EEVUN = VENUE
DNEUU = UNDUE
HCOSOM = SMOOCH
TRYEGA = GYRATE
CARTOON ANSWER:
WHEN ASKED IF HE’D BOUGHT AMPLE SUPPLIES FOR THE PARTY, HE SAID – – –
ENEUUSOHGR = SURE ENOUGH
Happy Thursday, everyone! The clue words were on the challenging side this morning although we’ve seen them all before. UNDUE was the most difficult anagram for me to decipher as all I saw at first was DUNE with an extra U. A bit of mental gymnastics and a few sips of coffee was all it took to finish it off allowing me to make a unique discovery about our lineup. All of today’s solved clue words were in reverse alphabetical order, and interestingly enough, the date they were last used was in ascending order! In case you were wondering, the dates were 11/28/16, 1/27/17, 10/01/17, and 12/31/17.
The setting for today’s cartoon is a room which has been decorated for a birthday party. In the foreground we see three characters standing around a table while having a conversation. The middle character has just arrived at the venue with four bags of items which the dialogue informs us are snacks. The items in the bags were not labeled so I’m unsure what he brought but the bag furthest to the left appears to have a bag of chips. On the table we see a large sheet cake with Happy Birthday written in cursive along with a drawing of two bunches of balloons with each bunch containing three.
In the background we see a long rectangular table with nine place settings. One of the settings is missing a napkin so it appears as though there’s still some finishing touches to be made. Above the table is a string of festive pennants with every fourth triangle being a different color. Although we don’t know who the guest of honor is, he or she will be very surprised and hopefully overjoyed by all of the efforts these folks have made to give them one heck of a party!
My favorite detail of the piece was the notepad in the woman’s left hand. It seemed to blend in with the bags that the man was carrying but if you look close enough you’ll be able to make it out. The addition of this detail by the artist let’s us know that this party was not thrown together at the last minute but carefully planned and thought out to make sure no detail was overlooked.
The layout for the surprise answer was 10-letters in length but not overly cryptic enough for a challenge. EN was grouped together at the beginning of the layout bringing ENOUGH to mind leaving SURE to be deciphered for the finish. Have a terrific Thursday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!
Jumble Answers 
Good Morning, Mike. PLANNED well! Good job! 🎈🙋🏻
Happy Thursday, Angela. Many thanks!
Thanks, Mike and you’re welcome. And Happy Day to you too..🎈🎂🙋🏻
Mike, just a quick baseball note – It was funny to hear the A’s latest ridiculous comeback win leave their TV announcers almost literally speechless. And the newspapers said, You know that saying “Don’t mess with Texas”? The A’s now are just toying with Texas, driving a stake deep through the heart of Texas. 😂
I can’t wait to tune in tonight, Steve! I think it’s an 8pm (est) start. I’m not sure if MLB Extra Innings is still free for everyone. If it is, you can hear both teams announcers by flipping between the channels. Fingers crossed for another spectacular performance!
Yesterday’s X’s & O’s game was delayed and then called. The Sox had a 5-0 lead in the top of the 2nd before the rains. I was having trouble eating dinner and containing my excitement with all those runs coming in!
No need to rush, Mike, the fun doesn’t start until the seventh inning! 😂😂
After her third day at the new gym, she decided it wasn’t the right VENUE, since seeing the same couple, once again, GYRATE on the elliptical, and engage in such an UNDUE display of tickle and SMOOCH…it was SURE ENOUGH for her….
Our words all Sweet Repeats, easily crossed off the LIST! And I SURE ENOUGH enjoyed the simplicity and sweetness of the cartoon today. Keeping this simple too, since I’m dealing with a brutal bout of vertigo. Eye candy? I like the LIST in the Mom’s hand, but it’s not the WRITE thing…I like the PENNANTS, but I should stop STRINGING this along…I gotta go with that Yellow Birthday Cake and it’s 6 little Balloons…SHEET, I just found it aMAIZEing! So, There you have it, Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone…and to all those celebrating today? …🎶Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you..🎶(From 🎶Good Morning To All 🎶) Patty Hill and Mildred Hill – 1893 (maybe)! 🎈🎂🙋🏻
I good morning. Thanks Mike on the information. Still can’t make out what you see even with the magnifying glass I hope you will feel better Angela. Thank goodness I never had that problem. Two of my children get it from time to time. Today’s jumble was easy until I got stuck on Gyrate. I looked up the word finally and when I moved to the cartoon after studying it for a minute the answer jumped out. Even though the letters were scrambled seeing the two “U” gave me enough. Until tomorrow stay well.
Hi, Paul, and good morning. I’m always happy to fill you in, and am glad you keep coming back day after day for my rundown. Have a great day, my friend! 🙂
Hey Paul. Thank you. I hope I do too. How’re you feeling? I hope the meds are kicking in for you…All my friends this morning got stuck on Gyrate too..Hope you’re doing better, Brooklyn…Hang in there…🎈🙋🏻
Good evening and thank you Angela. The meds are starting to work. At least I’m not aching and feel like an old man. No more runny eyes or nose. I’ll be able to go back to my books and paper. Hope this finds you feeling better.
Hey Brooklyn! Good to hear from you, and so happy you’re feeling better. My Grandma used to say..”It didn’t come in one day, it can’t go away in one day”! Right? But at least you’re on the road to recovery. And I know how much you enjoy a good book, so I can only imagine how hard this has been…Soon, Bro, soon!! 😘 I’m feeling better too, thank you. Today I slept about a weeks worth by my standards! LOL..Watch…Now I’ll be up all night like the “lupo de notte”…(Again, as Grandma used to say)…Wolf of the night! 😂 I’m just chillin’ watching the Yankees.. Actually I’m switching back and forth to the Mets…but I’m not going to say anything about that game…I don’t want to jinx them!!! 😉 Hope you have a restful night, Brooklyn.. Hang in there…😴🙋🏻
Another vote for GYRATE, which I backed into. Hope you feel better soon, Angela.
