Los Angeles Times - 04.04.2020

L ATIMES.COM/SPORTS SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 2020D5

ACROSS 1 One of the partying elite 8 Dessert option 15 Emphasize strongly 16 Online group study 17 Visiting the Louvre, say 18 Namesake of brunch sauce 19 Sweet after-dinner drink 21 Cpl., for one 22 Some street performers 25 __ learning 26 Conks out 27 “The Cookie Never Crumbles” co-author Wally 28 Stick 29 Apollo unit, briefly 30 Flour bag abbr. 31 Enthusiastic well-wisher 35 Retire 37 Took over in a supervisor’s absence 38 __-di-dah 39 So far 40 __ web 41 To be, in Latin 42 Hardy title teenager 44 Small store 45 12-time NBA All-Star Olajuwon, as originally spelled 46 Big bird 47 Dessert made with Oreos 49 Fell behind 51 Baseball’s Browns, since 1954 55 Camera maker that merged with Konica 56 What financial projections are compared with 57 Guile 58 “We’re done”

DOWN 1 Bush press secretary Fleischer 2 PC linkup 3 Little rascal 4 Pentagon and others

5 Corrida chargers 6 Muslim noble 7 They’re not for everyone 8 1957 Marty Robbins hit 9 Spaghetti Western director Sergio 10 Up to it 11 Wire measure 12 Without thinking 13 Prom, say 14 Hungarian mathematician Paul 20 Museum piece 22 “Happy Days” character Ralph 23 Permeate 24 Promising forecast 26 Commerce, e.g.: Abbr. 28 “Do the __!” 29 Stand the test of time 31 Target 32 Playful prank 33 Scrub away 34 Alter, as a skirt 36 Poems of honor 41 Just manage

42 Contract listing 43 Text alternative 44 Catchers’ catchers 45 Curly-tailed dog 47 Valley 48 Bridge structure 50 Actor Chaney 52 Scale notes 53 Skull and Bones member 54 Old boomer

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE

4/4/20

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

Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly

Aries(March 21-April 19):
You’ll extend the benefit of
the doubt, but you won’t
hand over the keys to the
kingdom to anyone who
hasn’t earned your trust.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): You’re planning some-
thing. The only part more
important than timing is the
weather in the room.
Gemini(May 21-June 21):
Each bit of information has a
particular frequency. When
you share information, you
share the vibrational tone of
it too. Choose carefully what
you share.
Cancer(June 22-July 22):
You’ll move things without
touching them. You only
have to be yourself, moving
along your usual orbit, and
things with reflect back
naturally.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22):
Sometimes you have to go a
little wild to know different
sides of yourself. Your judg-

ment on the matter will be excellent. Virgo(Aug. 23-Sept. 22): If it’s good for your body but not your budget, or the other way around, keep looking for alternatives that make more sense. Libra(Sept. 23-Oct. 23): You’ll experience an in- stance of poetic justice. This is the most delicious hap- pening of the week and is best savored instead of shared. Scorpio(Oct. 24-Nov. 21): It’s wonderful to love some- one, but don’t make this person the center of your life. You are far better suited for that role. Sagittarius (Nov. 22- Dec. 21): The more confident you are in your essence, the less you need to cling to one way of presenting yourself. Capricorn(Dec. 22-Jan. 19): You’ll use your predic- tions to plan an event, and the results will be about as near to perfect as anyone could hope for.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You will be compelled to help others, especially the very young, very old or anyone with an obvious need. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20): You don’t want publicity for yourself, but you’ll be happy to draw and manage attention for the sake of your cause or your team. Today’s birthday(April 4): The solar return brings brilliant improvements to your daily and personal life. You’ll so regularly do what you love that you’ll stop looking wistfully forward to weekends and special events and instead find yourself giddy about every day. Your weeks will be peppered with the playfulness and laughter of great friends. Cancer and Leo adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 4, 39, 1 and 50.

Holiday Mathis writes her column for Creators Syndicate Inc. The horoscope should be read for entertainment.

