All hints are in the comments!

Thursday, May 14, 2020

May 14, 2020

|| || tepid, lanky, island, tirade, in plain "site".
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.

18 comments:

Ol' Man Keith said...

FLN
Thank you, Misty.
The compliment is appreciated.
It raised a smile.
Your words are nicely calibrated
To each blogger's style.
(Now Dusty, get to bed! It's past time for good little doggies to be tucked in.)

Today's solution:
His multiple personalities were becoming a crowd. He could do nothing--whether to eat a meal, take a nap, or wash his face--without taking a poll of them all.
His madness was now clear to family & friends, an insane plight evident to everyone.
~ OMK

Misty said...

Well, the third and fourth Jumble items too a few minutes for me to figure out, and then came a bit of thinking about how those letters might fit into the solution. In the end I came up with only one four letter word, and Voila! that made the second one pretty plain. So, Woohoo! I got the Jumble this morning--a main delight of my day.

Is it dumb to give thanks for thanks,
Producing just generous blanks?
Who cares, Ol'Man Keith,
It's just a relief
To share fun without any cranks.

Misty said...

P.S. I'm not a poet, and I know it.

Sandyanon said...

I'm getting kind of overwhelmed with all the poetry here.
As for the jumble, I am kind of tired today, and let it defeat me. Not the clues, but the solution. When it didn't come immediately, I just said, more or less, "Oh, ----- it." , and looked it up.
Tomorrow will be better.

Wilbur Charles said...

I got the four J's and the riddle-solution was plain to see. But I ran out of vowels. No A, no E???? Help?

David, Jeff??? Are you out there? It's late enough'. I had TEPID,LANKY,ISLAND,ATIRED; In Plain "Site"

Helllllpp? OMK, I linked an Argyle comic from 5/13 for you at CC.

Wilbur Charles said...

Ok. I went and got the newspaper and looked again. Okay, 11 circles. Let's look at #4 for the missing A and E. Aha. TIRADE.

Isn't it understood that only one six letter answer will fit? Past tense counts, n'est-ce pas?

Despite being up since 7 am, EDT; solved this by 8am, finished xword by 9am I'm finally here. Breakfast, AA MTG*, housework, two hour trip to Dunellon, CC blog for which I posted 200+ bytes including a link for Keith and finally, at long last back to the J-blog to vent, rant and wipe off egg salad.

Btw, Misty your getting to be an xword guru I see.

WC

* We were outside but my 80+ friend came and declared "Not enough social distancing". Mean age c62

Wilbur Charles said...

My point above is despite all that I'm still wide awake

I'm going to take a crack at Bilbo again.

Sandyanon said...

Wilbur -- except it's "attired". Seven letters. At least you got the solution, which is more than I did.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Thank you, Wilbur ~ Yes, I saw that in yesterday's paper, but not in such bright colors!
I think that frame was in the back of my mind when I was decoding the diagonal.

Dear Sandy ~
Sorry for all the toe-tapping & rhyming. I know how you feel. When I'm just skimming through for pleasure, I am often put off (maybe "overwhelmed") by pages of poetry. With me, it is usually modern stuff that's off-putting, where it seems more a bunch of high concepts, metaphoric quirks, and word patterns than traditional poetry.

I like to think good verse is soothing,
And while I'm on this post
Even as an amateur, it seems behooving
To follow the lead of our host.

But I don't mean to compare with Owen--or with Wilbur. I promise to stick with prose for most of my comments. What's soothing to one is not pleasing to all.
I shall keep your comfort level in mind.
~ OMK

Ol' Man Keith said...

BTW, speaking of prose, take another glance at my piece under "Today's Solution" above.
If you're willing to separate the prefix from the first italicized word, what's left is a rare true Spoonerism of the 3-word solution. At least the latter two words fit the proper pattern.
Yee-Ha!
OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

Okay, over three hours I see. After completing four days of J words, I noticed I'd already done Monday. Forgive me, too late to revise . Here are the J's and riddle-solutions from 5/11-5/14. I'll post them and then follow with the saga of the news of the death of Smaug to the arrival of the elves and Laketown men.


