RAHHS = HARSH

CRTAT = TRACT

FEWLAF = WAFFLE

OPSPEO = OPPOSE

CARTOON ANSWER:

DURING THE BIG ECLIPSE OF 2017, THE SUN WAS THE – – –

HSHTRATWFEOOS = STAR OF THE SHOW

Good morning everyone and happy Wednesday. Today’s clue words had me seeing double this morning with each word containing two of the same consonants and the last word having both a double consonant and vowel! WAFFLE had me staring at it the longest so it’ll be my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day. TRACT was also jumbled very well and was close to clinching the top spot but it’s been used many times in the past. We last saw it on 7/7/17, and if you didn’t notice, the date has double 7’s (triple if you count the 7 in 2017)! My mind is blown!!!

Moving on to the cartoon, the first thing that you notice is that Jeff incorporated lots of shading into his piece. I’ve mentioned numerous times in the past that drawings with this technique all turn out to be my favorites because it adds a whole new dimension to the panel. By reading the sentence and dialogue we learn that the reason for this effect is that everyone is getting ready to view “The Great American Eclipse” that happened on 8/21/17. As the crowd patiently stares into the heavens waiting for the magical moment when day becomes night, we see a man in the back that seems to have misplaced his viewing glasses. Jeff had him covering his eyes because looking directly at the event without protection could cause eye damage or blindness. In the top right corner of the panel, there’s a person holding an indirect viewing device which was my preferred method during the eclipse. And is that David L. Hoyt making an appearance in today’s cartoon? It sure looks like him and his Bonnie Tyler “Total Eclipse of the Heart” shirt is such a PERFECT detail. You really outdid yourself today, Jeff! 🙂🙂🙂

The final solve was a bit tricky with 13 letters to work with. I figured THE would be the third word so I crossed it out. OF seemed like the obvious choice for the 2-letter word leaving SHOW and STAR to be found in that order after staring at the letters for a few seconds. I thought the letter layout was cryptic and it surely didn’t give anything away.

Today’s the day that the winner of the giveaway will be chosen. Be sure to enter your name here if you’d like to get in on the drawing. You only have a few hours left! Good luck and I’ll see you tomorrow!