Monthly Archives: September 2018

Jumble Answers for 09/15/2018

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OPENR – PRONE

YLISK – SILKY

DARTNS – STRAND

VDIDEI – DIVIDE

CARTOON ANSWER: THE GHOSTS GOT ALONG SO WELL BECAUSE THEY WERE – –

PRNE   SIK   STRD   IID  =  KINDRED SPIRITS

Good Morning, Everyone!          🙏🏻 MAY THE SPIRIT BE WITH YOU 🙏🏻

🎶 If you think you’re hearing something….And you can’t think what it is, If you feel a quiet longing…Lift your heart into the wind. There you’ll find my KINDRED SPIRIT…There you’ll meet me as a friend….It is just a KINDRED feeling…And a song to let you in…🎶 “Kindred Spirit” – Cyndi Lauper 1989

🙏🏻 In life we all will come across so many different souls…
We’re PRONE to form a friendship where a certain bond enfolds.
With a person who won’t STRAND you, and who’ll keep your secrets near…
Someone who sees the you, that’s you and keeps the friendship dear.
With nothing to DIVIDE you, and a sense of SILKY ease,
You look upon this person with whom life is such a breeze…
A friend like this is rare indeed…you’ll never call it quits,
You’re truly blest to be known as the two KINDRED SPIRITS…🙏🏻

Today’s puzzle contains all words that we’ve seen before. Our cartoon…It’s a bit eerie…In light of the devastation taking place in our country today, with the wrath of Florence, I find the puzzle very bittersweet. We see the smiling SPIRITS of two FIREFIGHTERS, sitting together on a park bench. The panel is very stark. Except for the green of the grass, the brown of the tree trunk, and a little blue-gray of the bench, there is no color…Even the leaves on the tree are white. The FIREMEN themselves are gray images, drawn with transparency, so as to blend into the bench; and you can see the blackened edging where the grass ends faintly transposed across their faces in waved lines. Their conversation centers on the dedication these brave men possess when it comes to helping others…and they find that they both became FIREMEN for that same altruistic reason. The men are SPIRITS, KINDRED SPIRITS. And what makes it so bittersweet for me, is that since they’re dressed in their uniforms, with the one man still holding a pick axe, I can’t help but wonder if they died “as FIREMEN“. If they died in the line of duty...And after watching the news all day, and seeing these selfless men out there risking their own safety to help rescue others, it just makes me sad…Hence the somber tone of this write-up today. It’s just a bit overwhelming seeing what’s happening to our neighbors in the South. My heart goes out to them, my prayers go out to them, my Faith, however shaken by events such as this is with them… I wish Everyone a blessed day, and I’m going to end this with words that I always believed could mend any fence, right any wrong, and end any war…“Love thy Neighbor as Thyself”. 🙏🏻🙋🏻

 

Jumble Answers for 09/14/2018

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IOYNR – IRONY

PHETD – DEPTH

TMORYS – STORMY

NNIETV – INVENT

CARTOON ANSWER: THE POSSIBILITY THAT ESP WAS REAL DIDN’T EVEN – – -.

IRN   DEH   STM   IEN   =    ENTER HIS MIND

Good Morning, Everyone!      🙄 ESP…ecially WHEN THEY’RE WRONG! 🙄

🎶 GYPSYS, tramps, and thieves…We’d hear it from the people of the town,
They’d call us GYPSYS, tramps, and thieves…But every night all the men would come around…And lay their money down…🎶 “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves” – Cher 1971

🔮 You pay the woman $10…You’re wondering what you’ll get…
And for Mr. Mittens sitting here, this seer ‘ain’t got it yet.
He hears her INVENT stories, her guesses off the mark,
The DEPTH of psychic knowledge so far looking pretty stark.
The IRONY, the disbelief, it’s all coincidence…
This seer is stabbing in the dark to gain his confidence.
So thinking Mr. Mittens with a name such as he has
Must have a cat is giving him a major case of blahs…
He’s getting mad, his attitude quite STORMY say the least,
His doubt is mounting as his thoughts of swindle are increased.
Let’s face it Folks, he should have known…What did he think he’d find?
I bet that I could tell you what might now ENTER HIS MIND! 🔮

All of our words today are Sweet Repeats, the most recent being IRONY, which adorned our pages not long ago, on June 26th. DEPTH, which we saw on October 14th of last year, was anagrammed as PHEDT, just a one-letter difference than today’s. The stumper to close out this week? If I had to GUESS? I’m READING INVENT, from what emails friends have sent this morning…So maybe that’s it? Or maybe not? 😉

