LITGU = GUILT

ARKCC = CRACK

UNORNE = NEURON

PEANPH = HAPPEN

CARTOON ANSWER:

THE JUMBLE CREATORS’ FAVORITE BREAD IS – – –

UILCRKNENPPE = “PUN-PERNICKEL”

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today’s Jumble is THE perfect example of why I just can’t get enough of this game. Even though we’ve seen all of the clue words before, they still gave our brains quite a workout — especially the surprise answer!

When I initially started the puzzle this morning, the ease in which I solved the first two clue words had me thinking that this one was going to be a cakewalk. I couldn’t have been more wrong! I took so long working on NEURON that I decided to skip it and try to back into it later. Noticing that the entire surprise answer was in quotes meant it wasn’t going to be an easy task, but it was worth a try. I was pleased when I ran into HAPPEN because it was just as easy as the first two words and I could now start to take in the glory that was today’s cartoon.

The setting for today’s panel should be familiar to regular players of the game. It’s the office of David and Jeff, or as I like to call it, the “Jumble Creation Station”! We’re greeted by their friendly faces and it looks like we’re just in time for lunch. Jeff is in the foreground and can be seen slicing a loaf of bread with a long serrated knife. An open jar of sandwich spread labeled “Miracle” is to his left along with an open package of lunch meat. The meat appears to be thickly sliced leading me to believe that it’s probably bologna. At his feet are his adorable pooches, Gizmo and Fifi, and they are clamoring for his attention. The aroma of fresh bread and meat has surely caught their attention as they excitedly paw his leg for even the smallest crumb. David is in the background and is busy toiling away at a computer. Is he working on today’s Jumble? We’ll never know, but there’s no doubt that it’ll be amazing!

Reading the dialogue, I couldn’t help but notice that it was very wordy, but in a good way! In fact it was great because they were doing a bit of wordplay of their own which was very enjoyable to read. The cartoon sentence was very short and concise with one word leaping off the page at you. If you took the time to sink your teeth into all of the visual clues of the cartoon, you’d no doubt have more than enough information to get the job done.

The final solution was more challenging for me because I skipped one of the clue words. The big hint today was the word “bread” in the sentence. My newspaper prints the Jumble in black and white so the loaf that Jeff was slicing was on the darker side and looked like rye. With no “Y” in my letter layout, I decided to pause and think about the different types of bread. The “K” from CRACK brought pumpernickel to mind and the rest of the puzzle started to fall neatly into place. With the answer in quotes, I quickly guessed “PUN-PERNICKEL” and went back and solved NEURON. Today’s puzzle surely hit the spot leaving us with a tasty surprise answer that was very easy to digest! Have a terrific Thursday, and I’ll see you tomorrow!