THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Thursday, March 19, 2020 |A
THE MIDDLE SEAT| SCOTT MCCARTNEY
Still Taking Wing as
A Virus Spreads
How life has changed in the air: moments of odd quiet, and planes
often so empty fliers can still practice social distancing
ILLUSTRATION BY PEP MONTSERRAT; PHOTOS: MIKE SULLIVAN (2)
LIFE&ARTS
Mike Sullivan, above, at Pittsburgh
International Airport on Tuesday
afternoon, on his way home to Dallas.longer to realize
that the entire
envelope was
there, too!”As the
exclamation point
might suggest the
rush of solving a
contest crossword
is generally more
adrenaline-driven
than the rush of
solving a stan-
dard crossword.
And ask the
Muggles ques-
tions at their
Xword Muggles
Forum. Some may
balk during a live
contest, but after
the deadline has
passed, they’ll pa-
tiently answer
new solvers’ contest-crossword
questions in general or on a spe-
cific puzzle. A writeup of each
contest puzzle appears with the
following Monday’s crossword.Contests are a growing subspe-
cies of crosswords, and those who
get into them tend to get into them
fanatically. The Muggles are a self-
named group of these ardent WSJ
solvers who have even created
their own forum to share the joys
and heartbreaks of each Friday’s
challenge, borrowing their moniker
from the world of Harry Potter.
Their name derives from mug—as
in The Wall Street Journal Cross-word Contest coffee mug that an
entrant wins each week, randomly
selected from the winners.
So what is a contest crossword?
It’s a treasure map in crossword
form, where your quarry is a hid-
den word or phrase called the con-
test answer. Where and how it’s
hidden in the puzzle is up to you
to figure out, since the mechanism
is different in each one.
Sometimes the puzzles have a
visual aspect to them, like the
2018 oneat leftwith the grid
filled out. It’s titled “Hollywood In-
siders,” and the instructions tell
you we’re looking for “a Best Pic-
ture winning movie.” Pro tip:
While solving a contest crossword,
look out for clues that stand out as
being unusual in some way.
There’s one clue in this puzzle
that sticks out as a big hint: 38-
Across, which is “Where to find
Oscar winners,” yielding the an-
swer SEALED ENVELOPES.
What sets this clue apart? It’s for
the longest answer in the grid
(and the central answer to boot),
plus both clue and answer are Hol-
lywood-related, like the title, so
we’re probably looking at a big
nudge from the constructor here.
See if you can find the answer,
which is tricky.
Got it? Give up? In four places
in the grid(marked at right)the
eight letters in “envelope” can be
found fully encircling a ninth let-
ter, forming a “sealed envelope”
around it. In order from top to
bottom, those four encircled let-
ters spell the Best Picture forDON’T LETthe Muggles frighten
you. They’re friendly, I promise!
Since 2015, the Journal has run
a contest crossword every Friday,
usuallywrittenbymeorbythe
paper’s puzzle editor, Mike Shenk.
Solvers have until midnight on the
following Sunday to submit their
entries, and many thousands have
done so over these first few years.BYMATTGAFFNEY
Laurie Dings of Cotuit, Mass., a rare three-time crossword contest winner,
displays her three prize mugs. A new contest begins every Friday.Crazy for Crosswords: Meet the
Journal’s Weekly Contestants
F
requent fliers quickly
became frequent
hand-washers. And
despite everything,
some are still wiping
down their tray tables
and flying on.
International travel bans are in
effect and warnings against nones-
sential travel are in place. Compa-
nies have issued edicts to scrap
trips, and cancellations of just
about any and every event and
meeting have left little travel go-
ing on. Airlines are grounding 75%
of their long-haul international fly-
ing; some U.S. carriers are pulling
back 20%, even 50% of their do-
mestic flights.
The remaining flights sometimes
have only a few passengers. The
people still traveling are willing to
take the risk because jobs include
essential travel. Others don’t want
to give up vacations to places they
consider relatively safe from coro-
navirus, for now. Many are still
scrambling to get home. A few are
taking advantage of cheap fares to
try new adventures or catch more
frequent-flier credits for elite sta-
tus, even if that means ignoring
warnings from government officials
and epidemiologists that they
might not only catch a potentially
deadly virus but spread it to others.
Road warriors say they’ve been
through 9/11, airline bankruptcies
and mergers and the financial cri-
sis. Some have been through other
epidemics like SARS.
“This may be bad, but it’s no
worse or better than any other
travel crisis that’s hit,” says Mike
Sullivan, a Dallas-based financial
consultant to companies. Clients
are still requesting his help, and at
35 years old, he wants to continue
business-as-usual as much as he
can. But on Monday night, his firm
decided to ground all travel and he
had to fly home Tuesday.
“In time, this will go away, and
in 18 months, we’ll all be back to
complaining about high fares and
packed airplanes,” Mr. Sullivan
says.
