C1 0 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, MAY 17 , 2022ACROSS
1 Item sold with
an envelope
5 Olive Garden
selections
11 “Dropped” drug
14 Nabisco cookie
15 Wool source
16 Reverent feeling
17 *Saddle
attachment
for a tall jockey?
19 “__ I help you?”
20 Supplement
21 Sweet
potato kin
22 Targets
23 Oodles
26 “I Dream of __”
28 *Stevedore
school
instruction?
32 “A Sorta
Fairytale”
singer Tori
33 Shop __ you
drop
34 Thaw, as a wing
37 Familial
nickname
38 Billiards stick
41 Org. with
seven teams
in Canada
42 One-named
“Hello” singer
44 Swiss peak
45 Air conditioner
nos.
46 *Relaxing
exercise for
skydivers?
50 Beach
scavenger
52 Tusked beast
53 See 69-Across
54 “WandaVision”
actress
Dennings
56 Thesaurus
name
60 Pretty-picture
link
61 Trousers,
and what the
answer to each
starred clue
literally is
64 Albertan’s
last letter
65 __ milk
66 Polling
results, say
67 Project
conclusion?68 Title usually
abbreviated
69 With 53-Across,
“The Mandalo-
rian” franchiseDOWN
1 Fast-food
beverage
2 Three-time
AL MVP
3 Tear apart
4 Military IDs
5 Basketball
coach Summitt
in the Hall of
Fame
6 “Baby Cobra”
comedian Wong
7 Nimble
8 __ P. Henson of
“Empire”
9 Keen insight
10 Tree goo
11 Giving an earful
12 Hindu teacher
13 Tightly packed
18 Recital piece
22 Novelist Tyler
24 Miranda of
“Homeland”
25 Rascal
Flatts, e.g.27 Deputy
28 Where to
find a cocina
29 In a group of
30 Annual floral
procession in
Pasadena
31 God to more
than two billion
35 Guzzle
36 “Frozen” sister
38 Chile neighbor39 Driver or putter
40 Capable of
43 Drops back
45 Detour routes,
often
47 High-pH
compound
48 Insurance filings
49 Wyatt of the
Old West
50 Language of
Southern Africa51 Artist’s stand
55 Brisk pace
57 Puny pest
58 Blues legend
James
59 Russian
sovereign
61 Nonstick spray
brand
62 Common Scrab-
ble tile value
63 Pres. on a dimeLA TIMES CROSSWORD By Doug Peterson
MONDAY’S LA TIMES SOLUTION© 202 2 Tribune Content Agency, LLC. 5/17/22
kidspostpeople to collect their own observations
about nature. Such data can help people
protect birds and other wildlife. For
example, by studying the eggs of pere-
grine falcons and other birds, scientists
were able to prove that a pesticide called
DDT was causing egg thinning, leading
to nesting failures. This research was a
key reason the Environmental Protection
Agency banned DDT in 1972.
“Bald eagles, ospreys and peregrine
falcons have all made spectacular recov-
eries since DDT was banned,” Bates says.
“I like it as a neat example of illustrating
that we can do things that make a
difference.”TODAY’S NEWSThe United States’ death toll from
covid-19 reached 1 million people on
Monday, a figure that only hints at the
many loved ones and friends stag-
gered by grief and frustration.
The confirmed number of dead is
roughly equal to how many Americans
died in the Civil War and World War II
combined.
The death toll is based on death
certificate data compiled by the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Preven-
tion (CDC). But the real number of
lives lost to the disease, either directly
or indirectly, is believed to be far high-
er.
President Joe Biden on Thursday
ordered flags lowered to half-staff and
called each life “an irreplaceable loss.”
More than half the deaths occurred
since coronavirus vaccines became
available in December of 2020. Two-
thirds of Americans are fully vaccinat-
ed, and nearly half have had at least
one booster dose.
People who are unvaccinated have a
10 times greater risk of dying of covid
than the fully vaccinated, according to
the CDC.
— Associated PressPABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS
T he U.S. flag is half-staff at the
Capitol after the president s aid
flags should honor covid victims.Covid-19 death tollreaches 1 millionpeople in the U.S.CHIP SAYS
If a chicken has dark earlobes, it will lay
brown eggs. If it has white earlobes, it will
lay white eggs. Certain breeds of chicken
lay blue eggs.KIDSPOST.COM
Are you a basketball fan?
Test your knowledge of the
sport, which was founded in
1891, in our online quiz.TODAY
An awesome day features sunshine
and a refreshing breeze as high
temperatures reach the mid-70s.
ILLUSTRATION BY MARY BETH GEYERMAN, 8, ARLINGTONPHOTOS BY JOHN BATESBY GINA RICHD
uring a birdwatching stroll last
spring, John Bates spotted a
newly hatched killdeer chick.
Common in North America, the
long-legged birds often dart
across the ground hunting for insects.
Bates noted the date: April 30. Killdeer
eggs take about 24 days to hatch, so this
youngster must have come from an egg
laid at the beginning of April. That’s
roughly one month earlier than birds
were laying eggs a century ago — a big
difference, says Bates. He is curator of the
Division of Birds at Chicago’s Field Mu-
seum. (A curator oversees the collection
and handling of historical items.)Birds migrating earlier to breed
Killdeer aren’t the only birds changing
their timing. Bates and other scientists
recently published a study on the histori-
cal nesting habits of 72 bird species in the
Midwest. The team found that one-thirdof birds studied are laying eggs earlier
than before — 25 days sooner on average.