Liner, Oddly,Dreamy,Expose;Seller door
Expel, Ditto,Skinny, Violet:Loved ones
Hippo,Apply,Nibble,Spotty;In tip top shape
Tepid,Lanky,Island,Tirade;In Plain site

Finally, they spotted the ancient thrush, chirping away.
It was apparent to Bilbo that the bird had something to say.
"Oddly", said Balin, he understands us, perhaps
Carc, the Raven will come, if not too much time has elapsed.

And beyond dreams an even older raven appeared.
Old beyond years and hardly in tip top shape .
"Thorin, son of Thror, good news,more than you dared
But you mustn't remain in plain site, you must escape

To the mountain from which you were long ago expelled.
You don't know your danger, perhaps your death knell.
Armies are marching, you mustn't be exposed"
Fortify and arm. You'll be besieged and enclosed".
At this news Thorin made a bee line back to the mountain
From there, if the dwarves applied, they'd maintain

The ability to withstand a siege. "And nibble on chewy cram?"
Thought Bilbo for whom the stomach craved eggs and ham.
Even Bombur, whose nickname was "The Hippo" seemed smaller
Perhaps. Lanky nah. Skinny, ditto. But maybe taller.

In no time the dwarves had a fortified island fortress
All egress denied including Bilbo's cellar door
Only a line of stones marked a path for two abreast
Thorin under the spell of gold was ready for war.

Presently came Bard the Bowman. "It was I who slew
The dragon of dread. Are you willing now to recompense
Laketown for the loss of loved ones? Will good sense
Rule your passion for treasure? Will you give just due?"

At these words Thorin turned violet with unchecked rage
"You come to my gates armed and ready to engage
In war?". This was the beginning of a violent tirade
For dwarvish lust for treasure overruled barter and trade .

WC

OwenKL said...

Sorry no comment today. Not feeling well, having difficulty with comprehension. May just be straining myself with a series on Atheist vs. Theist discussions at a FB group "Cherry Picking the Bible 🍒". Still haven't gotten my medicines, tho I've been assured they're in transit.

Wilbur Charles said...

There you go, Sandy. Enjoy. And DITTO for Keith, Misty and Owen who we missed today. Hah, out there is a lurker thinking "Just when I thought it was safe, Bilbo comes back!"

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Owen, sorry to hear that you're under par. That blog would probably drive me crazy.

There was an Australian ex-nun who "decoded" the Dead Sea Scrolls and applied the "pesher" formula to the New Testament.

I think you can wiki her. If you like controversy, that's your ticket. eg, Did Jesus conspire in the death of John the Baptist? His marriage to Mary Magdalene and their children? Etc, etc.

WC

Wilbur Charles said...

Sorry, the name is Barbara Thiering

Misty said...

Owen, take it easy and take good care of yourself. Hope you'll get some good rest and will feel better tomorrow.

Wilbur that's an incredible poem with all sorts of Jumble words and solutions here and there. Amazing. How do you get all that done?! Many thanks for a great treat, and get a good rest, too, after all that hard work.

Ol' Man Keith said...

Yes, take it easy, Owen. I know how tough it can be when we're off our meds. That religion page sounds like a rough theme for exchanges, esp. when you feel your focus is compromised.
When I'm "off," I can't do much more than nap-- w/ the TV droning in the distance.
Take
it
easy.

Wilbur ~ You must be going for some kind of record. For super-human-ness, no doubt.
I am impressed for one.
As my Welsh ancestors would say, "Da iawn ti!"
~ OMK

Wilbur Charles said...

Prescience, which Owen dearly loved: The word that I misspelled which I finally realized was TIRADE, shows up in Jeff Wesch's Friday teaser.

Spelled correctly. Sandy was so gentle in her correction. As opposed to "Wilbur, you dunderhead! There's two T's in ______

Jeff's xword started so easy and then one of those dastardly clues, plural. n Down(see n+1 down).

Sherlock Holmes makes an appearance as does Beethoven.

Talk about spoilers. And..

I'm still not asleep. Somewhere I drank caffeinated coffee. No wonder I kicked out five or six stanzas of "The Hobbit". .
WC