TODAY’S CRYPTOGRAM

[nikos1121]

EKOBOOBZ KX G AGMUX SGQB, RB OTBFZ EJU QMWBO OBGULNMFH AEU G VGHML ZEEU GFZ G QEOS DMFHZEV EA TBGLB. —BJHBFB E’FBMQQ

[nikos1121]

You can find this fun quotation puzzle, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. I challenge us with the best ones out there.

The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram).

Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated, you’ll be solving them all within a few days.  If you’re stumped, take a break and return to it.

PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general comments, but DO post your time and how you made out.

You can certainly send your solution to my private reply, or if you need a hint for today’s Cryptogram ASK THE GROUP FOR HELP!

I suggest printing these out and work them on paper. If you need a little help you can copy and paste it to Hal’s Helper below.

You can then work on the puzzle without using pen and paper, but I recommend that you do NOT look at the letter counter. 

   HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

One last request. Feel free to post a fun or clever clue, the more tangential to the quotation the better, but please don’t put the actual words of the quote in the clue.

[nikos1121]

From The Arkansas Gazette

4 minutes good
3 minutes excellent
2 minutes exceptional
90 seconds superior

[ComputerGuy]

Author

[Political Junkie Too]

About three minutes. I started with the one-letter word, and then the common letter before the apostrophe in the last name. I then got the last three-letter word which confirmed the author's name, and the rest pieced together after that.

-PJ

[nikos1121]

Yeah, I was stumped until I looked down there and saw it, but not an easy and quick one today, you had to work a little at it.

I think this is the third CG giving a word with the double letter ending.

I still haven’t figured out Magnum44’s elephant clues from yesterday.

[nikos1121]

One of those CGs where you feel you accomplished something for the day, and now we can go back to bed.

[nikos1121]

[ComputerGuy]

Me neither. Maybe something about toenails being hard...

[nikos1121]

How’s this for song writing?

Lyrics to Swinging on a Star

Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a mule

A mule is an animal with long funny ears
Kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule

Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a pig

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He’s fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don’t care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a fish

A fish won’t do anything, but swim in a brook
He can’t write his name or read a book
To fool the people is his only thought
And though he’s slippery, he still gets caught
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish

A new kind of jumped up slippery fish

And all the monkeys aren’t in the zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see it’s all up to you
You can be better than you are
You could be swingin’ on a star

[nikos1121]

And of course, you can just hear Bing singing it, in your mind.

[Main Street]

“You can find this fun quotation puzzle, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers,...”

EKOBOOBZ KX G AGMUX SGQB, RB OTBFZ EJU QMWBO OBGULNMFH AEU G VGHML ZEEU GFZ G QEOS DMFHZEV EA TBGLB. —BJHBFB E’FBMQQ

“I HAVE COME TO RETURN THIS BIRD, THIS PARROT IS DEAD, IT’S A DEAD PARROT, AND THE ONLY REASON HE’S STANDING ON HIS PERCH, IS BECAUSE HIS FEET ARE NAILED THERE. —MONTY PYTHON

I’m a baby boomer... Did I get the Cryptogram right??

[Political Junkie Too]

After reading about the elephant clue, I realized that I didn't see it yesterday.

I'm guessing that the elephant's walk is the opposite of "alighting" on someone's hand?

-PJ

[nikos1121]

Hey, come on in and join us! Get on our ping list. We have a fun bunch here

Maybe it’s a diversion to get us thru the next few years.

Just about all of us are fed up and sick of the media and I won’t go into the state of things in the world, but

it’s ominous. Everyday it’s something, as if we’re just waiting like sitting ducks for the axe to fall on us.

Anyway, I DIGRESS.

[nikos1121]

Yeah, that might be what Magnum was trying to tell us, with his tip toeing alighting elephants.

He’s asleep right now, so I’ll include him in this reply, and that will probably wake him up.

[Peter ODonnell]

No, it’s something completely different.

[Peter ODonnell]

I hope your IQ is 600 because it took me six times as long.

[Political Junkie Too]

There are tricks to it.

• One-letter words are either A or I.
• The most common letter is E, followed by T.
• The most common word is THE. Find the E, then see if there are any THE's.
• Four-letter words that begin with TH are THEN, THEM, THAT, THIS, THAN, THEY.
• Hyphenated last names are usually Irish, beginning with O'.
• Long words often end in gerunds, like ING, MENT, TION.
• Sequences of two-letter words are grammatically like IF IT IS, or IT IS AN, or phrases like that.
• Three-letter words after a comma are conjunctions like AND, BUT, NOT, etc.

After a while, you'll begin to see the word patterns.

-PJ

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Previous puzzle Wednesday 11/24/2021

KPM FGZX HW TDZDXGNM DQGUPKN HSQO RTHS KPM PDSX KPDK XHMN SHK UZDNT. —EHPS FMZZO

Solution to previous puzzle (select the yellow text with your cursor to read):

THE BIRD OF PARADISE ALIGHTS ONLY UPON THE HAND THAT DOES NOT GRASP. —JOHN BERRY

HAL'S CRYPTOGRAM HELPER

If you want on or off the daily cryptogram ping list reply to this post and state your intention: ON or OFF.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

1:54.14 An obvious guess at GFZ G gives you the author, then, it's smooth sailing.

[Magnum44]

Comes from the song, “ may the .... fly up your nose, may an elephant caress you with its toes...”