Researchers think Earth’s rising temper-
atures are the reason.
One bird in the study, the yellow-billed
cuckoo, spends winters in South Ameri-
ca. Bates says these birds are returning to
the United States earlier to breed, prob-
ably because the caterpillars they eat are
emerging sooner each spring.
“What this highlights is that there is a
level of resilience in these birds in terms
of tracking stuff, with the really critical
[caution] that we need to keep monitor-
ing,” he says.
Besides nesting earlier, birds might be
finding other ways to cope with climate
change. American robin populations are
increasing, yet the study shows their
average first egg date is later than before,
Bates says. Robins are good at re-nesting,
so it’s possible the study identified nests
that were the birds’ third attempt after a
couple of failures. Bates says, “Maybe one
of the secrets to their success is that theyliterally have this really broad spectrum
of times” to breed.Amateur egg collectors
In the study, scientists analyzed differ-
ent egg collections dating to 1872 and
compared them with recent observa-
tions. The Field Museum’s egg collection
contains 20,000 sets of eggs. A set, or
clutch, contains eggs from one nest that
were usually laid by the same female.
Many were gathered by hobbyists from
the 1880s to the 1920s. “While they were
amateurs, they were really good at col-
lecting data,” says Bates.
To preserve the eggs, collectors drilled
small holes, then flushed out the con-
tents. They also made nest cards to
record details about their findings.
What’s it like working with these an-
cient eggs? “It’s nerve-racking. I try to be
very careful,” says Bates. “We have them
in this incredibly cramped little space in
the museum.”
He hopes the study will encourageWarming climate may cause some birds to lay eggs earlierLearn moreWatch a video about peregrine falcons’
recovery at wapo.st/falconrecovery.
See a video about the Field Museum’s egg
collection at wapo.st/fieldmuseumeggs.Scientists compared the h abit records relating to historical
eggs at the Field Museum, left, to c urrent b irds in the
Midwest: One-third of the birds l ay eggs 25 days sooner on
average. Robin numbers are rising (egg above), possibly
because t hey r euse nests if attempts earlier in the year fail.Adapted from
an online
discussion.Dear Carolyn: I
just had the
realization that
my mother-in-
law is controlling
both me and my
partner and we have been
oblivious to it.
For me, most recently, she
asked me if she had done
something to upset me — she
had — but asked me not to
mention our conversation to
her son. I didn’t mention it to
him. I’m not sure if I was
“obeying” her or if I just
didn’t want to talk to him
about it.
For him, I caught him in a
lie about where he was. He
said he was at our home when
he was actually at his mom’s
house. I asked him why he
lied and he said his mom,
jokingly, told him to not tell
me he was there.
While this may be minor, I
am trying to dig deep and see if
I have been influenced by her
in other ways. I don’t know
how to bring this up to him,
and I am scared he will be
defensive of her and mad at me.
I don’t think I should talk to
her about it, though.
— ScaredScared: Definitely act on this,though you might be
overstating the “controlling”
part, which in turn might be
over-amping your sense of the
stakes.
Mostly, I think this is a lot
easier to get at than you realize.
Just go back to your husband
with this: “I was replaying our
conversation after that whole
thing with being at your mom’s
house.” Just in general, this is a
good way to bring up
something when you’re worried
the moment has passed. “I
realized your mom says that to
me sometimes — not to tell you
something, usually something
totally innocuous.”
Then: “Have you ever
thought about it?” You can add,
“I’m not comfortable with it”
here, or wait for his answer.
If he reacts badly to that,
that’s a partner problem, not a
mother-in-law problem.
Regardless of how this
conversation turns out, I urge
you to draw the line with your
mother-in-law hereafter, every
time. “I’m not comfortable
agreeing to that. I won’t keep
secrets from your son.” Don’t
budge.
Best case, this is just a habit
of hers developed through her
own insecurities or oddities in
her upbringing. Worst case, you
really are cluing into serious
controlling behavior.
Either way, the process of
disentanglement starts withyour saying no. It is always
your right to refuse.
The second step is asking
your partner for, encouraging,
insisting on, transparency
between the two of you. But
that’s actually independent of
his mom and her secretive
quirk.Re: Controlling: I think it
would also be an excellent
point to ask your husband: If
he thought his mom was
joking, then why did he go
ahead and lie to you? Because
lying to your spouse about
everyday things is a good way
to lose trust in a marriage and
break it apart.
So ... what made him decide
to carry through with it? He
may not know the answer right
off and he may need to go think
about it, and you should give
him the room to do that. But
pull it out into the light to be
looked at.
— AnonymousAnonymous: Good point and
excellent suggestion for acting
on it, thanks.Write to Carolyn Hax at
[email protected]. Get her
column delivered to your inbox
each morning at wapo.st/gethax. Join the discussion live at noon
Fridays at washingtonpost.com/live-
chats.Is reader’s mother-in-law pullingthe strings of manipulation?Carolyn
HaxNICK GALIFIANAKIS/ILLUSTRATION FOR THE WASHINGTON POST