Jumble Daily

The Jumble is one of the longest-running puzzles in American newspapers. It first appeared in 1954, was drawn and written for decades by Henri Arnold and Bob Lee, and is now made by puzzle writer David L. Hoyt and cartoonist Jeff Knurek for Tribune Content Agency, which syndicates it to hundreds of papers. Jumble's own website now sends players to the Chicago Tribune's free games site, where the daily puzzle is played online.

The puzzle has two stages. First come four jumbled words, such as IDOVA or SEHEYC, each with its own row of boxes; unscramble each into a real word. Some boxes in each answer are circled. Then look at the day's cartoon and its caption: the circled letters, rearranged, spell the answer to the caption, usually a pun on something in the drawing.

That second stage is what sets the Jumble apart from plain anagram games: the first four words are warm-up, and the joke is the real puzzle. The online version adds hints and a check for your answers, and the same hub carries the bigger Sunday Jumble, a Jumble Crossword, TV Jumble and a Jumble for children.

It suits anyone who reads the comics page, and it is quick: a few minutes for most days, longer when the pun is a stretch.