Good morning, Caroline. I had a feeling GYRATE was going to be the stumper today but UNDUE delayed my solve just a few seconds longer. I hope you have a pleasant Thursday! 🙂🙂🙂
Hi Caroline. Good Morning. Thank you, I’m trying to. Took the meds, but they make me so drowsy. It’s all this crazy weather. And I went a little hog wild with salt…I had no oomph this morning…and no desire at all to write. A little hard to keep my head up too! I fell back to sleep twice…a definite rarity for me! And I just told Paul that all my friends voiced a complaint about Gyrate this morning also…IDK, I saw it right away..Hmm..What does that say about me??? 😂😂😷! Tks for your concern..I hope you have a great day! 🎈🙋🏻
I don’t get the pun.
Good morning, Dennis. Sometimes the surprise answer isn’t a pun but rather a play on words. The solution should bring to mind SURE (as in SURE he bought snacks) and ENOUGH (as in he bought ENOUGH for everyone). So SURE ENOUGH, it was a perfect fit. Have a wonderful day and hope to hear from you again soon. 🙂
Undue was the word that took me longest to solve. I kept seeing it as denude. Cartoon solution was easy though. It’s been a good week so far. Sorry about your dizziness, Angela. I’ve had a couple of bouts of that and it is disconcerting. Made me feel goofier than I usually am. Hope you feel better soon. Happy Thursday to all.
The most difficult anagram is roughly a tie, Betty. I guess it’s never too late to put up a poll! Just give me a few minutes. 😊
Hey Betty! You made me LOL..Only thing ..It hurts when I laugh! 😂
I don’t think you’re Goofy at all, although I was just called it this morning…And I’m so used to it by now, I’ve started taking it as a compliment! So…Birds of a feather! Thanks for the sentiment..and I hope you have a Happy Thursday too! 🎈🎂🙋🏻
No blind solve today, and the only instant unscramble was VENUE. All of the others took a bit, with UNDUE being the most difficult; I kept seeing “denude”!
We’ve had great puzzles this week, John, and today’s was the most difficult in my opinion.
Just a friendly tip: Be sure to pull your blinds tonight so your neighbors won’t catch you in “denude”. 😂
Too hot to pull the blinds, so the neighbors are on their own!
Hi all – When putting ‘Y’ at the end didn’t work, I suspected a dirty trick, and saw GY and then GYRATE. SMOOCH actually took me a little longer, then writing the letters showed ENOUGH and the answer.
Not much else to comment on today and I have more errands, so I’ll just wish you all well. Hope you feel better soon, Angela.
I hope you voted in the poll, Mr. Steve. Last time I checked it was a tie!!!
Couldn’t comment on the comment above, Steve. The A’s are killing it! Lots of divisional play on tap, so things ought to get very exciting over the next two months if everyone stays competitive and healthy!
The A’s can’t possibly keep up *this* pace, but things sure look set up for a great stretch drive!
Thanks, G. I’m hoping too. It’s eased up a tad! (A tad)!? 😉 You didn’t do the Quiz today? I left you a post around 4 this morning…🎈🙋🏻
Sorry Angela, I wrote a reply but must have forgotten to send it. I’ll do that now.
Wow! Would you look at that! My birthday cake in the Jumble a few days early! Next Tuesday, July 31, I will be 79 years old. Yesterday Jerry took me to lunch at Old Country Buffet and today our two daughters are taking me to The Old Spaghetti Factory where I will order The Manager’s Favorite, which is a plate full of spaghetti, half covered with a rich red meat sauce and the other half covered with a (gritty) white clam sauce. My youngest granddaughter is looking forward to her lunch with me next, but my party won’t be until the middle of August when the family wants to do a joint party for my birthday and Jerry’s & my 58th wedding anniversary which will be August 2nd.
I was fine with VENUE, UNDUE, & SMOOTH but had to solve the cartoon answer to get GYRATE. I enjoyed our HAPPY BIRTHDAY, happy Jumble puzzle and hope all of you have a very happy day!
I have no idea why I wrote “smooth” for SMOOCH.
Enjoy your lunch, Lelia, and a very HAPPY early BIRTHDAY to you!!! 🙂
Hi, Mike! We did have a delicious lunch, and thank you for wishing me a very Happy early Birthday!
Hooray for the red, white and….white?
Have a great meal and day, Lelia!
Hi, Steve! We did have a great meal, and thank you for your “Hooray” for the red sauce, white sauce, and blue (or bleu) cheese dressing!
The dancer’s UNDUE behaviour was obvious when he began to GYRATE and SMOOCH the senior ladies at the VENUE to celebrate the opening of a new activities centre.
Late entry and I have not had time to read others’ comments–but shall try later this evening or tomorrow.
Hope Thursday is a brilliant day for all.
Great sentence Earl, and I’m sure it’s not autobiographical!
🎵”I’m just a gigolo and everywhere I go
People know the part I’m playing
Paid for every dance, selling each romance
Ooh, what they’re sayin’”🎵
And another comes to mind:
🎵”Nice work if you can get it
And you can get it, if you try!”🎵 😂🙋🏻♂️
Hey Earl…UNDUE, indeed! Looks like we were both turned off by the PDA! 😉 Great sentence….👏🏻👏🏻! The words were perfect together, right? SMOOCH, GYRATE…UNDUE!😉 Hope you’re enjoying your day! 🎈🎂🙋🏻