All hints are in the comments!

Monday, August 12, 2019

Aug. 12, 2019

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Image from the Internet.

The opening poem contains all the words (or variations of them) from today's Jumble.
Comments are welcomed!
Do not explicitly reveal any of the actual answer words until after closing time, but embedding them surreptitiously in comment sentences is encouraged.

29 comments:

Ol' Man Keith said...

No problem with the 4 clue words. But I missed on my first attempt to run the letters into a solution.
It almost made me pout. "'Pon a whim," sez I to m'self, "let's 'ave another go!"
And this time it fell... right... into place.
~ OMK

OwenKL said...

No poem from me today. Instead I'm going to tell you bluntly what's happening to me today. I've got a doctor appointment this morning. This would be my second one I've made since my health crashed June 1st. Out of about 5 I've had scheduled. But it will be my first time going out on a limb to use the city medical transport service I finally was able to get signed up for. The rides will cost I think $5 apiece for Brenda and I. Her motive is that she has to be my ears at any appointment.

Sandyanon said...

Sorry to hear you don't feel up to a poem today, Owen. But the prose account of your medical appointment was highly instructive. Thank you.

The jumble was Monday easy, but I really didn't think the solution was very clever. Its idea didn't seem all that connected to the idea of the cartoon. I get what squirrels do, but how would that solution specifically lead to stress? The idiom just doesn't fit. Oh well, nitpicking again, aren't I?

Misty said...

So sorry to hear about your health problems, Owen, and I hope you and Brenda have an easy and successful ride on the medical transport system. Sounds like that could be a huge help for all your appointments coming up. Let us know how it goes.

Well, after a tough puzzling at the end of last week, I had a great Monday morning, sailing through crossword, Sudoku, Kenken and this sweet Jumble without any problems at all. Guess I'm easy to please because I found this Jumble delightful, Sandyanon. Loved the glasses on the squirrel psychiatrist, and the anxious expression on the poor patient. The tree in the background reminded us of the source of his anxiety. Very cute, all around, I thought.

Ol' Man Keith said...

The medical transport service interests me. Coincidentally I just learned of the same local service from a new friend two days ago, one that may make life easier on my wife who's been doing all of our driving these days.
Good luck to you & Brenda, Owen!

Misty
~ I agree that this jumble is "cute all around." By taking the literalness of the old idiom & applying its over-vulnerable sense to the poor squirrel, it earns our smiles.
~ OMK

Sandyanon said...

Ok, two things. First, because again I wasn't clear enough -- I am familiar with that idiom as taking an extreme position on something, or taking a risk. Of course, either of those could lead to stress, but that would be a potential indirect result, and not the essence of the idiom. Probably being too literal-minded for many others to agree, but that's how I tend to think.

Second, FLN, Misty, did you see my late post about jumbling on this site? I'd love to know your response, just to clear up my confusion.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Sandy ~
I'm sure by now we all understand your self-critique of being "too literal-minded," but even so...
And even understanding your dissecting of the various ways in which this particular idiom works, it remains a mystery why you find this to be problematic.
As to your question for Misty, I join you in wondering about her answer. I too am curious, Misty!
~ OMK

OwenKL said...



Well here I am ensconced in a hospital bed. Doc says I have a bladder infection that spread thru out my entire body. I'll be here for a couple days. Thank goodness for my new smartphone! All ready feeling better, but shaky and drowsy.


Wilbur Charles said...

I was running around this morning but did knock this off fairly quickly. Last word was the remaining letters.

Owen, hope all goes well.

Now to check that late post.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Yep, now I remember and I made a comment too

OwenKL said...

Oops woosy, not drowsy. Someone want to post today's solutions for me and let CC know how I'm doing? Thanks!

Sandyanon said...

Owen, sorry, but I don't know how to work on this site, except for comments.

OMK, thanks -- I take that as a suggestion for me to shut up, so I will do that.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Dear Owen ~
Very sorry to see you're in the hospital. Please pay close attention to your docs & nurses. A general infection can be tough to beat. I had a full body sepsis--an immune system reaction to major infection--in 2012, and it sent me back for three hospital stays plus a month in rehab. The only good that came of it was the rest. I didn't have much pain but was very lethargic.
I hope your condition clears up much faster. We're already missing you!
~ OMK

OwenKL said...

Still haven't figured out how to start a new day on this blog but I'm sure it can be done. Meanwhile just post as if it's Tuesday. Do post, as so far this is the only place I've figured out how to post or read anything!

Wilbur Charles said...

Sandy, please don't "Shut up". (Irr) regardless of anything, OMK, Misty and of course, Moi, love to hear from you, exactly how you feel about the puns, J's, poetry , weather , cost of tea in Ceylon etc. eg. We love you.


What we need in here is lots of back and forth.

Btw, today's J went quickly. I too can't create a Tuesday illustration but I'll skip out and grab a little caffeine and come up with another poor imitation of Owen's poesy

WC

Misty said...

Oh my goodness, so many things to deal with this morning. Owen, I just sent C.C. a message to let her know you're in the hospital. I also asked her if she can help us post the Jumble solution on this site. I hope she sees the message soon.

Sandyanon, I love you and your posts on this site, and was so happy you came back after being away for a week. I didn't realize we had any conflicts, since I always appreciate and enjoy your comments. I just sometimes have a different reaction to the Jumble, but surely that's okay, isn't it? I don't see it as a disagreement--just a contribution to the variety of responses we all have that makes every morning's posts a pleasure. And your comments and insights are a huge part of that pleasure, so please, please, never stop sharing them with us. And please forgive me if I inadvertently offended you in any way.