Ok..Our Cartoon. Today we find ourselves at some sort of State Fair. I say this,  because, off in the background, silhouetted in black, we can see Carnival-type tents, and a Ride of some sort, perhaps a Tilt-A-Whirl. Sitting in a tent, we find MS. IDA TAKEAGUESS, claiming to have ESP..EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION, giving a PSYCHIC BLEEDING, I mean READING, to a MR. MITTENS. We “hear” her telling him that she SEES him “Thinking about” his cat…Only thing is...MR. MITTENS is ALLERGIC to cats! Now that’s nothing to SNEEZE at, that’s a big mistake! So that right there is giving him PAWS. He’s beginning to SEERiously doubt this whole thing…And rightfully so. She’s not READING his MIND at all…So what’s MR MITTENS really thinking? That he’s been HAD…And he wishes he HAD his $10 back!…Because, as our question is stating…The possibility that ESP is real? Really? It didn’t even ENTER HIS MIND! CRYSTAL BALL, CRYSTAL BALL! There you go, we’ve solved it all! Good one, David! SEERiously….Good one!

Ok, eye candy…What’s inside the tent is kind of BLANK. There’s the little Gold sign stating ESP $10, but I’m not READING much into it. IDA’s wearing a WINE colored TURBAN, which matches her dress, but DECANT get excited over that. MR. MITTENS? Blue shirt, incredulous look…Nothing EXTRAordinary. Blue-Black Fringed Tablecloth…I’ve COTTON better before…I GUESS it’ll have to be the Light Blue CRYSTAL BALL...Yea, it’s the best that I can SEE…So, There you have it Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone! And remember…You have an EXTRA $10 to burn? CATch a movie instead…ESPecially a comedy…You’ll laugh either way! 🔮🙋🏻

Jumble Answers for 09/13/2018

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TOSUJ = JOUST

EHADA = AHEAD

PRUOSO = POROUS

PANYPS = SNAPPY

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE HYPHEN LIKED ADDING PEPPER TO HIS FOOD, BUT – – –

JTHADUSSA = JUST A DASH

Happy Thursday, everyone! All of today’s clue words are familiar old favorites, but the Jumbles are new. The first two came into view rather quickly, leaving me plenty of time to work my way through POROUS. After a minute or two, I noticed that it had an OU just like JOUST did. Coupling them together allowed me to finally figure it out, so it’s my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day.

Today’s cartoon brings us to a restaurant where we see a cast of Jumble symbols having dinner. In the rear we see a dollar sign and question mark engaged in a lively conversation while completely ignoring their food. There are a few other symbols in the background as well but they appear to have been added for decoration.

All of the action is happening up front where we enconter a hyphen that has just been served his entree. We see his server, who appears to be a “similar to” symbol, cracking fresh pepper onto the dish. The server appears to be a bit overzealous in his cracking as he turns the the pepper mill in a clockwise motion. Mr. Hyphen has his hand up to indicate that he’d like him to stop but the server doesn’t notice the gesture.

I always enjoy when Jeff draws a cartoon that has food items in it. It’s fun trying to figure out what the different ingredients are, but today it was almost impossible. The hinged shape in the bowl seems to indicate that it’s a clam or mussel dish. It looks like it’s served over rice, but again it’s not too clear. Be sure to leave a comment below if you have any idea on what the dish may be.

The letter layout for the final solution was 9-letters in length. The anagram started with a “J” which brought JUST to mind. “A” was the obvious choice for the single letter leaving DASH for the finish. David and Jeff let us off the hook easy today which was fine by me after having two stumpers in a row. Have a terrific Thursday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

 

BONUS CONTENT:

Click HERE to see today’s Jumble cartoon being drawn!!!

Jumble Answers for 09/12/2018

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LAWOL = ALLOW

PIRMC = CRIMP

NROPES = PERSON

EGDANA = AGENDA

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS’ APPROACH TO AVIATION WAS – – –

ALLIMPPESNAEND = “PLANE” AND SIMPLE

Happy Wednesday, Jumble players! Today’s puzzle marks the halfway point of the week and the Jumble creators have decided to challenge us once again with a word in quotes. All of the clue words were recycled favorites, but the anagrams themselves were new. PERSON was the only word to give me some hesitation making it my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day. It’s also the oldest clue word in the lot with its last appearance in gameplay on 4/22/15.

Jumble artist, Jeff Knurek, brings us back once again to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina for a cartoon featuring the Wright brothers. Regular players of the game will almost instantly recognize the caricatures of Orville on the left and Wilbur on the wright, but who’s the gentleman in the middle? No, it’s not a third brother (although they did have one named Reuchlin). My best guess is that it’s Charles Taylor who was an employee and friend to the brothers.

