From billr:

Song lyrics MAY help:
From billr:

Song lyrics MAY help:
Also from billr (and travelgirl):

Is it because his ears are covered by his costume? He can’t hear anything on his phone?
Indeed. My other question is where he puts that phone when he’s out webslingin’! Not really sure I want to know…
From Boise Ed, who notes “Total CIDU for me”:

I have a maybe-theory but let’s see what y’all think.
Oy. I momentarily forgot which strip this was from, so I asked Google Images. The AI summary says:
This is a comic strip from the series “Bizarro” by Dan Piraro.
I don’t think so! (Yes, I was able to figure it out.)
Ellis Rosen has a long post devoted to comics of his that have references that may be obscure.
Obscure references are the bread-and-butter of CIDU; I’m only going to put one here because the comics and the essay are Ellis’s work, not mine. It’s worth reading.



BVCC sends this in: “Yes, I can tell you that it’s not textbook imposter syndrome, because it’s not. From Wikipedia: “Impostor syndrome, also known as impostor phenomenon or impostorism, is a psychological experience in which a person suffers from feelings of intellectual and/or professional fraudulence.” This is not at all what Schroeder is exhibiting.”

Not seeing a joke in this tragedy.

… and some non-CIDUs


The joke is clear, if hackneyed by now, but what would the kids tip? A 20% trick?
This execution of the same joke is a bit clearer, since it’s the kid asking for money.

Not so much a CIDU as “way too much work”. Post individual clue solutions in the comments. FYI, complete solution is here.


This one tripped me up, because I assumed a Pumpkin Spice Latte only had the spices used in pumpkin pie. This used to be true: introduced in 2003, Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte contained only the spices, and no pumpkin. That made sense. Who thinks steak sauce has steak in it? or shrimp sauce has shrimp in it? Or awlspice has an awl in it? But, in response to complaints, in 2015 they reformulated to add some pumpkin puree. That was really unnecessary, because a bit of pumpkin puree adds little taste. But this does mean Blazek’s joke actually works.
Not a CIDU, but definitely an Ewww.

Not a CIDU, either, but cute.

And one last nod to Peanuts:



And, finally, an OY

There’s this synchronicity, sent in by Nebulous:


billr sends this in: “A whole sheaf of comics starring Death, of course, this time of year. But what is the question he’s talking about?”

Here’s a bonus OY from this week:
