NALKP = PLANK

AKWEA = AWAKE

SHOTOE = SOOTHE

DUTBEG = BUDGET

CARTOON ANSWER:

WHEN THE OX-LIKE ANTELOPE MET UP WITH HIS FRIENDS, HE SAID —

ANWSHUGT = WHAT’S “GNU”

Good morning everyone and happy Wednesday!  SOOTHE was the only word to give me a bit of trouble today.  After staring at it for a minute or so, it finally came into view and I breezed right through to the cartoon.  With one of the words in quotes, I wasn’t going to be baited into trying to solve it without the clue letters.  After writing them out and reading the dialogue and sentence, I figured my safest bet was to find the word that had the apostrophe.  WHAT’S came instantly leaving N-U-G.  After a bit of thinking, GNU came to mind so I wrote it down but it didn’t look right.  A quick google search (and some interesting reading about this species) put my apprehension to rest and another puzzle was solved.  This puzzle was a great challenge for a Wednesday and I hope the pattern continues for the rest of the week.  Have a wonderful day and I’ll see you tomorrow!