Los Angeles Times - 07.08.2019

E6 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

ACROSS

1 “__ your age!”

4 Many 4WD autos

8 Oafish

14 Feel badly about

15 Slightly

16 100-lawmaker group

17 *Secret stage exit

19 Gets ready to drive

20 Tempe sch.

21 Out of the wind

23 A, in many orgs.

24 Frosts, as cupcakes

25 *Forte of Savion Glover

and Gregory Hines

28 Comes clean?

30 Persuaded

31 Northern Iraqi city

32 Indian flatbread

34 Botch the job

35 *Impractical hope

39 Brief writer, briefly

42 Blew away

43 Pick up the tab

47 Low-cost product

50 Midsize Chevy

51 *Pass/fail metaphor

54 Cruise stopover

55 Night in Paris

56 Array in a British

pantry

57 Lobster dinner

accessory

58 Become fond of

60 ’70s covert White

House intelligence

group ... and, in a more

conventional sense, a

hint to the starts of the

answers to starred clues

63 Singer who was 15 in

2009 when his debut

EP “My World” was

released

64 “Downton Abbey” title

65 Droop

66 Passions

67 Salon colors

68 “Inside the NBA”

network

DOWN

1 Sotheby’s showing

2 Liqueur named for an

island

3 Dollhouse dishes

4 Downcast

5 WWII subs

6 It’s tuned an octave

higher than a cello

7 Penicillin target

8 Omaha winter hrs.

9 Womack of country

10 Worldwide cultural org.

11 Enormous

12 Major upset, say

13 Slangy “Sure”

18 Pecs builder

22 Name of eight English

kings

24 PC pioneer

26 Tops

27 Watchdog warning

29 New Haven collegian

32 Most recent

33 Fruit drink suffix

36 Pliers unit

37 Bill-filled device

38 Onetime Dr Pepper

rival

39 Apt. coolers

40 Vanishing point?

41 Like many veteran

professors

44 Least challenging

45 High-fiber Kellogg’s

cereal

46 __ kwon do

48 With hands on hips

49 Wizard with a scar

50 Confident reply

52 Cleaned with a cloth

53 Woodwork

pattern

58 Fighters’ org.

59 “Grey’s Anatomy” sets,

briefly

61 D.C. United org.

62 Police dept. rank

ANSWER TO

PREVIOUS PUZZLE

8/7/19

8/7/19

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 Mark McClain © 2019 Tribune Content Agency

Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly

COMICS

Aries(March 21-April 19):
Your system for determining
where focus is best placed
will get a much-needed tune-
up.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): Messing up in front of
people takes real guts. But if
most people around you ar-
en’t even trying, any mistake
you make proves that you’re
living better.
Gemini(May 21-June 21):
Every path may leadto the
desired destination. Still, if
there’s a map, figure out the
most direct route.
Cancer(June 22-July 22):
You’ll be like a journalist
seeking a story that will fas-
cinate your audience. Your
success hinges on choosing
the right topic.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22):
Maybe your progress has
been hindered by other peo-
ple’s perceptions, but likely
it’s your own self-perception
that has made the biggest

impact.

Virgo(Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

You know what you’ve done,

but they don’t. You’ll have a

more satisfying interactions

when everyone involved

understands who you are.

Libra(Sept. 23-Oct. 23):

Some schools offer pro-

grams in which a person can

sidle up to a professional in

their field of interest to get a

feel for the day-to-day. You’ll

get a version of this today.

Scorpio(Oct. 24-Nov. 21):

Holding yourself back from

what might be irresponsible,

immature or otherwise ill-

advised is adulting at its

finest.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-

Dec. 21): It’s human nature

to have many interests, but if

you present them all at once,

the others won’t know where

to start with you. One thing

at a time.

Capricorn(Dec. 22-Jan.

19): A multiple-point-of-view

style will be more interesting

today, and you’ll learn from

it too.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.

18): People laughing in a

room together can make

things funny that aren’t so

funny while home alone.

Consider before you repost.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March

20): There are many ways to

call a person out. The mild

way will be best.

Today’s birthday(Aug.

7): It would be easy to get un-

happily caught up in the

competition this year, but

angelic reminders prevent

this with events that refresh

and reset you. You’ll align

with high ideals, vibrations

and emotions for a perspec-

tive that motivates you

toward new challenges and

helps you succeed in differ-

ent kinds of relationships.

Cancer and Virgo adore you.

Your lucky numbers are: 9,

40, 38, 2 and 18.

Holiday Mathis writes her

column for Creators

Syndicate Inc. The

horoscope should be read

for entertainment.

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis

Cy the Cynic observes

the procrastinator’s rule:

“You can do it today, but to-

day will be today again to-

morrow.” When Cy was de-

clarer at six hearts, he won

West’s trump lead with the

ace and saw 11 tricks: five

trumps in dummy, three

clubs, a diamond, a spade

and at least one spade ruff in

his hand.

If West had the king of

spades, Cy could get a 12th

trick with dummy’s queen.

Otherwise, he might need a

second spade ruff.

So Cy procrastinated; he

did not draw trumps. At

Trick Two he led a spade and

let West’s eight win. Cy won

the trump return cheaply in

dummy, took the ace of

spades and A-K of clubs, and

ruffed a spade. He cashed

the ace of diamonds and

pitched dummy’s last dia-

mond on the queen of clubs.

Cy then ruffed a dia-

mond, ruffed the queen of

spades and won the last two

tricks with trumps in

dummy. If he mistimes by

drawing trumps and relying

on a second spade trick or an

unlikely squeeze, down he

goes.

Question: You hold: ♠Q 5

3 2 ♥J 8 7 6 4 ♦8 4 ♣A K. Your

partner opens one diamond,

you respond one heart and

he bids one spade. The op-

ponents pass. What do you

say?

Answer: You have lo-

cated a trump fit. How high

should you raise? A raise to

two spades would be a

chance-giving action and

would show seven to nine

points. If your jack of hearts

were the ace, you would

want to play at game and

would bid four spades. Raise

to three spades, invitational.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

♠Q 5 3 2

♥J 8 7 6 4

♦8 4

♣A K

WEST EAST

♠J 9 8 ♠K 10 7 6

♥10 5 2 ♥ 9

♦K 9 6 ♦Q 10 7 5 2

♣J 9 7 4 ♣10 6 3

SOUTH

♠A 4

♥A K Q 3

♦A J 3

♣Q 8 5 2

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

2 NT Pass 3 ♣ Pass

3 ♥ Pass 5 ♥ Pass

6 ♥ All Pass

Opening lead — ♥ 2

Tribune Media Services

BRIDGE

By Frank Stewart

Dear Amy: My mother

conceived both my brother

and me using a sperm donor.

This information was never

kept from us, and my mother

has spoken openly about it

throughout our lives.

My stepdad adopted us,

making us his legal children.

Recently, I was dis-

cussing taking an ancestry

test and my mother revealed

to me that her sister, my

aunt “Grace” (and uncle)

had trouble conceiving and

that my older cousin, “Allie,”

is also a sperm donor child.

My aunt and uncle, how-

ever, have not disclosed this

information to Allie.

My uncle was the source

of infertility and did not

want her to know (he has

some ego issues).

My mom asked me not to

publicly post about my an-

cestry test, lest my cousin

get curious and also want to

take one, outing her parents.

I am deeply uncomfort-

able with this. What to do?

Concerned Cousin

Dear Concerned:If your

mother had truly wanted to

keep this sperm-donor infor-

mation secret, she wouldn’t

have told you. But she did,

and now she is (basically)

setting this family secret at

your feetand making you re-

sponsible for keeping it.

I’m going to assume that

you are an adult. Of course,

your mother can ask you not

to post publicly about your

DNA ancestry test journey,

but your DNA is your busi-

ness and you have the right

to handle this disclosure the

way you want to.

Your mother should tell

her sister, “My kids are get-

ting their DNA tested. Natu-

rally, they are pretty excited

about this and they will

share this information with

friends and family. Allie is

going to learn the truth of

her DNA at some point, but

you should be the person to

tell her. We are all here to

support all of you if you need

it.”

Dear Amy: Two of our

neighbors have fire pits that

they use, sitting outside to

enjoy the ambiance in the

evening.

Unfortunately, they tend

to do this when it is already

warm (it has been over 95 de-

grees in Redwood City,

where we live).

In the evenings we open

our windows to begin cool-

ing down our home.

As soon as the air begins

moving in our house, the

smell of smoke starts to fill

our home.

We also have another

neighbor that uses charcoal

for their barbecue. We get

about 20 minutes of the

smell of lighter fluid and

smoke while it’s warming up.

The smoke makes us

cough and leaves a bad odor

in our home.

If they switched from

wood to gas, that would take

care of the problem but

would be an expense for

them.

Do you have any suggest-

ions on how to approach

these folks?

Smoked-out

in Redwood City, Calif.

Dear Smoked-out: Ac-

cording to information on

your local fire department’s

website, there is an ordi-

nance against “open burn-

ing” in your area. You should

contact the fire department

to ask if fire pits qualify.

Your town (Redwood

City) lies in close proximity

to the massive area in Cali-

fornia that burned last year

during the historic Camp

Fire, which killed 85 people,

injured three firefighters

and burned more than 10,000

structures.

You should ask these

neighbors if they would con-

sider switching to using gas.

The safety risk to all of your

homes should override the

awkwardness of the ask.

Send questions to Amy

Dickinson by email to ask

[email protected].

ASK AMY

Unlocking a family secret