22 Comments

1. 

   You have the cat and fiddle because this strip features a cat character. It doesn’t have a cow or a laughing dog because the strip lacks cow and dog characters to play those parts.

   The first two panels are segue transition from what you expect (OK, here’s a cartoon about the cat skulking around at night, the way real cats do…) and then the third panel has some comic-strip whimsy (OK, the cat is getting into a violin case, because, OK, real cats don’t do that, but sometimes comic-strip cats do things that real cats don’t).
   Then, the final panel cashes in a detail you probably didn’t pay much attention to in panel 3. Wait, that’s not a violin case, it’s a fiddle case. And it works, even though exactly none of the nursery rhyme appears in the strip. (I’m not sure if the existing dialog is too close to the nursery-rhyme text or would work better if it was something more like “where the heck are all my spoons?”)

2. 

   I thought the fourth panel was too obvious. A slightly more obscure reference to “silverware” or “china cupboard” might have confused some readers, but would have been more satisfying when the answer became clear.

3. 

   P.S. I think the grandfather clock in the second panel might be a nod to the three blind mice.

4. 

   Kilby: That’s “Hickory, Dickery, Dock”.

5. 

   Kilby: I’m not sure I appreciate a joke more if it takes extra time to figure it out. I thought this one was just right.

6. 

   Thanks to LF for the correction. Make that one mouse with working eyes.

7. 

   And why does the cow always have sore knees in the morning?

8. 

   Padraig: I give my tongue to the cat.

9. 

   Comments I don’t Understand: the last two.

10. 

    When the cat plays the fiddle, the cow jumps over the moon

    In the first two panels, the cat waits for and then recognizes moonrise

    Can’t jump over the moon if there’s no moon in the sky

11. 

    Some commenters say this is the “naughtiest” A&J cartoon of all time as our heroes are “diddling” just off-panel, hence setting the nursery rhyme in motion.

    http://classic.tcj.com/blog/sexiest-most-suggestive-arlo-and-janis/

    BTW, another classically and more overt “naughty” A&J strip originally appeared just a few days after this one. Jimmy Johnson was particularly in a very randy mood that week.

12. 

    “Can’t jump over the moon if there’s no moon in the sky”

    Well, it turns out (spoiler alert) that the thing’s always up there.

13. 

    Okay, if we’re going to be technical, it’s only up there half the time; per hemisphere, anyway.

14. 

    Blinky, you just blew my mind.

15. 

    ” if we’re going to be technical, it’s only up there half the time; per hemisphere”

    Technically, it’s up there all the time, both hemispheres.

16. 

    Incorrect: when it has set, then it commences being “down there” (points to feet and beyond)

17. 

    “Incorrect: when it has set, then it commences being ‘down there'”

    Except, of course, that it does not, and never has.

    This is because “down” stops being down when you reach the center of the Earth*, and thereafter becomes “up” again, and it remains “up” until you reach the celestial body in question. This means that even if the moon is (points to feet), that’s still “up”. No amount of travel down will allow you to reach it.

    *Note: “the center of the Earth” is technically incorrect, the actual point where down changes to up is the center of mass for the Earth-moon system, which is inside the Earth but not at the center.

18. 

    

19. 

    Video: Every Cat at 3 a.m.

20. 

    Chakolate: Padraig asked a riddle, and I used the (literally translated) French expression to say I have no clue.

21. 

    I’m with Arthur.

22. 

    Thanks, Olivier.