The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-09)

THURSDAY,JUNE 9 , 2022 .THEWASHINGTONPOST EZ RE C9

ACROSS
1Conspiringcircle
6Singer/actress
Thorne
11 Briefsbrand
14 Kitchen magnet?
15 Snacker’s stack
16 Tool thatonly
worksinwater
17 Tough
19 Iberiancheer
20 Second printing
21 Kerfuffle
23 Keyabove ~
24 Osso
27 Partyofthe
firstpartinthe
Bible?
28 Hot
31 “Becoming
Madame”:
AncheeMin
novelset in
China
32 “Well, well,
well!”
33 Homer’s
well-meaning
neighbor
34 Sore
39 Sweets
40 Street sign abbr.

41 Massivelexicon:

Abbr.

42 Weak

47 Simple

semiconductor

48 Spaceheater?

49 Three-time

World Series of

Pokerchampion

Ungar

52 Hyperformal

“Blameme”

54 Haberdashery

clips

57 “NewRules”

singer__ Lipa

58 Productused

on four of this

puzzle’s clues

61 Goof

62 Big name

in the cosmetics

aisle

63 Data

visualization

discovery,

perhaps

64 “So?”

65 “Copythat”

66 Ish

DOWN

1Inner circle

2First sign of

spring?

3__acid

4Hawkeye State

collegetown

5Miss

6Withstood

hardship

7Stretch often

namedfora

musicgenre

8Wreathofplu-

meriablossoms

9Tolkientrilogy,

briefly

10 Take on

11 Audible

precursor

12 Pot-building

poker wager

13 Decent,

so to speak

18 __ top

22 Easy-to-store

bed

25 Likethe winner

in anumber-

guessing

contest

26 Island thathosts

the Vans Triple

CrownofSurfing

28 Sigmafollower

29 Ad __

30 Maleswan

31 Leader of a

slapsticktrio

34 Saying little

35 Unblinkingsci-fi

villain

36 Firstname in

couture

37 Java

38 Swimmerthat

huntsusing

electrolocation

39 “I wouldn’t do

that”

43 Ore. neighbor

44 Tone down

45 “__ is the cow-

ard’srevenge

forbeing intimi-

dated”: Shaw

46 GreatLakenear

the ProFootball

Hall of Fame

49 Screen __

50 Reznor of Nine

Inch Nails

51 Vitamin

intakestd.

53 __ facto

55 CPR pros

56 NYCdivision

59 Mel who hit

511 career

homeruns

60 Capital of

Thailand?

LA TIMESCROSSWORD By MichaelSchlossberg

WEDNESDAY’SLATIMES SOLUTION

©2022TribuneContentAgency, LLC. 6/9/22

kidspost

former Washington Post sportswriter

ShirleyPovich, the 750-seat stadium is

surrounded by Cabin John Regional

Park. Youcan watch aballgame and eat

an ice cream coneas the sun sets behind

the treesinrightfield.

Youwill be watching top-flight

baseball. Players comefromcolleges

across the countrytoplayinthe CRCBL.

Theplayers usewooden bats because

MajorLeagueBaseballscouts wanttosee

how the collegestarsdowith the same

bats the pros use.

Theleaguewebsite says thatmore

than75formerCRCBLplayers have gone

on to playprofessional ball, including

dozenswho have made it to themajor

leagues.

Brandon Lowe, thesecond baseman

for the Tampa BayRays, and Hunter

Renfroe,the rightfielderforthe

Milwaukee Brewers,playedseveral

summers agofor the BethesdaBig Train.

They musthavelearnedsomething,

becauseLowehit 39 homeruns last

season, and Renfroe blasted 31.

It’s always athrill to see atalented

young player before he makes it to “the

show,” but mostofall,CRCBLgamesare

good, old-fashioned fun. Thecrack of the

bat. Theflash of leather. Baseball on a

warmsummernight.

