VRIRE = RIVER
SOYMS = MOSSY
DIDNHE = HIDDEN
NLHECC = CLENCH
CARTOON ANSWER:
WHEN IT CAME TO HAVING HIS POSITRONIC BRAIN REPLACED, THE ANDROID WAS – – –
IE MOS DDN LEC = CLOSE-MINDED
Happy Wednesday, everyone! Just when you thought Jumble Genius, David L. Hoyt, had exhausted his list of never before seen clue words, he surprises us this morning with not one, but TWO brand new baddies. They don’t call him “The Man Who Puzzles America” for nothing, folks! Both MOSSY and CLENCH are coming up as new, leaving RIVER and HIDDEN to greet us once again. He’s kept HIDDEN out of the spotlight for quite some time and I had to search back to 9/21/14 to uncover it. RIVER was much easier to locate since it was used a little over a year ago on 5/22/18. Of the group, CLENCH was the only one to give my puny human brain a moment of hesitation so it’ll be my pick for the most difficult anagram of the day. After finishing up the solves, I noticed that David arranged the answers in reverse alphabetical order as a final surprise.
Today’s cartoon transports us to a laboratory where Jumble cartoonist, Jeff Knurek, offers us a glimpse of a hardware upgrade that is about to be installed in an android. The scientist, dressed in a lab coat, safety goggles, hairnet and booties, can be seen holding what the cartoon sentence describes as a positronic brain.
This fictitious technological device was popularized by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov in the early 1940’s. Positronic was named after the newly discovered positron particle discovered by Carl D. Anderson in 1932. Asimov, in effect, added a fictional contemporary spin on an actual scientific discovery. The implant functions as a central processing unit that would provide robots with a consciousness recognizable to humans.
In Jeff’s panel, he chose to identify his character as an android and not a robot. In case you’re not sure what the difference is between the two, I’d be happy to clue you in. A robot can have some human attributes (think arms, head, chest, and feet) but it’s not required to have them all. An android must always be in human form and be able to pass as a human in natural light.
The final solve has been increasing by 1-letter since Monday, so today we find ourselves at eleven. The layout was cryptic and gave absolutely nothing away. The key for my solve was in the dialogue exchange between the scientist and android. The android was insisting that his operating system was functioning perfectly and was rejecting the offer of a “new brain”. MIND came into view first, leaving CLOSE to be found in the remaining letters. The -ED suffix was tacked onto MIND to complete our midweek puzzle and the result was a cleverly crafted finish. Have a wonderful Wednesday, and I’ll see you right back here tomorrow!
Jumble Answers 
Good Morning, Mike. Good Morning, Everyone. BRAIN TRUST? 🤖🙋🏻
° He became very CLOSE MINDED about the nightly walks by the RIVER once he realized that he would constantly CLENCH his teeth while passing the MOSSY trees, fearing what was HIDDEN in the darkness….
° The area was MOSSY, and the RIVER kept things damp…
His feelings often were that he should stay close by the camp.
He’d CLENCH his fists…frustrated that he didn’t have the guts,
To leave his fears well HIDDEN…but he always had the buts…
Yet despite all the outward signs…the fists, and teeth he grinded…
He still wished he could stop himself from being so CLOSE MINDED…
Good morning! ☀️
Good morning. I got all the words but Clench took a little longer to get. The first three were automatic reads. When it came time for the cartoon answer I think the replaced part should have been reserved for me because mine just short circuited. Took the easy way out and looked for the answer. Nice use of the words Angela. Until tomorrow stay well.
Good Morning, Brooklyn. Thank you. Have a good one. 🤖🙋🏻
Brooklyn…I don’t know if you still check, but today is National Spumoni Day. Be still my heart! I hope you take a ride over to L&B and get yourself some. We have a lot of the Italian bakeries here that make it, and of course there’s the World Famous Ralph’s Ices….but NOTHING can hold a candle to the Original Spumoni Gardens, I’m hoping one of the guys takes me into Brooklyn later so that I can do homage to the Holiday! 😂 (There’s that damn bell again)! 😂 🍦🙋🏻
Very clever use of key words and witty. Subtle
Hi Everyone –
I had viper for the first word, but it worked because the circled letters were the same.
Not sure if we’ve seen viper before.
Hi Caroline. Good Morning. We have had Viper a few times over the years, most recently on April 29th, as PRIVE. 🙋🏻
Thanks, Angela. I think I forget many of the clue words that were easy for me but remember the tough ones.
You’re not alone there, Caroline. Kind of like life…🤔🙋🏻
I momentarily saw VIPER as well, Caroline. 🙂
Caroline…I don’t know if you’re a Jeopardy fan, but one of the categories last night was titled “Canadiana”. (Or something similar…I was only giving it one eye and ear up until that point, because I was also watching the ballgame)…Anyway, a question was asked about French Fries,…And THAT definitely brought me to attention! The answer? Poutine, of course! 🍟 And it immediately triggered the Pavlov response! 😂🙋🏻
Funny, Angela, especially about your Pavlov response. I didn’t see the show and rarely watch Jeopardy, probably because I don’t get many of the answers.