Before the Wright brothers began their aeronautical pursuits, they first opened a bicycle business. They opened their shop in a building owned by an uncle of Mr. Taylor’s wife. Charles eventually went to work for them and was hired to build and fix bicycles. As the Wright brothers spent more time on their aviation endeavors, Charles was entrusted with running the place in their absence.

The Wrights turned to Taylor to build an engine for one of their Flyers when they were unable to find one that met their needs. Taylor built the engine in only six weeks and became a vital contributor to early Wright brothers’ airplanes. He’s often unmentioned and overshadowed by the successes of the brothers, but his mechanical skills were an integral part in the history of engine-driven flight.

There weren’t many details to be scene in today’s panel with Jeff relying on his caricatures to make it visually captivating. The attire of the characters gave it the feel of a period piece as did the paper schematics on the table.

The final solution was an enormous 14-letter anagram with one word in quotes. David did a sublime job in the layout making sure all of the words were kept cryptic. I decided to solve the middle word first with AND appearing to be the obvious choice. PLANE was easily deciphered next after noticing the visual clue in the cartoon. That left SIMPLE to complete the puzzle leaving us with a stinky, well thought out pun. Have a wonderful Wednesday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/11/2018

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LISAA = ALIAS

NURTE = TUNER

NACITT = INTACT

OTTUMS = UTMOST

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE CAMPSITES BEING SMALLER THAN EXPECTED RESULTED IN A – – –

IASTNEINTTUOST = “TENTS” SITUATION

Happy Tuesday, Jumble friends! All of today’s clue words were old favorites, but David kept us on our toes by giving us all new anagrams to work through. Right from the start my Jumble solving prowess was put to the test with ALIAS. At first glance I thought the solution was ASAIL but it just didn’t look right. A few extra seconds of mental gymnastics was all it took to bring the correct solution into view. INTACT took the longest to decipher which made it my choice for the most difficult anagram of the day. UTMOST was a close second but the U and T placed next to each other in the layout gave it away.

Today’s cartoon brings us to a campground where the idyllic setting of the background is quickly overshadowed by an argument that is taking place. The dialogue and sentence lets us know that these campers are accusing each other of making too much noise which has resulted in a shouting match. Even the dogs are getting into the fray with each one appearing ready to pounce at any moment.

It’s easy to understand why this confrontation is occurring after noticing how close the tents are to each other. Even though the cartoon isn’t drawn to scale, we can reasonably assume that there’s less than a foot of space between the campsites. The tents in the rear appear to be more generously spaced apart so perhaps these campers ought to complain to management instead of taking matters into their own hands.

Jeff added a few subtle details to the cartoon to make it visually interesting. Besides the two tents in the front, we can see all of the other tents are different shapes and sizes. The one in the back left even has the US flag waving next to it! My favorite detail of the piece was the t-shirt that the camper on the right is wearing. If you look closely you’ll notice that it has the Twin Towers with a pentagon around them. This symbolizes the tragic events of September 11th which took place seventeen years ago today.

The letter layout for the final solution was an enormous 14-letter anagram. I thought David did a remarkable job keeping the words well hidden which made us use some extra brain power to get the job done. The wording of the cartoon sentence brought TENSE to mind while the visual clues and the quotations led me to TENTS. With those letters crossed out, SITUATION was easily found making for a very satisfying finish. Have a terrific Tuesday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/10/2018

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ZIREP = PRIZE

TROIB = ORBIT

DRTONE = RODENT

UUFSNG = FUNGUS

CARTOON ANSWER:

THEY’D GOTTEN A $70 PARKING TICKET, AND NOW HE WAS READING THE – – –

PIEITRNFN = FINE PRINT

Good Monday morning, Jumble friends! All of the clue words that we see today are recycled favorites with PRIZE being the oldest of the group. Last used on 9/30/14, it was jumbled the exact same way we see today. RODENT had me stumped the longest making it my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day. I initially skipped it to solve FUNGUS and then came back to work on it a little more. Breaking it into two words (ROD and TEN) brought the solution into view allowing me to move on to today’s cartoon.

The setting for our panel is a city street where we see two Jumble characters standing next to a vehicle. They don’t look happy and the dialogue and sentence informs us that they’ve just received a parking ticket. The male half can be seen looking at the ticket very closely and explains that he didn’t think it was necessary to feed the meter on holidays.

Since the cartoon mentioned a holiday, I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out which one Jeff was alluding to. There weren’t any obvious clues in the drawing but I did notice that both of the characters were wearing short sleeve shirts. My guess is that the holiday was most likely Labor Day since it just occurred on September 3rd and the weather is still pleasant enough to wear such attire.