Bowenwritesthesports opinioncolumnfor

KidsPost.Heistheauthorof 27sports books

forkidsages7to12, including10booksabout

baseball.

TODAY’SNEWS

In 2018, the March for Our Lives

(MOFL),ayouth-led gun-violence-

prevention organization, staged the

biggestgunviolenceprotestinhistory.

Thegroup planstodoitagainSatur-

dayinWashington.

Themarchwill begin at the Wash-

ington Monument at noon. Theroute

has not been announced. Confirmed

speakersincludeMOFLco-founders

and schoolshootingsurvivors David

Hogg andXGonzález.

ZoeTouray, whograduated in May

fromOxford High School in Oxford,

Michigan,traveled to Washington to

participate in the march after being

invited by MOFLorganizers.The18-

year-oldisasurvivorofaschoolshoot-

ingthatkilledfourofherclassmatesin

November.

“ I’mhopingthatwecanactuallyget

somechangethistime.Iknowit’s been

likealot of movement on bothsides at

thispoint,”she says aboutwhatshe

thinks the march can accomplish.

Touray says if kids wanttoget in-

volved withMOFL,theyshouldask a

parentiftheycantext“MARCH”tothe

number954-954.

—HabenKelati

MATTMCCLAIN/THEWASHINGTONPOST

Peoplegathered in 2018 forthe

youth-led March for OurLives,

which will return to D.C. Saturday.

Youthsto protest

gun violenceduring

big marchin D.C.

CHIPSAYS

Onthisdayin2013, SpanishtennisplayerRafaelNadal

becamethefirst manto wineighttitlesat thesame

GrandSlamtournamentafterbeatingDavid Ferrer in

theFrenchOpenfinal.

KIDSPOST.COM

Weneedsummerweather

arttogowithourdaily

forecast.Findoutonlinehow

to sendusyourdrawing.

TODAY

Latespringoffersapartlysunny

andbreezydaywithafternoon

highsin thelowor middle80s.

ILLUSTRATIONBYBELKISMARTINEZ,7, ARLINGTON

It lookslikeitmay be a
long summerfor
Washington-area
baseball fans.The
Nationals have arecord
of 21-36enteringWednesday (21wins, 36
losses),the fourth-worstinMajor League
Baseball.The nearby BaltimoreOrioles
are not muchbetter at 24-33.
What’sabaseball fansupposedto do?
My advice is to check out collegiate
summerleagues.Thereare leagues from
CapeCod, Massachusetts, to Alaska. If
you are outside the D.C.area this
summer, check online to seeifthere is
one nearby. Washington-area baseball
fanshavethe Cal Ripken Collegiate
BaseballLeague(CRCBL).
Whatisthe CRCBL?It’sabaseball
league of top college playerswithseven
teams inthe Washington area.There are
teamsin the District(DC Grays),
Maryland (Bethesda Big Train,
Gaithersburg Giants, OlneyCropdusters,
Silver Spring-TakomaThunderbolts) and
Virginia(Alexandria Aces,Metro SOCO
Braves in Lorton).
TheCRCBLgrewout of the Clark
Griffith Collegiate BaseballLeague that
started in 1945. Teams in that leagueused
to playgameson the Ellipse, the park
that’sjustahomerun’s distancefromthe
White House in Washington.
Nowteamsplay a36-gameschedule
during June andJulyinsmall ballparks
where kids can getclose to theaction.
They can even chasefoulballs thatfly
into thestandsor getautographsfrom
their favoriteplayers.
Someofthe ballparksare charming.The
Graysplaytheir gamesatthe Washington
Nationals Youth Baseball Academy,which
istucked amongthe rowhousesina
neighborhoodnear FortDupont in
SoutheastWashington. At Montgomery
BlairHighSchool,wheretheThunderbolts
play, youcansee firefighters sittingoutside
theirstation watching theactionfrom
beyondthe leftfieldfence.
But Povich Field, where theBethesda
Big Train plays, is the best.Named after