Wilbur Charles said...

The sound you're about to hear is Owen turning over in his hospital bed

Mittens when she was much younger
Kept a food stash to stave off hunger
There's more to tell , Part II of the tale
For pushing the door, was of no avail.
She could no longer get to her tasty bits
The entryway door was now marked EXIT
She let out a shreik, and a nose bellow
Meaning I want my grub and I want it now!

Wilbur Charles said...

Instead of embedding the J's and Riddle-Solution I am hinting.


WC

Sandyanon said...

Owen, glad you're feeling well enough to post a comment.

Misty, you have never offended me. I was only responding to OMK's post. And what I meant was that I'd refrain from commenting on the jumbles themselves, aside from describing my experience with solving.

I was/am still curious as to why you can't do the jumble online when it's not in your paper. I always used to do it in my LA Times as well, but have switched to Sunday-only delivery, so I do it from this blog or sometimes one of the other websites Owen has listed.

Zhouqin (C.C.) Burnikel said...

Hi Owen,

So sorry to hear your health problems.

You'll need to add Keith or someone who knows the basics of Blogger to Author List. Go to Settings, then Basic, then Permissions, then Blog Authors.

But should be able to publish a new post with your smartphone every day. You can't probably edit much. Blogger setup is not mobile friendly.

Please email me crosswordc@gmail.com if I can be of any help.

Misty said...

Sandyanon, you're actually right--the Sunday Jumble would have been on this site if not in the newspaper. Sorry to have been so dense.

Things have been a bit complicated for me lately and today has turned into a kind of nightmare. I've been working on a chapter for a book on "War and Literature" that someone is editing, and had finished about six pages when this morning I must have accidentally hit some button and my whole text has simply disappeared leaving a blank page. And I have no idea how to retrieve it. It's taken me a month to write this so far, and I'm just stunned that it's gone. And my tech supporter, who normally helps me with this, is on vacation until August 19.

I can't believe I don't make copies of my work as I go along, but in decades of writing I've never just had a text disappear suddenly and entirely from a file I'm working on.

So it's a blessing that you're not upset with me, and that C.C. will help us get help for Owen with the blog. Now we just need to pray that Owen will have a good recovery soon and be home and writing his wonderful poems for his blog and us.



Ol' Man Keith said...

So much to comment on since I last posted!

Owen ~
Again, I hope your hospital stay is a good one! - meaning it should be both restful & short, as well as successful in getting you well healed and back with us!

Sandy ~
No, it was never my wish to see you clamp down on your comments. My last response was in the way of letting you know I could not understand your explanation. If we are to communicate fully and well, we need to know how our words are coming across, no? We all have our individual ways of parsing the jumbles, so please carry on!

C.C. ~
Unfortunately, I do not have any blogger skills. I am just another poster... er, comment writer. The last time I knew how to manipulate anything on line was in 1982 when our school got its first computer. Since then, each succeeding generation has left me in the dust.

Misty ~
What a terrible situation for you! I know what it's like to lose a single paragraph through computer failure, but to see multiple pages vanish must be a gut-wrenching horror. I feel for you--truly.
I know you must know the only solution is to get right back on top of it and reconstruct all you can from memory. The only positive side to this is that the new version will probably be an improvement. Our brains often come to the rescue that way!

W.C. ~
Your poem is most welcome--delightful!
I hope you may be the one who can find the way to continue posting the cartoon in Owen's absence.
Will you be our back-up rock?

I haven't got around to solving today's jumble yet. The 4 clue words were a snap, but the solution--with its three uniform 3-letter words-- will take some time...
~ OMK

Misty said...

Ol'Man Keith, just a quick note to say that as mysteriously as my text disappeared, it reappeared when I again pushed something on the keyboard, and there it was once again. From now I'm going to make a copy of every professional piece of work I do as I go along, so that this scare never happens to me again. Also, give us some clues if you get the Jumble solution--I'm still struggling with that one.

Sandyanon said...

If I may jump in then, I think Wilbur's poem does give a but hint in the sixth line, when the kitten couldn't go both directions through the door.


Sandyanon said...

BIG hint! Oh how I hate spell check et al.

Wilbur Charles said...

The J word hints by line were:
Line 1-J4
Last line- J2
Line 2- J1
Line 3- J3
Line 6- Riddle-Solution

In case you missed it

WC

Misty said...

Loved your poem, Wilbur, and found all four words but finally had to cheat and look up the solution. So great that you're helping Owen with the poems while he's not able to help. Let's all hope for a good tomorrow for everybody.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Misty ~
Delighted that you recovered your text--apparently as suddenly as it vanished! Sometimes you hit the right button and things change--Presto~~just like that.
Maybe you chanced to press the "Undo" key...
Happy for you.

Despite all the hints and shouts this was not an easy solution.
I couldn't make any sense of your "J word hints," W.C., but I thank you for trying.
Maybe those were for a prior jumble?
~ OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

Mittens when she was much younger
eg Mittens the KITTEN

Kept a food stash to stave off hunger
eg HOARD

There's more to tell , Part II of the tale
eg SEQUEL

For pushing the door, was of no avail.
She could no longer get to her tasty bits
The entryway door was now marked EXIT.
eg INS AND OUTS

She let out a shreik, and a nose bellow
eg SNORT*

Meaning I want my grub and I want it now!

* This was the hardest word to "fit" in

I guess Owen's method of actually using the J words as opposed to Wilburian style "hints" is best after all. Probably easier too .

On the plus side Wilburian poetry seems to have brought a miraculous recovery for Owen as I see action on 8/14

WC