Los Angeles Times - 07.09.2019

E6 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

COMICS

ACROSS

1 Peak of early 2000s

cinema

10 Martin Sheen’s first

name at birth

15 Doesn’t honor

16 Blow away

17 “Let’s rock and roll!”

18 Actor Max von __

19 Verb that sounds

like a letter

20 Holders of leaves

22 Rank aboard the

Enterprise: Abbr.

23 Turbine blade

25 Moved, as a movie

camera

27 “Claws” star __ Nash

31 Get choppers

32 One up, barely

36 Oozy substances

37 Prefix for “six”

38 Class with no struggles

39 Unwieldy thing

40 British boxer Khan

41 Album info

43 Talking points?

45 Role for which Liam got

an Oscar nod

46 Show ardor

48 Occupied

52 IPA, say

53 About 5, for coffee

57 Humanities degs.

58 Enjoy a season in a day,

perhaps?

60 Therapy subjects

62 Run onstage?

63 Wrap up

64 Judges

65 Duty for the bereaved

DOWN

1 Patch plant

2 Nostalgi-cool?

3 Beginning

4 Pabst dispenser

5 Journey with strokes?

6 __ noire

7 Gobi locale

8 Search high and low

9 Apt eye rhyme for

“bread”

10 Fight in the sticks

11 2019 Emmy nominee

Adams

12 Escaped

13 Polar environmental

concern

14 Paper departments

21 Approached nightfall

24 In the world

26 Looney Tunes surname

28 Metaphorical margin of

victory

29 Contents of some

20-Across

30 Having only two

answers

32 Fight over covers,

perhaps?

33 Citrusy flavor

34 “The only way to deal

with an unfree world is

to become so absolutely

free that your very __

is an act of rebellion”:

Camus (attributed)

35 Votes for

42 Succeeds to the max

44 Sri Lankan currency

47 Send to cloud nine

49 WWII sub

50 Gift list addressee

51 Cape Ann’s county

54 Nights before

55 Rapper Lil Uzi __

56 Singer Franklin,

Aretha’s elder sister

59 Opal, for one

61 Suffix with salt

ANSWER TO

PREVIOUS PUZZLE

9/7/19

9/7/19

SUDOKU

BLISS By Harry Bliss

KENKEN

Every box will contain a number; numbers depend on the size of the grid. For a 6x6

puzzle, use Nos. 1-6. Do not repeat a number in any row or column. The numbers in each

heavily outlined set of squares must combine to produce the target number found in the

top left corner of the cage using the mathematical operation indicated. A number can be

repeated within a cage as long as it is not in the same row or column.

FAMILY CIRCUS By Bil Keane DENNIS THE MENACE By Hank Ketcham

ARGYLE SWEATER By Scott Hilburn MARMADUKE By Brad & Paul Anderson

CROSSWORD

By Erik Agard © 2019 Tribune Content Agency

Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly

Aries(March 21-April 19):
If you want to be an insider
badly enough, you will be.
Act like the others who be-
long there. And know that
some groups are easier to in-
filtrate than others.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): Who makes you feel the
best about yourself? Do
more with this person. You
could use the confidence
boost.
Gemini(May 21-June 21):
Instead of reacting quickly
to today’s events, stay alert,
take notes and let the infor-
mation mature in your being
for a while.
Cancer(June 22-July 22):
It’s OK to ask people to do
things for you. In fact, serv-
ice endears both the served
and the server.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22):
There’s so much more to see
than anyone can in one life-
time. That won’t stop you
from trying.

Virgo(Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Even if every person were in

the same place at the same

time, each would have a dif-

ferent version of the story.

Libra(Sept. 23-Oct. 23):

Others may be too shy or in-

curious to ask the questions

that get to clarity and deeper

meanings. Not you. You’ll

ask fantastic questions.

Scorpio(Oct. 24-Nov. 21):

The person who jumps in be-

fore you’re finished is being

rude. Be forgiving, but stand

up for yourself.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-

Dec. 21): Listening to freely

shared stories will definitely

give you a broader picture of

a situation.

Capricorn(Dec. 22-Jan.

19): You’ll imagine there is a

door between you and an-

other person, and you’ll re-

spect the privacy that such a

door represents by meta-

phorically knocking before

you enter.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.

18): You’ll be dealing with

people who can’t function

optimally in a world they are

not the center of. It’s not you;

it’s them.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March

20): It doesn’t take a saint to

do saintly work. Raising

your own vibration by just

10% — that is to say being

10% more compassionate

and patient — will change

everything.

Today’s birthday(Sept.

7): You feel freer to do as you

please this trip around the

sun, and yet you will not take

that liberty for granted. With

exuberance and a willing-

ness to experiment and im-

provise, you’ll forge new

paths, express yourself and

attract friends and followers

along the way. Commit to re-

search and study in 2020.

Cancer and Scorpio adore

you. Your lucky numbers

are: 39, 2, 22, 18 and 40.

Holiday Mathis writes her

column for Creators

Syndicate Inc. The

horoscope should be read

for entertainment.

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis

“Simple Saturday” col-

umns help aspiring players

improve technique and de-

velop logical thinking.

West leads a spade

against 3NT. Declarer puts

up dummy’s jack and follows

with a sneaky 10 from his

hand. Dummy leads a heart:

four, jack, king. What should

West do next?

If South has the bare king

of spades left, West can lay

down his ace. Otherwise, he

must hope East can get in for

a spade return.

West must rely on defen-

sive signals. On the first

spade East plays the eight, a

“count” signal to show an

even number of spades. De-

fenders normally signal “at-

titude” first — they encour-

age or discourage — but here

East’s “attitude” is evident

when he can’t beat the jack,

so “count” applies. (Also,

East’s four of hearts at Trick

Two showed an odd number:

five, presumably.)

West can see that South

is short of nine tricks unless

he has the ace of clubs. If

West returns a safe heart,

East will get in with the ace

of clubs later and lead a

spade for down at least one.

Question: You hold: ♠A

Q 7 6 3 ♥K 2 ♦8 7 ♣J 8 4 2.

Your partner opens one

heart, you respond one

spade and he bids two dia-

monds. The opponents

pass. What do you say?

Answer: This case is

close. If your jack of clubs

were the queen, you would

definitely have enough

strength to invite game and

would try 2NT. If partner

had anything extra, he

would bid again. As it is, your

hand is borderline for a

game invitation. I would set-

tle for a conservative return

to two hearts.

South dealer

Both sides vulnerable

NORTH

♠J 9 2

♥Q 10 3

♦A Q 4

♣Q 7 6 3

WEST EAST

♠A Q 7 6 3 ♠8 4

♥K 2 ♥9 8 7 6 4

♦8 7 ♦10 9 3

♣J 8 4 2 ♣A 10 9

SOUTH

♠K 10 5

♥A J 5

♦K J 6 5 2

♣K 5

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass

Opening lead — ♠ 6

Tribune Media Services

BRIDGE

By Frank Stewart

Dear Amy:In this age of

“smart homes,” where

everything can be synched

up by an app with noti-

fications, are we wrong to

feel a loss of privacy?

I work from home, so I am

mainly at home during the

day.

My husband gets alerts

every time the front door is

opened. If a package is deliv-

ered, he receives an image of

the package. He can track

the electricity usage from

our solar production. He can

turn off the lights and open

the skylight from his phone.

Today he texted me that I

shouldn’t be running the

dryer during certain peak

hours. He then shut it off re-

motely!

I have nothing to hide but

am increasingly annoyed

that my own actions are be-

ing tracked.

He’s micromanaging me

from afar!

How should I handle

this?

Living in the Future

Dear Living:I wish people

were more aware of the po-

tential negative impact

these devices and systems

can have on our personal

lives and relationships.

Once you surrender your

privacy, and your freedom to

make choices, including

mistakes, without interfer-

ence, what do you have left?

An ongoing relationship

with Big Brother.

If you cannot persuade

your husband to respect

your privacy and detach

from you during the day,

then you should find a co-

working space, a coffee shop,

or a garden shed to work out

of to escape his surveillance.

Dear Amy:I’m a 30-year-

old woman who lives with

my boyfriend. I’ve had sev-

eral weddings in the past few

years for friends and family,

and I’m happy for all of

them.

However, I am sick of at-

tending bridal showers

when the couple has lived to-

gether for years and is finan-

cially stable. It feels gift

grabby. Showers originated

for couples moving out of

their parents’ homes and liv-

ing with each other for the

first time — people “just

starting out” with empty

homes.

Showers also harken to

traditional gender roles — I

feel silly buying cooking

tools for “Lindsey’s shower”

when I know it’s her fiance

who does the cooking.

Am I being a curmud-

geon? Many of these couples

have lived together for years

in furnished homes, and

items will be used by both

the man and woman, yet ex-

pect only their female

friends (not males) to pro-

vide new domestic items. It

also is a gross reminder of

consumer culture wherein

people collect mounds of

junk they don’t need.

Fed Up

Dear Fed Up:If you don’t

attend a shower, you are not

obligated to send a gift (al-

though some people choose

to send gifts, regardless).

I agree with you about

consumer culture and gen-

der roles. However, when

you give a gift at a shower, it

is intended as a gift for both

parties (and not all showers

are cis-gendered affairs).

I also don’t think it is

up to you to decide whether

a couple “needs” dish towels

or a blender. Attend with

an open mind, or don’t at-

tend.

Some marrying couples

are getting creative about

showers; for couples who are

already well-equipped with

traditional shower-type

gifts, I love the idea of a

“charity shower,” where

guests are encouraged to

bring food, toiletries, school

backpacks to fill, or cash, for

a charity of the couple’s

choosing.

Send questions to Amy

Dickinson by email to ask

[email protected].

ASK AMY

Husband now Big Brother