Kids can get close to the action at collegiate summer ballgames

TheScore

FREDBOWEN

MAGGIELAIRD

TheBig Train playsatcharmingPovich

Field in Bethesda.The team is partof

the CalRipken Collegiate Baseball

League. Kidscan chasefoul ballsthat

flyintothe standsorget autographs

from theirfavoriteplayersat games.

anger you’vesharedwiththem

over and over for years,and

they’re seeingno progress, and

theyjustcan’t anymore,but they

care aboutyou and hopeyou will

trustthemenoughtotakethe

suggestion to gethelp. It’s also

possiblethatsome combination

of theseis in playhere.

If anyofthese pointsis the

case,thenit wouldbe akindness

to yourself and yourfriendsto

getthe helpof someone

professionally qualified to help

you withthese“painfullife

experiences” now and going

forward.

This doesn’tmean you stop

counting on yourfriends

entirely,justthatyou starttodo

so moreproportionately to what

theycan manage.

As Isaid, either-or-or,Idon’t

knowwhichit is, or whetherit’s

somethingelse entirely,but any

of the aboveburdens, including

questionsabout the qualityof

yourlongtimefriendships,

mightbe lightenedbytalking

withapro.

WritetoCarolynHaxat

[email protected] her

columndeliveredto yourinboxeach

morningat wapo.st/gethax.

Jointhediscussionliveatnoon

Fridaysat washingtonpost.com/live-

chats.

someonewhenit feelsas if they

cannoteventry to be kind.And I

don’t know howIwillmakeit

without afriend.

—Introverted

Introverted: As tone-oblivious

as this is going to sound:Iam

also going to urgeyou to talk to

atherapist, if one is availableto

you and it is not costprohibitive.

Here’s why: One possibilityis

thatyou do indeedhave friends

who aren’t willingor able to be

kindto you. After decades of

knowingthem.If that’sthe case,

thenthat’salot to process,and

becoming“moreintroverted to

protectand care for myself”

doesnot soundlikeahealthy

copingstrategytome. It sounds

lonely. Spiraling-into-ever-

deepening-lonelinesslonely.

Theother possibility is that

yourfriends are kind and do

care aboutyou, but something

else has happened lately: 1. They

are dealingwiththeirown

struggles and have nothingleft

to bringto yours.2.Your

struggles have increasedto the

pointwheretheyfeel theyare

not qualified to helpyou, and, in

theireyes, it’s beyonda“there,

there”kind of response,sothey

are beinghonestthatwhatyou

needis abovetheirpaygrade. 3.

Thesadnessor anger you’ve

expressedis the samesadnessor

Adapted froman

onlinediscussion.

DearCarolyn:

Iamintroverted

and have only a

handfulof friends

who Ihaveknown

for at least10

yearsand afew

for 20. Ialways thoughtwe were

veryclose.

Duringthe worstofthe

pandemic,however,ifI

expressedeven asmidgen of

sadnessor anger,several of them

repliedwith:“Well, you needto

see acounselor.”

Ifind this reallyhurtful. I

have gone throughalot of

painful life experienceswith

thesefriends,and theycannot

muster ageneric, “Itwillget

better,” or somethingsimilar.

Lookingback,Isee this is how

theyhavebeen generally,but

maybe Iwasn’t focusedonit.

It has mademe wonderhow I

can even be friendswiththem.It

also is making me feel as if I

needto be moreintroverted to

protectand care for myself.

Which, at the sametime,Iknow

can’t be agreat thing.

Idon’t wantto talk to them

now,and Iknow thatbynot

reachingout, Imay also be

making the problemworse.But I

don’t knowhow to be afriendto

What kind of friend says you should

see atherapist? Perhaps the best kind.

Carolyn

Hax

NICKGALIFIANAKISFORTHEWASHINGTONPOST

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