GELUN – LUNGE
EGIRT – TIGER
CONPOH – PONCHO
HACCEN – CHANCE
CARTOON ANSWER: BECAUSE OF A DROUGHT, THE PUMPKIN FARMERS WERE GOING THROUGH A – – –
UG TR PHO CHA = ROUGH PATCH
Good Morning, Everyone! 🎃 PETER, PETER…PUMPKIN NEED ‘ER 🎃
🎶 RAINMAKER, RAINMAKER...The sky is gray just by the touch of your hand, RAINMAKER, RAINMAKER...Make me some RAIN make all my CROPS GROW tall….RAINMAKER, RAINMAKER…The sky is gray, the ground is so hard, It’s been cracked by the sun…RAINMAKER, you know my work’s never done…🎶 “Rainmaker” – Traffic 1971
🎃 Grab a TIGER by the tail, this farmer’s facing ruin…
He’ll LUNGE at what he can salvage, but things aren’t looking boon.
What is the CHANCE he’ll see a profit coming from this crop?
The drought resulted in his being faced with autumns’ flop.
His PONCHO hangs upon the hook, he didn’t make much use,
The rain was sparse and now he looks at Pumpkins ruined, profuse.
Despite the dire looks of things, the pumpkins so deflated,
We see his wife encourage him, to keep his fears abated…
But Halloween’s upon us…Think a break this guy can catch?
It doesn’t look too promising…it’s really a ROUGH PATCH 🎃
Our words today, are all transPLANTS we’ve SEED before…PONCHO, the oldest, was last here on March 28th of 2016…but before that, it was May 28th of 2014! How’s that for an oldie but GOURDie? But it was CHANCE, on this past November 13th that PRODUCED the most trouble, anagrammed as HECCNA. It could have been the end “A” that caused the confusion, so I’m thinking today’s solution will be an easier go of it…On to our cartoon…Today we find ourselves out on an open field, at a PUMPKIN PATCH, where a farmer, GOURDON, is lamenting the demise of his Country PUMPKINS, due to a DROUGHT. His wife, AUTUMN stands by his side, (looking GOURDgeous, I may add), trying her best to reassure him that they’ll get through the shortFALL… Although from the look on GOURDON’s face, it’s pretty obvious that he’s not SEEDing it. He’s worried about the HALLOWEEN sales, and the money he won’t be making. With winter coming and the bills that CROP up, you can understand his SQUASHed hopes…Lets face it, Folks, this is no PULP Fiction…So, in answer to our question…The PUMPKIN Farmer is going through a…ROUGH PATCH! Good one, David! SMASHING pun…without a DROUGHT!
Ok, eye candy. All to see besides our couple, and the CROP BUSTERS strewn all around, are the green of the ground, and black-silhouetted FOLIAGE along the back. It’s a pretty CUT and DRY panel…GOURDON’s sporting a serious 5 o’clock shadow…Either that, or it’s a SPARSE attempt at a beard. Hmm…Can this guy GROW anything? AUTUMN looks just fine, in a chic brown head scarf to match her top…I’ll LEAF her alone…SOW, what should I PICK? If you look real closely at GOURDON’s hat? On the white front panel, there’s an image of a smiling JACK-O’-LANTERN, and above it reads..Jack-O-…but we can’t SEED the rest. Poor Guy, he was so ready to HARVEST. Classic case of the spirit is willing, but the FLESH is weak…So, There you have it, Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone! And try to CARVE out a little time for yourself today! Life is GOURD…Enjoy! 🎃🙋🏻
Jumble Answers 
My Indiana tomatoes are bigger than those pumpkins!!!
I don’t DROUGHT it! Have a good one, HM! 🎃🙋🏻
There was a slim CHANCE that her PONCHO would protect the tourist from the TIGER if it decided to LUNGE into the Land-Rover.
No difficulty with the clue words or the solution today. I thought Saturday’s Puzzle might be more challenging, but no complaints
Not familiar with your song Angela—in fact never heard of the group.
Appreciate all your comments and the details you pointed out and the pun-kin poem.
One thing about the cartoon bothered me—there was only one vine in the patch–even though there was a drought, I would think there would be more of the shriveled vines in addition to the leaves. Just nit-picking I guess.
Sweet Saturday all.
Good Morning, Earl… A very slim CHANCE I’d imagine! Your sentence puts me in mind of that incident earlier this week, where a lion so casually entered a safari vehicle in Crimea…And the people sat there filming on their phones…Uh..I don’t think so…SAFARI I see it? I’d have fainted at the least…Great job, great imagination… Agree, easy, breezy fare today, and the song wasn’t a widely known one. TBT, I don’t know if you’d enjoy it all that much…Thanks for the Shout Out, and you’re quite welcome…it’s always my pleasure, really. But I have to say that you need to take a closer look at the cartoon. There are many shriveled vines along with leaves depicted with each pumpkin…But unfortunately once again, the reason they’re not visible, is that whoever colored the panel didn’t highlight them in green. Everything beyond the one in front is just colored as black lines…You know Jeff wouldn’t give us a mere CROP shoot! 😉 Wishing you a great day, Earl! Enjoy the cooler weather!🎃🙋🏻
Like
I’ll go to the other web site which has the cartoon in color and allows me to make it bigger–the vines probably would not be green if it was that dry, but rather a dull brown. Thanks for the 411.