I try watching it as often as I can. I feel I’m always learning what I don’t know, and enjoying what I do! LOL! And the Pavlov Theory? I’m such a perfect example! 😂😂 Everyone goofs on me! Mention something? …I’m off! 😂😂🙋🏻
As he attempted to ford the RIVER with his son, he had to CLENCH the boy’s hand tightly making sure he wouldn’t get caught up in some HIDDEN obstacle from the MOSSY bottom.
I also can’t read and saw viper rather than river,but the letters I and E were the same.Too many letters at first for the final solve,but indeed mind tipped the scale.
Lots of double letters today but managed to get all the words without difficulty. I too initially thought about circuit but of course the right letters weren’t there. Thanks for the information about androids vs robots, Mike. I’m not into Science Fiction at all so I learned something new today. Yay Jumble!
I thought of you this morning, Betty. My Alexa showed a story about the SF FogCam that will be shutting down at the end of this month. It’s been showing the fog for 25 years and is the oldest webcam still in operation. I guess we both learned something new! 😊😊😊
Yes, I heard the information too, Mike. Other than being a novelty, I honestly don’t know why they needed a Fog Cam at San Francisco State. The university is located in one of the foggiest districts in San Francisco and one need only look out the window or walk outside to see the fog. If the sun is shining at SF State, the entire city is sunny.
The story didn’t mention the location. My display showed a shot of the GGB and that was what caught my attention. Now I’ve learned two new things!
Hi all – Another easy one today; no trouble with any of the words or answer. The double letter trick worked on the last three words but failed on the first.
I first saw VIVRE as in ‘joie de vivre’ before seeing RIVER.
What struck me right away was the mixing of eras in the cartoon, like the old Sci-fi movies that imagined the future. We’ve got the futureistic humanoid and a present-day monitor on the table, but in the back, an old-fashioned upright reel-to-reel computer tape cabinet.
Mike, I loved how you slipped in “contemporary SPIN” on the positron!
Angela, hope your computer upgrade went more smoothly than the cartoon today!
Have a great day, everyone!
“Glimpsing the huge submerged MOSSY sharp rock HIDDEN in the RIVER cause the rafter to CLENCH his oars (and other things) more tightly!”
Gadzooks Batman! It was hardly an upgrade! All I did was check off a box or two.😉..The old Sci-fi movie aspect is a good call though. A little bit of oddity in the puzzle today. Only what struck me and immediately gave up the CLOSE was the brain completely enCLOSEd in the box, the image on the monitor CLOSEd also, and our Resistant Robot doing whatever he could to KEEP A LID ON IT too. SEALED the deal for he…But what really made me LOL was seeing the word ANDROID itself. Once again JUST last night, for the gazilliionth time we had the same old, SAME OLD, iPhone vs Android (ahem) conversation…I tell ya, the people who dislike Apple REALLY dislike Apple…Such vehemence…There’s no REASONING with them….And since this was all after Jeopardy? All I kept thinking was…Hmm..Ice cold Apple slices after the Poutine! Ah, the Joy of Living! 😂😂…Enjoyed your take, (despite the word HUGE). You know my feelings about that! 😉 Have a great day, G! 🤖🙋🏻
Funny, I just bought a Honeycrisp apple today. Must be subliminal advertising. But no poutine!
Besides the Apple/Android split, I know some people who won’t use anything but a Microsoft phone (Cortana anyone?) 😂 Have a good one! 🙋🏻♂️
LOL! It would have had to have been extROIDinarily sublimal! …you were completely unaware when you went shopping! 😂 And you should try Poutine, if you could find it out there…You’d definitely become a believer…Anyway, I suppose we’re all set in our ways, but the CRAB Apples are really out of control, IMO. I say just …🎶Live and let buy…🎶📱🙋🏻
How did I know it wouldn’t slip by you?! 😉
If it had been about quarks instead of positrons, I would have called it a strange, but colorful and charming observation.
Hi everyone.
First time commenting..
The words were okay and quick, but the answer was more difficult.
Thanks for the android v robot definition.. learned something new today.
Actually, we really look forward to reading your daily analytic summary of jumbles.
We did not know this website was out there, until we stumbled on an answer we had to research a few weeks ago. This is amazing. Thank you.
Hi Elly. Welcome! 🙋🏻
I’m happy to hear that you found us, Elly. Our forum is open to anyone who wants to talk about the puzzle. It’s always a blast to hear how other folks go about their solve and you’d be amazed at how much we learn from one another along the way.
Yes, there are other websites out there, but today’s puzzle answer perfectly describes what I think of them. Their material is often contrived and of a disingenuous nature.
Do drop by again real soon and join in the fun!