Welcome to Sunday Puzzle Warm-Up, a weekly series for people who enjoy light mental exercise spiced with politics, humor, and odd bits of trivia.
The theme of the warm-up puzzles in recent weeks has been good quotes. Last week's quote was a humorous poem by Calvin Trillin which appeared in The Nation. Tonight's quote appeared here on Daily Kos (among other places) and is even funnier.
You can find the full Calvin Trillin quote lower down in tonight's diary. Meanwhile, here's tonight's quote:
Kitty skidi. Bi mush ski Chcupi No. Myfipu Wyhpgusoyph byhtga tomi sy eulytynoei wyda zyhdy diripsa budgdyzi futwhprsoypa.
Bi bidi coppyripsta gyopnu zyhdy whpgduocopny gupri bkipa zyhdy donksh zdiucso vhcsi lylligu lypo myhso!
Ltiuci whpgidcsupga skusy skoch ctoli kugo pyskopnu sy gy bosko lytosorci, fixipa skyhnk zyhdy zyudgh loci sysutta csurmiga bosku donksh-tiupopnu zyyzca.
Of course, you'll need to decode the quote if you want to know what it says.
This is a very easy quote to decode, so even if you're not an expert decoder give it a try.
Be warned though: it's not a regular cryptogram. It's a Crypto-Gremlin (a kind of cryptogram which can't be solved by computer code-cracking programs which run through all the possible letter substitutions, but can be solved through the use of your wits).
If you're not familiar with how Crypto-Gremlins work you can find an explanation here. (And you can find a handy tool to help you with letter substitutions here.)
Tonight's diary also includes a new JulieCrostic which reveals the source of tonight's quote (and a full explanation of how JulieCrostics work, for the benefit of any newcomers). The clues and the puzzle party are waiting for you right below the orange cloud.
Unfortunately I'm away this weekend and can't be part of the party, but I don't think you'll have any problems solving tonight's puzzles without me.)
Last week's quote (from the May 18th issue of The Nation) was the poem Bush as Bigfoot by Calvin Trillin:
When Jeb’s bid was starting to kindle,
The field was predicted to dwindle.
Now most pols agree:
How tough can he be?
He can’t even scare Bobby Jindal.
Tonight's quote isn't a poem, but it is funny. Unfortunately I can't be here tonight, so here's a bonus puzzle: after the quote has been decoded, figure out where it appeared and post a link in a comment so others can fully appreciate it. (Hint: if you Google the last 3 words of the quote, along with the name you'll get from the JulieCrostic verticals, the Daily Kos diary with the quote will come up easily.)
All right, here's tonight's JulieCrostic. This puzzle has 4 rows, with 3 answers per row. The verticals identify the source of tonight's quotation.
If you're familiar with how JulieCrostics work, you can jump right in; if you're new and don't yet know how JulieCrostics work, you can find complete instructions in the bottom part of the diary.
(Also if you're new, a request: please don't post any answers or other spoilers in comment subject lines. Instead, please put any guesses at possible answers into the comment itself. Thanks!)
Okay, I think that covers the basics. Here are the clues. Have fun, and I'll see you in comments!
1. bathroom
2. on one's own
3. sailing vessel
4. usual way of doing things
5. unappetizing food
6. thread-holder
7. boat
8. hot-weather vegetable
9. son of Tarzan
10. top covering
11. crazy
12. brandish
instructions for solving JulieCrostics
In JulieCrostics you are given a set of clues, such as these:
To solve the puzzle, figure out the answers to the clues and enter them into a grid of rows and columns, like so:
All the rows in the grid will be the same length (i.e. have the same number of answers). All the answers in a column will be the same length (i.e. have the same number of letters). And the words in each column are one letter longer than the words in the column to its left. That's because each word in a row has all the letters of the word before it plus one new letter.
For instance, if the clues for a row were
1. say what's not so
2. resting
3. concede
then the answers might be LIE, IDLE (= LIE + D), and YIELD (= IDLE + Y)
Write the added letter in the space between the word which doesn't have it and the word which does. For the row in the example you'd write:
1. LIE D 2. IDLE Y 3. YIELD
When you have solved all the clues and written down all the added letters, the added letters will form columns that spell out a message of some sort. It might be a person's name, it might be the title of a book, it might be a familiar phrase, or it might be a series of related words. Your challenge is to solve all the clues, fill in the vertical columns, and figure out what the vertical columns mean.
In the example given, the verticals read DAIL YKOS. With proper spacing and capitalization that spells out Daily Kos!