Los Angeles Times - 04.03.2020

E6 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2020 LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

COMICS

ACROSS

1 Foreboding

8 Optimistic

12 Pump product

15 “Give me an example”

16 “The real story is ... ”

18 Collision simulation

aids

20 Scapula neighbor,

for short

21 Big name in nail polish

22 “Yeah, sure”

23 Partnership letters

25 Cleaning conveniences

30 “Scary Movie” reaction

33 Extraordinary little one,

in folklore

37 Poke tuna

38 Chocolate dog

40 Nabisco cookie

41 Neither’s partner

42 Part of a relay

43 Junk collector

45 Overly

46 “So-so”

47 Mark for good

48 Spanish bear

49 Hong Kong lang.

50 Place with drawing

rooms

53 Womb occupant

55 Apparition

57 Kobe cash

58 About

61 Duracell size

63 Salty waters

66 Begin all over again ...

and what 18-, 33-, 43-

and 50-Across all do

(almost), as indicated

by the circled letters

72 Ready for sleep

73 Lady Gaga’s debut

album

74 Squid’s defense

75 Therefore

76 Left formally

DOWN

1 How music can be

stored

2 Farm female

3 “Don’t worry about me”

4 Settle snugly

5 Awed reaction

6 Golden rule

preposition

7 Trickles (through)

8 Tell (on)

9 Med. condition with

repetitive behavior

10 Man’s name that sounds

like a slow-cooked dish

11 “Delicious!”

12 Smooth-talking

13 Out of the wind

14 Part of CBS: Abbr.

17 Barn-raising sect

19 Drinks a bit

at a time

24 Pasadena institute

26 Texter’s “Then

again ... ”

27 Bust maker

28 “Summer Nights”

musical

29 Political bragging point,

when it’s thriving

30 Actress Hayek

31 Joyful shout

32 First first lady

34 Online promo

35 Senseless

36 Khal __, Daenerys’

husband in HBO’s

“Game of Thrones”

39 Strips for breakfast

44 Opportunity

51 Hybrid picnic utensil

52 Fertile soil

54 “Take care of yourself ”

56 Mariner’s supports

58 Sparkling Italian wine

59 Knock for a loop

60 Wall map marker

62 Feel sore

64 Apex

65 Spot for a mower

67 Begin a hole,

with “up”

68 Four-term prez

69 Oil field sight

70 Musician Yoko

71 __ center

ANSWER TO

PREVIOUS PUZZLE

3/4/20

3/4/20

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

By Kevin Salat © 2020 Tribune Content Agency

Edited By Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

SPEED BUMP By Dave Coverly

Aries(March 21-April 19):
Today will be an exercise in
tolerating a puzzling sort of
unawareness.
Taurus (April 20-May
20): Go on and indulge your-
self. It will be lucky to splurge
on something frivolous.
Gemini(May 21-June 21):
You can zoom in and out on
life and it will be different at
every range, though some-
how, oddly, still the same. Go
to the scale that makes you
feel the most comfortable.
Cancer(June 22-July 22):
When interruptions happen,
it’s as though life is telling
you that there’s a different
order of priorities. You’ll get
to decide if you agree.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22):
There are gentle and patient
aspects to your personality,
and then there’s the part
that gets fearsome to make
things happen. These will in-
tegrate beautifully today.
Virgo(Aug. 23-Sept. 22):

Your attention is an emo-

tional sunlamp. The comfort

you give works from the in-

side out.

Libra(Sept. 23-Oct. 23):

An old emotional wound still

has an impact. Bit by bit, you

can free yourself. A more

spontaneous and playful

version of yourself will be

waiting on the other side.

Scorpio(Oct. 24-Nov. 21):

The maze of your inner

world will feature pathways

to treasure as well as booby

traps, and sometimes you

can’t tell the difference.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-

Dec. 21): You have been

known to take the smallest

hint as a sign. When you

really want something, even

the big hints won’t dissuade

you. You’ll get a taste of both

scenarios today.

Capricorn(Dec. 22-Jan.

19): You’ll receive good for-

tune and sweet surprises.

You buy these with your

work, the goodwill you invest

or with dollars.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb.

18): It isn’t selfish to focus on

learning about yourself. Who

better to study you than the

one who is already in such

close vicinity?

Pisces (Feb. 19-March

20): Your comfortable state

of mind makes you at home

wherever you go. Take ad-

vantage of this by daring

into the unknown.

Today’s birthday

(March 4): The grace of the

year will be that your ambi-

tions will be well-matched to

the level of activity that

makes you feel most vital.

Things will ramp up in their

own time. Soon, you’re not

trying to merely get ahead of

the ball, you want to win the

whole game. With great en-

thusiasm, win it you will.

Sagittarius and Aquarius

adore you. Your lucky num-

bers are: 19, 4, 2, 7 and 15.

Holiday Mathis writes her

column for Creators

Syndicate Inc. The

horoscope should be read

for entertainment.

