GALEE = EAGLE

RIHWL = WHIRL

GENCAY = AGENCY

DAYLLG = GLADLY

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE VET THAT SPECIALIZED IN TREATING WATERFOWL HAD A – – –

AEWIRANGAD = “WADING” AREA

Good morning everyone and happy Monday! Last week we saw some very easy puzzles (with the exception of Saturday’s “LOW-CATION” brain teaser). Waking up and finding a Monday puzzle with the answer in quotes had me excited as I really enjoy a very punny surprise answer.

All of today’s clue words were old favorites with EAGLE giving me a few extra seconds of hesitation. I thought it was ALGAE at first and couldn’t get that word out of my mind. Coincidentally, my page-a-day Jumble desk calendar also had EAGLE as an anagram in the first clue word position and it was jumbled as LEEGA. If you’re a sports fan, the Philadelphia Eagles delivered a crushing defeat to the Vikings yesterday so everything seems to be coming up EAGLEs! I wouldn’t make a Super Bowl bet off of all of this but it does give you something to think about.

Moving on to the cartoon, I attempted a blind solve of the answer but came up empty handed. Looking at the cartoon, we see a nurse in the background with a stethoscope around her neck and she’s glancing at a clipboard. Jeff had her wearing crocs footwear which was very interesting because as we all know that crocodiles and birds aren’t the best of friends.

Reading the dialogue, the nurse says “Donald, the doctor will see you now”. Looking back at the cartoon, we see a small duck in a pool wearing a sailors cap similar to the one that Donald Duck always wears. Nice touch, Jeff! Another great detail was the bird (egret?) that had a cast or bandage on its leg. The woman is telling the patient to be patient which was an excellent play on the word and made me quack up a bit!

The letter layout for the solve was very cryptic and kept the answer well hidden. Having spent so much time looking at all of the detail in Jeff’s drawing, the answer came immediately making this puzzle an instant finish. Have a marvelous Monday, my friends, and I’ll see you tomorrow.