words solved it was on to the cartoon.  While writing out the clue letters, I noticed HANDS right off the bat.  DOWN was grouped all together for another super easy find and finish!  I thought it would be fun to include a close-up shot of each players cards so you could see exactly what they had.  Also while I was looking over the cartoon for detail, I noticed that Jeff draws 4 digits on each hand of his characters.  I notice this quite a bit in other comics and on animated tv shows (like the Simpsons).  Perhaps 5 would make the drawing less cartoonish?  That’s all I’ve got for today so I’ll see you tomorrow.  🙂

OGILO = IGLOO

NIRDG = GRIND

SOLJET = JOSTLE

NIFEED = DEFINE

CARTOON ANSWER:

SHE WASN’T SURE THE NEW BILLBOARD WOULD WORK, BUT SALES INCREASED, WHICH WAS A —

GOGIOSDN = GOOD SIGN

Good Wednesday morning everyone!  Was there one word that gave you a difficult time this morning?  Odds are that it was JOSTLE, but don’t feel bad because I had a real hard time with it too.  After a good five minutes it dawned on me to try the J first and wouldn’t you know the rest fell right into place!  With all of the clue words solved it was on to the cartoon which consisted of two 4-letter words.  I guessed GOOD DEAL after reading the dialogue and sentence but after crossing out GOOD, SIGN was right there for the finish.  Today’s puzzle was a great midweek challenge with just the right amount of difficulty.  Have a wonderful Wednesday and I’ll see you tomorrow!  😀

PAHYP = HAPPY

GOCIL = LOGIC

GAMEDA = DAMAGE

LORHEL = HOLLER

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE BOTTLES OF SODA WERE ON SALE FOR A —

APPLODAOLR = DOLLAR A POP

Good Tuesday morning everyone.  Kudos to Mr. Hoyt for jumbling DAMAGE so well — you almost tripped me up!  HOLLER would be my pick for the more difficult anagram of the group as it’s not a word that’s used too often.  The cartoon was solved quickly after noticing the price of the soda on the cash register display.  I’ve been staring at the woman’s nametag off and on this morning trying to figure out what her name is.  My best guess is FLORENCE but let me know if you have any other ideas.  Have a terrific Tuesday and I’ll see you tomorrow!

AHWET = WHEAT

LIGUT = GUILT

TROYNH = THORNY

MILYFS = FLIMSY

CARTOON ANSWER:

MIMES DON’T SPEAK DURING A PERFORMANCE… OF COURSE THAT GOES —

WHATGUITONISY = WITHOUT SAYING

Good Monday morning everyone and welcome back to another week of Jumble fun!  We were given a rather easy puzzle this morning with all of the clue words coming to me instantly.  FLIMSY would be my pick for the more difficult word of the bunch if I had to choose one.  I was able to solve the cartoon without the help of the clue letters which is always a treat.  The cartoon was excellent as usual with the two mimes on stage performing for Penn & Teller.  The angle of the drawing makes you feel as if you’re seated in a dark auditorium just behind P&T with the stage lights focused intently on the act.  The shadowing behind the mimes added a layer of depth and made the cartoon seem even more real.  Penn appears to have a look of surprise on his face while Teller is giving an enthusiastic thumbs up so it looks like they’ll make the cut and move on to the next round.  Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow!  🙂

COLLEA = LOCALE

RUIJYN = INJURY

RAWNOD = ONWARD

GUHONE = ENOUGH

BBOSAR = ABSORB

TANEYL = NEATLY

CARTOON ANSWER:

AFTER FALLING SEVERAL TIMES IN A ROW, THE TIGHTROPE WALKER WAS NERVOUS, HIS —

OAEIJNWEOHBSNTL = JOB WAS ON THE LINE

Have a great Sunday and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!  😀

CINEW = WINCE

CIWET = TWICE

NORLEG = LONGER

MIFYAN = INFAMY

CARTOON ANSWER:

HIS SON COMPLAINED ABOUT HAVING TO CUT THE GRASS, HE WISHED HE’D STOP HIS —

WNIOGNM = “MOW-NING”