My search for clues about the holiday lead me to discover two other details within the panel. The first was the rather large “J” emblem on the front of the vehicle. Jeff likes to brand the vehicles in his cartoons with a “J” and it probably stands for Jumble Motors. The second detail was so tiny that you’d most likely need a magnifying glass to spot it. On the bottom of the ticket that the gentleman is holding, you can clearly see the cost of the infraction written out as $70.00. There were also some squiggly lines written under the amount which brought the solution to the surprise answer instantly to mind. Have a magnificent Monday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/09/2018

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GREATT – TARGET

AAANBC – CABANA

REEEFZ – FREEZE

JUTSUN – UNJUST

LITRLH – THRILL

SASING – ASSIGN

CARTOON ANSWER:   HE SAID THE BODY OF WATER NAMED AFTER MAGELLAN WAS A CHANNEL, BUT HE NEEDED TO – – –

TGT   CAA   FRE   ST   THI   SSI   =   GET HIS FACTS “STRAIT” 

Good Morning, Everyone!                🌊 WATER YOU KNOW…? 🌊

🎶 STRAITEN up and fly right, STRAITEN up and stay right…STRAITEN up and fly right, cool down Papa, don’t you blow your top…Ain’t no use in divin’. What’s the use of jivin’?…STRAITEN up and fly right, cool down Papa don’t you blow your top….🎶 “Straighten Up And Fly Right” – Nat King Cole 1943

🌊 Today we see more tourists, these are visiting Chile,
And the TARGET of their interest lacks the THRILL that it might be…
The reason, one perhaps UNJUST….a word just made them FREEZE,
As they stood upon the Shore and listened to Señor Cortese.
The itinerary told them….”We’ll ASSIGN a guide to you…
And he’ll take you to the Strait to see, and guide you all way through,
There won’t be time to camp out, no CABANA up for rest,
But our guides are all efficient, and you’re getting Chile’s best…”
Only it turned out that this guide must have missed a day or two,
Because it’s become obvious his data don’t ring true…
And our couple here just knows it…See our girl telling her mate?
“We need a guide who’s able at least to GET HIS FACTS “STRAIT”! 🌊 

All of our words today are Sweet Repeats. Except for TARGET, which we just had this past March 13th, the rest are older, from 2016 and 2017. I found them easily recognizable, but friends are saying that ASSIGN and THRILL caused them to falter a bit. Usually the UN words tend to catch some of us, but with JUTS practically giving us JUST, I don’t think it’ll slow anyone down today. Let us know what you think…
On to the cartoon…Today’s answer came to me as soon as I read the guides’ dialogue, and caught the error with the MAGELLAN CHANNEL. Knowing it’s called a STRAIT, and seeing the “…”, the solution just presented itself. The CHANNEL hint was a big one. I always feel that the dialogue and the question hint very strongly at the answer…and most times the answer is a familiar phrase of sorts. Plus, the way Jeff portrays the characters is a big help too. There’s a ton of data on-line about the MAGELLAN STRAIT, which IS a CHANNEL in reality, discussing it’s narrowness as far as CARGO  travel goes, etc…But to be honest, it’s early Sunday morning…does anyone really want a Geography lesson? I didn’t think so! So…Let’s SAIL on to the good stuff…We see three tourists standing on land, with the guide, Señor Cortese identifying the STRAIT by the wrong NAME. He doesn’t have his information STRAIGHT. The woman shown at front, immediately realizes his error, and points it out to the man she’s with. And with the question asking about the “Body of water NAMED after MAGELLAN“…well, the guide needs to GET HIS FACTS “STRAIT”. Smooth Sailing, we’ve got it STRAIGHT! Good one, David!

Ok, eye candy. The STRAIT’S water is shown in Blue and Black tones. In the background, we see small mountain areas, colored Black and White. Two White CLOUDS are shown overhead. And there’s a Grayish Bale of CARGO shown drifting by. Everyone’s nicely dressed. The male tourist, holding a Smart Phone, is in Blue, his companion in shades of Green, and the third tourist, another woman, wearing a Visor, is dressed in Blue tones also. She’s taking a picture of the STRAIT, with her phone, and Jeff’s managed to capture the image perfectly. The guide is nattily dressed in Khaki, head to toe. And I  especially like his dark-brimmed Gaucho type hat, complete with its’ joined STAMPEDE STRING. But I’m not going to WAIST any more time…I’m going with the FANNY PACK on the visored woman. FANNY PACKS just make me smile! So, There you have it Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone…And remember, it’s always important to get a persons’ name STRAIT. If you don’t, you may get a CHILE response!  🌊🙋🏻