Hi Earl Yes, you’re right. I only said green because the front one that he’s holding has a green vine and leaves, despite it being so sere. The other four in the foreground, including a very tiny one by his left foot, are all shown with green leaves only. I suppose it would be too difficult to color the vines of each of them as brown…IDK. Miss Serena goes up against that little spark plug, Naomi Osaka at 4 today, and some are calling for her to take it all. I hope I can sit through the whole thing without having a heart attack! 😉 And sad to see Rafa need to bow out. I can’t imagine the pain he must have been in, but still a major heartbreak. Ciao, Earl…🎃🙋🏻
Agree that chance was the troublesome word momentarily but given the anagram solutions, the final solution was a given. A little early for a Halloween theme. For the first time in weeks, I was home to get my real newspaper, so access to the puzzle was easier. We did talk to the twins, Kate and Jane last night, and Jane really wanted us to come today and bring our 8 yr old gr son, Luke, with us, like we did last week, but alas we had to deny her request.
Another rainy day here in central Illinois.
Good Morning, Professor! Sorry you’re still rained in…Maybe it’s for the best the little ones aren’t with you…Rainy days and housebound kids leaves much to be desired! 😉 It may be slightly early for a Halloween cartoon, (although the stores have been touting the Holiday since early August)!..but it’s not really a Halloweeen puzzle per se, it’s the harvesting of PUMPKINS, which does begin in early September. Glad you had an easy time with it today, it was as you say, pretty much a given. With the rain, it’s a good day to just sit back and take it easy, Chuck…although I get the impression that’s not you! Have a good one either way! Ciao! 🎃🙋🏻
Good morning. Angela you had me on the song choice.I actually went back and listened to the song. Must admit I never heard it before. I bow to your vast knowledge of music. Terrific poem and puns as well. I thought that the girl in the picture was named Summer. Maybe Autumn has a twin sister. Could have fooled me. Earl, you painted a scary picture with your use of the words. Nice work as usual. Today’s jumble was again fairly simple. Poncho would be my choice for hardest word. But not by much. The cartoon answer was easy once I put the letters down. Rough jumped out followed by Patch. Until tomorrow stay well.
Brooklyn in the house! Good Morning, Paul. Thanks for the Shout Outs, and props for checking out the song choice! As I told Earl, it wasn’t a mainstream song, and I’m curious…Did you like it? Different, right? You had me ROTFL with naming our girl Summer! What prompted that? In actuality, we’re way on the down-side of summer, and a stones throw away from FALL…And besides, this ain’t her first rodeo! 😂 I mean CROP harvest! She’s SEASONed…and we are dealing with an Autumn theme here..so…Work with me, Brooklyn! 😉 You mention PONCHO, but yes, not by much…It wasn’t a real stumper today. Hope you’re having a great day so far, Bud, and enjoy the respite from the heat…Ciao! 🎃🙋🏻
Hi Angela. Sorry it took so long to get back to you but I just got back in from being out all day. On the song “NO”. Yes it was different but I would not look for that song to hear it again. As to picking the girls name as Summer,with yours choice I was thinking of the four seasons and liked that over the others. You did get me to laugh with your puns etc. Didn’t The Howdy Doody show have a princess Summer. I was in the audience once(peanut gallery),it was called. Not everybody had a tv back than and the candy store around the corner had chairs set up so all the kids could watch. He sponsored the neighborhood kids. He hired a bus and took us to the studio. There must have been 15-20 of us. We had a great time. The candy store was run by a husband and wife who were very very nice people.
I remember Traffic mainly as being Stevie Winwood’s group. The blind solve was almost instantaneous. PONCHO was the hardest for me too. I thought it interesting that they jumbled LUNGE by merely moving GE to the front, making it GELUN. I don’t remember that happening before!
Hey Mike..Good Morning! Yes, Stevie Winwood…But the album this was CUT from, “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys”, came out as Traffic. That weird fluting on 🎶Rainmaker🎶..is all Chris Wood. He’s like a magician with that stick…Freaky and haunting at the same time…But, I think it was the cause of some listeners dislike…That’s why I asked Paul what he thought…Nice catch with LUNGE, whether it’s an anagram first or not, I’m not sure. I just took it all in as one, and didn’t notice the order of the letters…But you may be right. So…Sir Paul at Grand Central last night…OMG! What next? Bob Dylan at Union in Chicago? The man never ceases to amaze me…76 years old? Are you kidding me? I’d love to know what he’s drinking! 😂 And the John Lennon Stamp unveiled at Central Park! It was definitely a great day for NYC and the Beatles! Unprecedented! Have a good one, Mike! Enjoy! 🎃🙋🏻
Angela:
Since you brought up John Lennon, there’s a great story about him I’ve been wanting to share. I heard Paul tell this on the Ronnie Wood Show on AXS TV. (and no, I didn’t transcribe all this myself, I copied it from another site.)
