I was doing a crossword from an old “Games” mag. (July 2001). For the clue “Dogpatch man under a cloud”, they have Joe Bfstplk. I do get several hundred hits for this spelling, but more sites (here is one ) have it Btfsplk.
With such obvious gibberish, I would think people would have to look it up every time, so why the popularity of the different spelling? Did Capp vary it?
I remember it with a T, and it wasn’t exactly “gibberish” – it was pronounced like a Bronx cheer or raspberry, hence the “BTF”
Good food, but not good enough for the prices. I always had fantastic service there, though.
As of December 9, 1962, it was “Joe Btfsplk.”
That’s the sequence were he travels to deepest Brooklyn and acts as the human ashtray for Evil-Eye Fleegle, Master of the Whammy.