Jumble Answers 09/08/2018

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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 for 09/07/2018

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LIYOD – DOILY

WFERE – FEWER

ROHDUS – SHROUD

OAMTOT – TOMATO

CARTOON ANSWER:  EVERYONE WHO SAW THE MOON LANDING ON TV THOUGHT IT WAS – –  – 

DOIL   FWR   SHU   TOTO    =   OUT OF THIS WORLD 

Good Morning, Everyone!       🎶FLY ME TO THE MOON🎶

🎶 You’re clear OUT OF THIS WORLD...When I’m looking at you. I hear OUT OF THIS WORLD…The music that no mortal ever knew…I cry, OUT OF THIS WORLD….If you said we were through…So let me fly OUT OF THIS WORLD, and spend the next eternity or two… with you…Clear OUT OF THIS WORLD...Clear OUT OF THIS WORLD, Clear OUT OF THIS WORLD…🎶 “Out of This World” – Mel Torme 1988

🌗 The date July the 20th, of 1969… Americans are all glued to TV…
My house was packed as we all sat, no FEWER than thirty…
The night was hot, one felt as if a SHROUD was ‘oer the room,
The AC cranked, but nervousness did all but quite consume.
We first had dined on pasta, a TOMATO sauce divine…
We toasted what was coming with the best of Grandpa’s wine…
Like the lace stitch of a DOILY, my mind was all entwined,
So scared was I for Armstrong…Who knew what he might find?
And then we saw it happen, the Moon Landing unfurled…
And I’ll never forget thinking…This is just OUT OF THIS WORLD…🌗

With today’s words being all Sweet Repeats, we end our week on a HIGH note. With SHROUD being the oldest of the group, last appearing on September 1st, 2016, I think it may also be the stumper…If for no other reason than that it’s a word rarely seen or spoken in everyday conversation, and therefore not easily recognizable…I also noted that two of our words each have four letters being used for the solution, one from a five letter word, the other a six.  Is this HISTORY being made? I’d have to check…Our cartoon: Today we find ourselves in any living room across America, as we watch the first MOON LANDING on July 20th, 1969. Jeff’s showing us a couple, and two children. I’m want to say that it’s parents and their children, but for some reason, the man and woman appear to be “slightly” older, Grandparents perhaps. But for the sake of the SPACE here, we’ll go with it as a family unit. The children are being told by the Father that they’re watching History being made, while they themselves are asking childish questions such as: “Can I see them out the window”, and “Where are the aliens”.  So, with our question asking what did everyone think this Moon Landing was? It was...OUT OF THIS WORLD! Well done, David! You’ve LANDED another good one!

Ok, eye candy. The little boy is holding a toy replica of APOLLO 11. We see a TV, most likely Black and White, rabbIt ears intact, showing NEIL ARMSTRONG standing on the Moons’ surface, as he plants the American Flag. And the couple is dressed rather formally for a hot summer night at home…But what did it for me? If you look real closely, you’ll see that the woman is shown with her left hand grasping her throat, and a tear falling from her eye...With that single tear, Jeff’s managed to truly sum it all up…It was scary, it was exhilarating, it was like nothing we had ever seen before…And could there have been any CRATER detail? So, There you have it Folks, Done. Have a great day, Everyone…And here’s to the PIONEERS of SPACE…🍷They truly took us OUT OF THIS WORLD! 🌗 🙋🏻

 

Jumble Answers for 09/06/2018

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YUMMM = MUMMY

TNASD = STAND

CEPOIT = POETIC

LERFYE = FREELY

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

CLOCKS DIDN’T GO DIGITAL UNTIL – – –

MMSNDOTIREE = MODERN TIMES

Good Thursday morning, Jumble fans! Today’s Jumble started off with MUMMY which is a brand new clue word. The three M’s in a row made me take a few extra glances before I finally figured it out. STAND was used yesterday in the cartoon answer so it was no trouble at all. Our final two clue words were both excellent jumbles with FREELY taking me the longest to decipher. We last saw it play on 2/26/17 where it was jumbled as FLYEER. I remember seeing POETIC countless times in the past so I had to choose FREELY as the most difficult anagram of the day.

Our cartoon brings us to what is most likely a museum where we see our Jumble characters looking at an exhibit featuring clocks. There are eight different drawings of clocks on display and they’re pretty much in order of their respective discovery. In the top row, and moving left to right, we see an hourglass, obelisk, sundial, and water clock. In the bottom row, we see a candle clock, mechanical clock, a pendulum clock and finally a digital clock.

My favorite detail of this piece was the smartwatch that the young child is wearing. Zooming in on the watch face reveals that the display is showing a time of 1:12. I also noticed that the tour guide was wearing a timepiece. The time on his watch is showing it to be approximately 1:30. Either the tour guides watch needs a new battery or the child needs to recharge his smartwatch!

The letter layout for the surprise answer was 11-letters in length. It was a very impressive anagram that kept the solution well hidden. Since the exhibit in the cartoon was all about clocks, I figured TIME had to somewhere in there. Crossing out the letters brought MODERN into view with the remaining S placed on TIME for the finish. Have a terrific Thursday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/05/2018

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NIDKR = DRINK

SAFHL = FLASH

RAFTOM = FORMAT

TUNOTB = BUTTON

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

HE WANTED A SOFT MATTRESS. SHE DIDN’T AND WAS GOING TO – – –

DRIFSMATN = STAND FIRM

Happy Wednesday, Jumble players! Even though we’re at the midpoint of the week, the ease at which this mornings puzzle was solved made it seem more suitable for a Monday. FORMAT was the only word that required a quick double glance making it my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day. The oldest clue word of the bunch was FLASH which last appeared in gameplay on 2/18/16. BUTTON was another oldie but goodie that we last saw on 7/10/16. It was jumbled as TUNTOB which is very similar to the anagram we see today.

Our cartoon brings us to a store where we see two Jumble characters shopping for a new mattress. The male half is sprawled out on one that looks rather soft and plush as shown by the indentation that his body is making. The smile on his face lets us know that he seems to have found just the right one, but the look on his partners face means he’s in for a rude awakening. No matter how hard he tries to sell her on this particular model, the scowl and finger wagging are signs that he just might be better off shopping for a new couch!

There are two other mattresses in the panel, but Jeff added some fine detail work to make them appear different. The one on the left has 9-buttons and a tag with just a single squiggly line while the one on the right has 12 and a tag that has several. My favorite details in this piece are the slippers that the couple are wearing. This particular purveyor of mattresses must be a fancy outlet because they make you check your footwear at the door. It might also be a sales technique to keep you from running out the place when you see the price tag.

The letter layout for the final solution was 9-letters in length. Although I wasn’t able to blind solve it, the minimal amount of letters made it all too easy. Working the anagram backwards, I noticed FIR together which brought FIRM to mind. STAND was easily visible once I crossed out the letters. Have a wonderful Wednesday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/04/2018

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TINFA = FAINT

GYCEA = CAGEY

CELDIS = SLICED

GULONE = LOUNGE

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE FRISBEE GOLF COURSE WAS CLOSING. THE COUPLE PLAYED TO HAVE – – –

FNTAGESLILON = ONE LAST FLING

Good morning everyone, and happy Tuesday! I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable long holiday weekend. The lineup this morning gives us a new clue word with SLICED making its debut. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably already know that I’m not the biggest fan of past tense words being used as anagrams. Even though it was visible upon first glance, I couldn’t help but try and find alternate word choices that would have got the job done.  I quickly got over my hang-up and pressed on with the puzzle our creators thoughtfully crafted. It was a toss-up between LOUNGE and CAGEY as the most difficult anagram of the day, so I’ll take a pass and let everyone chime in with their choice in the comments section.

Two weeks ago today was the first time that I’d ever heard of frisbee golf when it was featured as the theme for the Jumble cartoon. I immediately recognized the course this morning and knew exactly what sport was being played. We see a man tossing his disc at the basket as a female player waits for her turn. The cartoon sentence tells us that the course is closing down and that these characters are actually a team. I didn’t catch the fact that they were both wearing similarly colored clothing at first because my newspaper prints the puzzle in black and white.

I really enjoyed the perspective in which Jeff framed this particular cartoon. He chose to show us a close-up of the basket while keeping the couple in the distance. As the man tosses his disc, we get a sense of distance between him and the basket. It also served another purpose which was to show us the number 18. Since frisbee golf is played with similar rules to traditional golf, 18 indicates the end or finish of a round. This clue became apparent upon finishing the surprise answer.

There were a couple of extra details in todays panel that caught my attention. Behind our couple you can see another person tossing a disc. Zooming in on the panel, the gender of the person is male and he has excellent form as he makes his play. My favorite detail of the panel had to be the action line of our players toss. You can see several half circles along the line which show the path that his toss took. It’s such a subtle detail that was easily overlooked, but it sure added a sense of action to the piece.