Those still flying face potential
disruption with no warning. On Sat-
urday, Customs and Border Protec-
tion changed procedures and cre-
ated enormous, elbow-to-elbow
packed lines with hourslong waits,
raising fears that the lines them-
selves created hazardous conditions
for virus spread. Travelers also face
airline cancellations and even shut-
downs. U.S. airlines are already lob-
bying for a $50 billion bailout.
Some travelers worry domestic
flying will be grounded with no
warning. On Sunday, Vice President
Mike Pence said the White House
was considering restrictions on do-
mestic travel, but Dr. Anthony
Fauci, the administration’s point-
man on coronavirus, said, “I don’t
see that right now or in the imme-
diate future.”
Along with carry-on bags, travel-
ers are packing precautions. So
many passengers used sanitizing
wipes to clean seats, tray tables,
arm rests and air vents on Rae Lov-
erde’s Southwest flight from Seattleto San Jose, Calif., that flight atten-
dants announced they were coming
down the aisle to collect wipes, im-
ploring people not to stuff them in
seat-back pockets.
Ms. Loverde, who works as both
an assistant for a New York literary
agency and a sportswriter covering
college volleyball, continued on to
her home in Los Angeles and was
surprised that fellow travelers were
joking about cheap flights to exotic
destinations.
“Coping with humor, naturally,”
she says.
Each of her two flights Friday
had about 40 passengers. Airports
broadcast public-address announce-
ments reminding travelers to use
hand sanitizer and to wash hands.
People gave each other hand-wash-
ing tips in airport bathrooms—like
not forgetting fingertips and get-
ting under fingernails.
“I was expecting everything to
be insane, with people freaking
out and wearing hazmat suits. But
no one was really concerned,”
she says.
Travelers say crowds have beeninconsistent. Much of the time air-
ports and airplanes are eerily
empty. Other times they encounter
packed flights and a mass of people
frantic to get somewhere.
On Lisa Chester Schroeder’s
flight from Nashville, Tenn., to Los
Angeles on Thursday, one woman
stood at the front of the plane and
handed out wipes to fellow passen-
gers. When they got to Los Angeles
International Airport, “it looked like
Christmas there were so many peo-
ple. It was really odd,” she says.
Ms. Schroeder, 56, says she’s
healthy and not at high risk. “My
husband is a little concerned, but I
have not been concerned,” she says.
She is taking precautions, and
wishes the U.S. government had re-ment, has to go when clients call.
At least he’s the guy at his company
who’s willing to go.
He’s loyal to United and finds
most crews in good spirits, some
even happy to pick up extra flights
for extra income. He’s a healthy 64
years old—old enough to be consid-
ered higher risk for getting very
sick by the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention—and says his
family doesn’t worry too much.
“A bug isn’t going to slow me
down. They understand that,” he
says.
Jim vanBergen, a freelance en-
tertainment production manager
and audio system designer, flew
back home to New York on Friday,
since performances have been can-
celed. He had two flights last week
that were less than half full.
“People are not lining up and
pushing as they used to. It was a
lot more relaxed,” he says. “There’s
a lot less coughing on planes—
that’s one nice thing. If anybody
coughs on a plane, everyone gives
them the stare of death.”
Mr. vanBergen, loyal to Delta,
brings his own Clorox wipes to
clean his seating area. He takes
time to wash hands carefully, and
finds others are as well. In some
airport restrooms, there’s a wait to
get to a sink. “I saw more atten-
dants paying attention to filling
soap dispensers,” he says.
Family and friends have urged
him to quit traveling. Even his in-
laws have urged him and his wife,
also in the entertainment business,
to stop traveling.
“We’re going to do what we feel
is best, regardless,” he says.acted more quickly and with more
consistency. This week, her flying
may drop considerably. Her com-
pany supplies hospitals, but in-per-
son sales calls likely will vanish.
“I do think we need to take it se-
riously. It’s a concerning time. But I
am going to keep on going with my
life,” she says.
For the few still flying, perks
abound. Long-sought first-class up-
grades are now easy to score for
frequent fliers. Social distancing is
easy to practice on most flights.
Mr. Sullivan, the consultant, was
on an American flight a week ago
from Chicago to Dallas and was
shocked at how easily he upgraded.
Usually on flights in prime business
markets, from one American con-
necting hub to another, 70% or
more of the passengers are top-
level frequent fliers, and upgrades
are scarce.
“Everybody’s upgrade cleared.
I’ve never seen that happen before,”
he says.
Richard Kelly, a field engineer
for a company that produces phar-
maceutical manufacturing equip-40
passengersoneachoftwoflights,
oneflierestimates.DANA DUNN2012, “Argo,” sealed in envelopes
as Oscar winners are.
The Muggles liked this one. One
wrote: “All of the ENVs jumped out
at me right away. Just took a little