Paul: John wore horned-rimmed glasses, and he’d y’know, he wore them, but any time there was any girls around he’d whip them off… and then he couldn’t see a bloody thing y’know, he’d be like as blind as a bat. One day we were writing together, John and I, it was around Christmas, and he used to come down to me, and erm, we’d write in the evening and he’d walk back up to his house, which was like a mile away or something, and he’s walking back one night, and ‘erm, y’know, like I said, if there was any possibility of any girls around he wouldn’t wear the horn rims…. and he’s walking back…and I saw him the next day, and he said, ‘Do you know, those people on that corner of Booker Avenue, they’re mad!’
He said, ‘What time was it when I left you last night?’
I said, ‘I don’t know, about 11.30 or something’.
He said, ‘Yeah, well I went past their house and they were out, still playing cards in front of their house’.
I said, ‘I can’t believe this’.
So I go by there later and it’s a nativity scene!
Ronnie: He thought they were sitting outside their house…
Paul: Playing cards! It’s Mary and Joseph bent over the baby Jesus. I said ‘Get your glasses on, man!’
Ronnie: That is the definition of blind as a bat!
Hey, at least he didn’t try to ante in!😀
Mike…Any time you want to tell me a Beatles story..feel free! You don’t need to wait for a segue..It’s a great story, and I’ve never heard it before, ..And I love hearing Paul speak. Last week or so,(maybe more..I have a ridiculous concept of time), I caught him on TV with James Corden, in an episode of Carpool Karaoke. He was mesmerizing. I swear I can’t believe that the man is 76 years old. His eyes still twinkle, his smile still radiates, his sense of humor and timing are so intact…he’s just kept that whimsical spirit so alive, that you can’t help but smile just listening to him…The show was great. If you haven’t seen it, you have to track it down and watch. You’ll love it…Thanks for the share…and remember, any time…🎶🙋🏻
Great story Mike! “Can this guy grow anything?” Hilarious, Angela! Guess he is not OUT STANDING in his field!
Hey Clay..How’re you doing? LOL..Thanks! I think I may have been a little harsh on the poor guy…I mean the CROP failure wasn’t his fault, but the beard? Gimme a break…As sparse as that patch he was kneeling in! You want to play in the big leagues…you gotta bring the equipment, am I right? 😂 So, no..he’s not OUT STANDING in his FIELD at all…(Good one)! The man’s just not HAIR nor there…😉! Have a great day, Clay! 🎃🙋🏻
Hi all – I only saw PONCHO because I’d been stuck on it before. Then had to pause at CHANCE. I put the CH together at the end, saw it when I moved it to the beginning. Then thought WATER or GOURD would be in the answer, but saw it as soon as I wrote the letters.
I think the farmer could salvage his profits by taking his crop to the Safeway parking lot and labeling them “Mini Pumpkins”. It seems many people grow them.
So nice to be reminded of the vastly talented and underrated band Traffic, Angela. Yes, Stevie Winwood’s group after having had a huge hit, at the age of 16 I think, with “I’m A Man” in the Spencer Davis Group. Fellow Traffic member Dave Mason had a HUGE solo album “Alone Together” after leaving, especially in the Bay Area, with the hit “World in Changes” and others. You could hardly turn on the FM radio without hearing a song from that or Van Morrison’s Moondance.
But anyway, Traffic is even relevant to today’s cartoon, with their hit “John Barleycorn Must Die.” The barley and the corn are over in the other field.
But if all else fails, I think the farmer can just make himself feel better with some of 🎵”That good old-fashioned Medicated Goo”🎵
Have a great Saturday, everyone!
PS – I was fortunate enough to have seen Traffic live at the height of their popularity at Winterland in SF, must have been ‘72 or ‘73. Completely blew the audience away.
Steve..Didn’t the original band break up in ’69? Then when they regrouped weren’t they only together until like 73-74 (I think)..Could you have seen them in ’68-’69? 🤔🙋🏻
Yes, that is very possible, good catch. I was here from July ‘69 through June ‘70 and came back in Oct. ‘72. Was definitely the original band. 🙋🏻♂️
Yea, had to be earlier if it was the original..Is your concept of time getting like mine??? 😂😂🙋🏻
Silly G..OOSE! Granted, those Mini Pumpkins are a SMASHING hit, I buy a slew of them myself…but have you taken a good look at this guys CROP? It’s not the size that’s the problem, it’s the condition of them…They’re distorted and scraggly-looking..(Much like his beard- Hence my CUTTING remark)! 🎶 No, these by any other name will still be a load of CROP 😉 …less GOURDS! ..And I agree, TRAFFIC was underrated..But keep in kind, the airwaves back then were so CONGESTED with all those great rock bands…it was hard to find a clear PATH..😉 Have a good one, G! 🎃🙋🏻