The letter layout for the final solution was extremely cryptic. If the visual clues in the puzzle didn’t offer any insight as to where to begin, you were most likely in for a very difficult solve. The anagram started with an F, and the extra care in which Jeff had drawn the frisbee trajectory brought FLING immediately to mind. ONE and LAST were both visible within the remaining letters for a quick finish. Even though I started the puzzle off with a sour start on SLICED, I trusted in the creative process that both Jeff and David have mastered through countless puzzles for a satisfying ending. Have a terrific Tuesday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/03/2018

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OZAKO = KAZOO

LNIBK = BLINK

TRUCCH = CRUTCH

PLWARS = SPRAWL

 

CARTOON ANSWER:

CONSTRUCTION OF THE RAILROAD WOULD FALL BEHIND SCHEDULE IF THEY DIDN’T GET – – –

KAOBNKCTCRA = BACK ON TRACK

Good morning everyone, and happy Labor Day! BLINK makes its debut into gameplay this morning but was easily solved upon first glance. Actually all of the clue words were no trouble at all and they took longer to write down than to figure out. The jumble for SPRAWL was the most impressive of the bunch so for that reason alone I’ll choose it as the most difficult anagram of the day.

The setting for today’s cartoon brings us to an open expanse of land where we see the construction of railroad tracks taking place. Two well dressed gentleman in period clothing have looks of both panic and shock on their faces and the cartoon dialogue informs us of the reason. They’ve run out of rails for this portion of the track so all they can do in the meantime is have their worker lay ties. Speaking of ties, we can see 15 of them in the panel with only 14 secured to the rails.

Although this panel wasn’t overflowing with detail, there were still a few extras that gave it some visual appeal. As previously mentioned, the period clothing gave the cartoon a dated feel and the pocketwatch chain of the middle character was a wonderful surprise to find. The worker in the back captured most of my attention, and how couldn’t he. Even though he’s standing behind the other two characters, he towers over them. His biceps are bulging from swinging that hammer all day and he even has a rag hanging out of his back pocket to indicate that his job is very labor intensive.

The letter layout for the final solution contained 11-letters. I was able to see TRACK immediately upon writing out the letters which gave the entire answer away. It was a Monday puzzle so I wasn’t expecting too much of a challenge. Enjoy your Labor Day and let us know in the comments section if you have any special plans. Have a merry Monday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Jumble Answers for 09/02/2018

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RRNDEE – RENDER

NWHERC – WRENCH

JUOFLY – JOYFUL

TENNYI – NINETY

DOYHUG – DOUGHY

NDIVEA – INVADE

CARTOON ANSWER : THE BAT WAS TELLING AN INTERESTING STORY, AND THE OTHER BATS – – –

RR   WH   OYU   NNE   DOG   VE   =   HUNG ON EVERY WORD

Good Morning, Everyone!                  🔝  BAT’S ALL FOLKS! 🔝

🎶 When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…BAT’S Amore…When the world seems to shine like you’ve had too much wine…BAT’S Amore…When you walk in a dream but you know you’re not dreaming, Signore… ‘Scuzza me, but you see, back in old Napoli….BAT’S Amore…Amore…Amore!🎶 “That’s Amore” – Dean Martin  1953

🔝 So Dracula seems quite well known to one Bat we can see,
And he looks JOYFUL and amused as he hangs in a tree…
The other bats sit all enthralled, and WRENCH their necks real close,
To hear the tale of Vampire Lore from this Bat, quite verbose.
A story’s that been hanging ’round for NINETY years at least,
It tells of this guy Vlad who others’ blood upon he’d feast.
A rather DOUGHY fellow, but as Dracula quite svelte…
He’d INVADE others’ lives to suck their blood which gave him health.
He’d RENDER them quite lifeless, their necks marked from his teeth,
Yes, this is what Count Dracula wrought and what he would bequeath…
So up in trees we now know lived a Bat longed to be heard…
As he regaled all the others and they HUNG ON EVERY WORD …🔝 

Ah, Sunday morning…And Jumble 🎶 Love Is In The Hair🎶…I mean the Air…
But…BATS! They get into your hair, and they HANG ON for dear life! We’re waking up to BATS! Here we just had Prairie Dogs on Friday…and now today BATS? What’s next? Frogs and Locusts? This reminds me of a stretch we had back at the end of 2017, into the first week of 2018, where we had Goats and Pigs and Deer..and Goats again…I KID you not! And then we did Ducks FOWLed by Chickens back to back this past June!…So I hope this isn’t another BATtern…We’ll just have to wait and see. This Sunday’s words are giving us a few oldies in with our Sweet Repeats, with JOYFUL HANGING AROUND since November 5th, 2014…but none of our scrambled up AlphaBATS are real stumpers. So lets move on, and take a BITE out of our cartoon. Today, we’re up a TREE….And we find ourselves surrounded by COLONIES of BATS, three males and a female, with five others in the distance. COUNT ’em…Yuck! Aren’t you VLAD this is just a cartoon? We see a Ringleader of sorts, the BATMAN, regaling the other BATS with the Tale of DRACULA. It seems pretty obvious too, that all the others are new BLOOD, because they’ve never heard the story before. And they were all so interested, that they HUNG ON EVERY WORD! Good one, David! A real BLIND solve!…We just WINGED it!