Have a great Saturday everyone!  😀

POLEE = ELOPE

RITEG = TIGER

TRAGEH = GATHER

UNNLAA = ANNUAL

CARTOON ANSWER:

THEY DISAGREED ABOUT WHICH WEAPON WAS BEST AND CONTINUED TO —

OPETIEGTHRANU = ARGUE THE POINT

Happy Friday morning everyone!  The clue words were excellent this morning with two words (TIGER and GATHER) being perfectly matched to Jeff’s cartoon either by coincidence or design.  David continued his streak of doubling up the letters in a couple of the words to try and throw us off the scent but it wasn’t enough to trip me up.  I solved them all in a flash and was anxious to begin the cartoon solve.  Day 5 of trying to solve it without the aid of the clue letters proved more difficult than I had anticipated.  I managed to guess THE and gave up trying to solve the other two 5-letter words after a few minutes.  Upon writing out the letters, I crossed out THE and was still unsure of the answer.  I went back to the cartoon for clues and noticed the man on the right was touching the tip of his spear and his hand had a couple of action lines above it.  POINT came to mind and it was in my clue letters so I crossed it out and ARGUE was right there to tie it all together.  I really struggled with this puzzle but it was fitting for a Friday finale.  Jeff added some great detail to his cartoon and my favorite was the woman’s earrings which appear to be rocks!  Have a fantastic Friday and I’ll see you tomorrow!  😀

VODIT = DIVOT

ESYDE = SEEDY

XLYGAA = GALAXY

LMMEEB = EMBLEM

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE 40-YEAR-OLD KNIGHTS IN THE 1300S HAD —

DISDGLAEME = MIDDLE AGES

Good morning and happy Thursday everyone!  The clue words were well jumbled this morning but I didn’t have a difficult time figuring them out.  EMBLEM would be my pick for the most difficult word if I was forced to choose one.  It’s day 4 of trying to figure out the answer to the cartoon without the help of the clue letters.  I encountered some difficulty on this one and decided to go with MIDDLE AGED on a whim.  Upon writing out my clue letters, I saw what appeared to be all the letters that I needed for a successful solve.  After crossing out MIDDLE, I was left with AGES and had a palm to face moment.  Perhaps if I thought about it just a little longer I would have figured out that AGES was a better solution than AGED.  If David and Jeff get low on ideas for a pun, KNIGHT CLUB (as seen in the cartoon over the tavern door) would be an excellent choice.  Enjoy the day and I’ll see you tomorrow.  😀

GUBYG = BUGGY

KALEY = LEAKY

CINTEE = ENTICE

TRUUEF = FUTURE

CARTOON ANSWER:

HE WASN’T POSITIVE HE HAD FOOD POISONING, BUT HE HAD A —

GGLENTIFUE = GUT FEELING

Happy Wednesday everyone!  After solving the first three clue words just by glancing at them, I thought today’s puzzle was going to be a piece of cake.  When I got to FUTURE, the two U’s together really threw me off and it took me a couple of minutes to figure out.  I was in the middle of cooking breakfast so I didn’t mind the delay!  Day three of attempting to solve the cartoon without the aid of the clue letters was a success.  I read the sentence and dialogue and had an idea as to what the answer might be.  It was the way Jeff drew the gentleman’s hand on his stomach and the action lines around it that sealed the deal.  I jotted down my guess and then started to write out the clue letters.  After crossing out FEELING, GUT was left to finish the puzzle and I could finish my breakfast.  Have a wonderful Wednesday and I’ll see you tomorrow.  😀

GOUBS = BOGUS

INXOT = TOXIN

STORYF = FROSTY

CARIYP = PIRACY

CARTOON ANSWER:

WITH THE SUCCESS OF THE 707, THE BOEING COMPANY HAD —

OGSTOINFRSPIRA = SOARING PROFITS

Happy Tuesday everyone!  I didn’t have any trouble with the clue words this morning and they all came to me at first glance.  It felt like David was trying to throw us off track when he jumbled FROSTY by spelling out STORY and adding an F.  Rarely does he spell out other words within the anagram so it was a nice treat.  I figured I’d try and solve the cartoon without the aid of the clue letters again this morning and I wrote down my guess.  After writing out the clue letters I saw a lot of the letters that I needed and was feeling pretty confident.  14 letters is more than I’m usually able to figure out but after crossing out SOARING, I knew I had it right.  Have a terrific Tuesday my friends and here’s a link to a 1970’s Pan American commercial featuring the Boeing 707.  See you tomorrow!