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis

“Simple Saturday” col- umns are meant to help as- piring players improve technique and logical thinking. Many learning players like finesses. They accept a winning finesse as their due and regard a losing one as an injustice. A new player asked me a question that betrayed her enthusiasm for finesses: “When I have more than one finesse, which one do I try first?” I answered thus: “Take the one that will still give you a chance if it fails.” At today’s slam, South ruffs the first diamond and leads a spade to the king, dummy’s only fast entry. Should he finesse in trumps or in clubs next? If South leads the jack of

trumps, losing, he can’t get back for a club finesse. Even if he leads a low trump to his queen, West can play low ef- fectively. At Trick Three, South must let the nine of clubs ride. If it wins, he can safely lead a trump to his queen next. If the nine of clubs lost, South could use the jack as a dummy entry to finesse in trumps. Question: You hold: ♠8 4 2 ♥ 5 ♦A 9 8 6 3 ♣Q 8 7 5. The dealer, at your left, opens one club. Your partner dou- bles, you bid one diamond and he bids one spade. What do you say? Answer: If partner had a 13-point hand with spades, he would have overcalled one spade at his first turn. His actual sequence promis- es at least 17 points. If you held Q 4 2, 5, A 9 8 6 4, 9 8 7 5,

you might raise to three spades. As it is, your queen of clubs is probably wasted. Pass. South dealer N-S vulnerable

NORTH ♠K 10 5 ♥J 3 2 ♦K 5 4 2 ♣J 9 2 WEST EAST ♠9 7 6 3 ♠8 4 2 ♥K 7 6 ♥ 5 ♦Q J 10 7 ♦A 9 8 6 3 ♣6 3 ♣Q 8 7 5 SOUTH ♠A Q J ♥A Q 10 9 8 4 ♦None ♣A K 10 4 SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 2 ♣ Pass 2 NT Pass 3 ♥ Pass 4 ♥ Pass 6 ♥ All Pass

Opening lead — ♦Q

Tribune Media Services

BRIDGE

By Frank Stewart

Dear Amy: Our ostenta- tious friend is getting married (again) — for real, this time. His first wedding was an extravagant affair, com- plete with a destination bachelor party, a destination wedding at a fancy re- sort, expensive bottles — the works. We gave him a sizable gift on top of our over-the-top travel expenses. When the unhappy couple split up, after three tu- multuous years, we discov- ered they were never married at all! These two successful law- yers took a look at their relationship and decided not to file the marriage license. They would say that they were procrastinating, hop- ing their relationship would improve to a point where marriage would become less risky, but it never got there. They certainly blew the 60-day window to file the license but never returned any gifts. Now our friend is en- gaged to a new woman. In true fashion, his bachelor party and wedding will be in fabulous destinations and will demand great expense. We plan to give the couple a modest gift. We can’t help but feel some injustice has been done, though we’re not sure

what. He never even sent us a gift for our wedding. Is it petty to consider this all in the past? Witness

Dear Witness: Your friend’s sense of entitlement is impressive. However — if you don’t like the way this wedding is structured, you don’t have to participate in it. Being invited to an extravaganza does not obligate a person to attend. I hope you spoke your mind when you learned that his previous extravaganza was a scam, and I wonder if you like or respect him enough to continue to have a close relationship with him. If you attend, a modest gift is called for. If you don’t attend, you’re off the hook.

Dear Amy: My husband and I have been married for almost seven years. He has seven sisters (he is the only male in the family). He has one sister who always has to be the center of attention at family gatherings. She always has to bring up the expensive family trips she has planned for the sum- mer and is always bragging about how good she has it, as if to say, “Don’t you wish your husband was rich like mine?” She acts like a snotty,

spoiled teenager. I would like to scream and tell her to shut up! If I sit down with one of his other sisters, she butts right into our conversation because she’s “assuming” that I’m talking smack about her. Should I just sit in a corner and not talk to anyone, so I won’t get bitten by the “poisonous serpent?” Confused

Dear Confused:If your sister-in-law acts like a spoiled teenager, then perhaps you should treat her like one. My preferred technique is to re- member that I am the grown-up. Sometimes — re- acting at all is just feeding the serpent. Practice behaving in a way that comes off as ma- ture, detached and overall neutral. Your body language can betray tension, and so try not to clench when you encounter her. You should strive to en- gage in positive conversa- tions with your other rela- tives at these gatherings. Never gossip about this in- law with her siblings — the rules of sisterhood dictate that they can criticize her, but you cannot.

Send questions to Amy Dickinson by email to ask [email protected].

ASK AMY

Another scam wedding?

COMICS

Los Angeles Times - 04.04.2020

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