Ok, eye candy…All we really have here today are Brown BATS, with Pink ears…There is a silhouette of another COLONY HANGING on another tree, but I’m just going to go out on a LIMB this morning, and SQUEAK by with stating there’s no candy to be had…What can I say? It just wasn’t Love at First BITE! So, There you have it Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone..I hope you all enjoyed HANGING OUT with us. And…BATS all Folks! 🔝🙋🏻

Jumble Answers for 09/01/2018

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TIGZL – GLITZ

LIGRL – GRILL

NHETCR – TRENCH

TALTET – TATTLE

CARTOON ANSWER: THEY WANTED TO INSTALL A NEW TRAFFIC SIGNAL AND JUST NEEDED THE CITY TO – – – 

GLI   GRIN. ENH   TTE   =   GREEN LIGHT IT 

Good Morning, Everyone!            🚦THE LIGHT WAY TO DO IT 🚦

🎶 TURN on your heartLIGHT…Let it shine wherever you GO. Let it make a happy GLOW for all the world to see…TURN on your heartLIGHT, in the middle of a young boy’s dream…Don’t wake me up too soon. Gonna take a RIDE across the moon…You and me…🎶 “Heartlight” – Neil Diamond 1982

🚦 We all know about congestion while driving here and there,
There is no GLITZ involved with getting round a thoroughfare…
Sometimes you feel you’re in a TRENCH, ensconced and sinking deep,
It’s all you do to fight the urge to just fall right asleep.
Your mind can tend to wander, you’re thinking of your grille…
You should have taken time to check, you think as you sit still.
You noticed something sticking out…and now you start to wonder,
How come it isn’t spelt as GRILL..another thing to ponder.
You’re starting to lose patience, this traffic’s just insane…
The city needs to come up with a different kind of lane…
The Traffic Board holds meetings, where they TATTLE and they prate,
But nothing seems to change the lights that leave us with this fate…
Please let relief be coming, you’re now thinking as you sit…
What signal does the city need before they’ll GREEN LIGHT IT?🚦

Nothing about today’s words STOPPED us in our tracks, and the only one that may have DRIVEN us to the slightest bit of distraction is TRENCH, last seen back on November 2nd. That day, it appeared as: CNERHT, and caused a little TIE UP for a few of us. So, once again today, with all of our words being Sweet Repeats…(GLITZ the oldest, last seen WAY BACK UP on December 28th of 2016)…let’s just ACCELERATE the process and TURN RIGHT to our CARtoon…Today, Jeff has us SITTING IN (on a) TRAFFIC Board meeting with CITY Planners. We see a TRAFFIC Board Representative STANDING, ONLY with a diagram of an Intersection at an easel. A TRAFFIC LIGHT shows at center, highlighted in YELLOW. Three City Board members SIT, two of them with a replica of the Intersection before them. Because of all the congestion at this particular intersection, it’s been decided that a FOUR-WAY STOP needs to be implemented; and to do so, a new “TRAFFIC SIGNAL” needs to be installed…The City Board member at RIGHT, is seen saying, “We’ll all agree to do this”, (while pointing DIRECTly to the TRAFFIC LIGHT in the diagram)…They APPROVE. And our solution is all MAPPED out for us Folks,  RIGHT there in the dialogue and the question and that TRAFFIC LIGHT! So, what’s LEFT?…They needed the City to…GREEN LIGHT IT! Good one, Dave! You’ve DRIVEN home another winner!

Ok, eye candy…Hmm…Pretty pLANE  drawing today, with a Key clue being the TRAFFIC LIGHT drawn at the MIDDLE of the diagram…But I think I’ll GO with the TIE, UP on the guy in front. He’s wearing a String Tie…Haven’t men STOPPED wearing those? So, There you have it, Folks, Done! Have a great day, Everyone!…And here’s to no one getting STUCK in Holiday TRAFFIC this weekend! DRIVE safely, and Enjoy! 🚦🙋🏻