CERPH = PERCH

AHCOV = HAVOC

FDOBIR = FORBID

CURPES = SPRUCE

CARTOON ANSWER:

IN HIS OFF-TIME, SLEEPY HOLLOW’S HORSEMAN WORKED IN A RESTAURANT AS THE —

EHHAFDCE = HEAD CHEF

Good Monday morning my friends and welcome back to another week of Jumble fun!  I was breezing through the clue words this morning until I hit SPRUCE which tripped me up for about a minute.  With all of the clue words solved, I decided that I’d try to solve the cartoon without the aid of the clue letters.  HEAD was obvious and CHEF was the logical choice to complete the pun so I wrote it down and checked my guess with the letters.  After crossing out HEAD, CHEF was right there for the finish.  Another great cartoon by Jeff and I particularly enjoyed the way he had the baker’s look very nervous as the Headless Horseman towered over them with that very sharp knife in his left hand.  Have a great day and I’ll see you tomorrow!

WDOTAR = TOWARD

SAGINS = ASSIGN

GONELU = LOUNGE

DULCED = CUDDLE

HAYWON = ANYHOW

TGRINS = STRING

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE SEAMSTRESS MADE ONE DRESS… THEN ANOTHER… THEN ANOTHER —

OWAASNNEDDENOWSN = AND “SEW” ON, AND “SEW” ON

Have a wonderful Sunday and I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning!

CATLH = LATCH

RILEN = LINER

SOMTAC = MASCOT

LAGEEL = ALLEGE

CARTOON ANSWER:

HE ERASED THE FORMULA FROM THE CHALKBOARD TO START OVER WITH A —

LCLNASTAEE = CLEAN SLATE

I’ll have to take a closer look at that chalkboard when the cartoon is published online to see if there were any hidden easter eggs on there.  Enjoy your Saturday!

VUMEA = MAUVE

GIRBN = BRING

RILTEP = TRIPLE

MAMHYE = MAYHEM

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE LEPRECHAUN WHO GREW HIS OWN SHAMROCKS HAD A —

UEBNGTREHM = GREEN THUMB

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  As soon as my alarm went off this morning, I flicked on my iPad to see if we had a themed Jumble and sure enough we did!  I couldn’t resist the temptation to start the puzzle immediately so I did the clue words first and figured I’d hold off on the cartoon puzzle until I could fetch my morning newspaper waiting for me outside.  David chose EXCELLENT clue words that were challenging and perfectly suited for a Friday Jumble.  TRIPLE was the only word that I didn’t get immediately but it did allow me to stay in my warm bed an extra two minutes until I solved it so it was well worth it.  I started my morning routine and then dashed outside and retrieved my paper from a snow bank.  I unwrapped it from it’s blue plastic bag and looked at the front page on my walk back inside.  While closing the front door I noticed that they changed the name of the paper from the Union Leader to the Union O’Leader in an all green font and the apostrophe was a clover — classy touch.  My pot of gold was waiting for me in the back of the sports section so I thumbed through the pages with haste and there it was!  Jeff drew an AMAZING cartoon very fitting for St. Patrick’s Day featuring a leprechaun, a rainbow, and a unicorn all on a field of clover.  Absolute perfection and exactly what I had hoped for.  I wrote down my clue letters and went to work by reading the dialogue and sentence.  David gave us a very cryptic letter layout that had me stumped.  I resorted to some self jumbling which led me to find GREEN first.  With the leftover letters, THUMB was a quick solve giving us a stinky pun and a great cap to a week of puzzles.  I’ll be cooking my corned beef and cabbage later today so if you have any hints or tricks be sure to let me know.  Enjoy your Friday and I’ll see you tomorrow!