HOROSCOPE

By Holiday Mathis

“For everybody else, luck

is a nine days’ wonder,” Un-

lucky Louie grumbled to me

in the club lounge. “Harlow

has a lifetime pass.”

The player we call Harlow

the Halo basks in persistent

good luck.

In a team match, both

Louie and Harlow played at

6NT. West led the queen of

spades. Harlow won and un-

blocked dummy’s high dia-

monds, accepting the 3-3

break as his due, and king of

clubs. He came to his ace of

hearts and took the A-Q of

clubs. The jack fell, so Har-

low had four clubs, four dia-

monds, two hearts and two

spades.

Louie was more careful.

At Trick Two, he conceded a

heart. He won the spade re-

turn, took the king of clubs

and led a heart to his ace. If

hearts had split 3-2, Louie

would have had 12 tricks no

matter how the minor suits

lay. As it was, he still got

home when both minors

treated him well.

Louie’s play was superi-

or; Harlow deserved to fail.

“The man was born with

a silver horseshoe in his

mouth,” Louie sighed.

Question: You hold: ♠7 6

♥A K 5 ♦8 6 5 2 ♣A Q 10 3.

Your partner opens one

spade, you respond two

clubs and he bids two hearts.

What do you say?

Answer: You have

enough values to commit to

game but cannot comfort-

ably place the contract. You

have two options. One is to

bid four hearts despite the

lack of a fourth trump. The

other is to bid three dia-

monds, a “fourth-suit” ac-

tion, hoping to make a win-

ning decision after you hear

partner bid once more.

South dealer

N-S vulnerable

NORTH

♠A K 4 2

♥8 7 6 4 3

♦A K Q

♣K

WEST EAST

♠Q J 10 9 ♠8 5 3

♥J ♥Q 10 9 2

♦10 9 3 ♦J 7 4

♣9 8 6 5 2 ♣J 7 4

SOUTH

♠7 6

♥A K 5

♦8 6 5 2

♣A Q 10 3

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST

1 ♣ Pass 1♥ Pass

2 ♥ Pass 2♠ Pass

2 NT Pass 6 NT All Pass

Opening lead — ♠Q

Tribune Media Services

BRIDGE

By Frank Stewart

Dear Amy: A few years

ago, I submitted my DNA on

an ancestry site.

Last year, I received an

email from a newly discov-

ered son, “Joe.” He was

adopted at birth and had re-

ceived minimal information

about his mother, although

she left information that the

father (me) was unaware of

the pregnancy. (I was in col-

lege then. I am in my 70s).

Joe’s DNA test confirmed

our relationship. I welcomed

the information and have es-

tablished a long-distance re-

lationship (as have my wife

and other children).

I now am fairly certain

that I know the identity of

Joe’s birth mother. I wanted

to get her permission before

I disclosed her name to Joe,

but have discovered that she

died. Through internet

searches I have discovered

the names of her other chil-

dren, all born after Joe.

I think I can now tell Joe

everything I know, so he can

perhaps learn more about

his birth mother through

her other children. He could

suggest that they submit

their DNA to confirm the re-

lationship. Your thoughts?

DNA Papa

Dear Papa:You are genu-

inely motivated to help your

son, but — rather than

speculate about the identity

of his birth mother, exposing

a group of strangers to the

shock of this (potentially in-

correct) information, you

should advise him to first go

to the county where he was

born and fill out a petition

with the court to have access

to his own adoption records

(his adoptive parents may

want to help him with this).

People who register to

have their DNA tested and

entered into a databank do

so with some awareness that

they might be in store for

some surprises.

People placing children

for adoption also have the le-

gal right to privacy. They

have tackled a very painful

dilemma.

“Joe” should go through

legal channels. He should

also be patient — because,

given the ubiquity of these

DNA databases, there is a

likelihood that he will re-

ceive more “pings” and noti-

fications that he has addi-

tional DNA matches.

I might advise you

toward more proactive dis-

closure if Joe was facing a se-

rious inherited illness, but

that doesn’t seem to be the

case.

Dear Amy: A couple of

weeks before Christmas, my

oldest son called with the

news that his family planned

to come home.

I was elated as the last

time my three sons have

been together for this holi-

day was over 10 years ago,

and never since all the

grandkids have been born.

The only issue was a very

big condition: They needed

to have a “quiet” area of the

house for his mother-in-law,

who lives with them. She is

bipolar and needs her sleep.

We live in a small tri-level

home and I was not sure how

this would work!

We offered to give them

the house — they could di-

vide up the three bedrooms,

and we would stay in a hotel.

Well, they didn’t come. It

was very sad for me.

Were we out of line?

Sad Mom and Nana

Dear Sad: You offering

your entire home to this

group was not out of line — it

was generous. You should

assume that your son simply

couldn’t face the prospect of

putting you out of your

house during the visit.

I hope you can approach

this with compassion

toward this family. Yes, you

are sad that they couldn’t

visit. But they have a lot on

their plate, and it sounds as

if they are doing their best.

Send questions to Amy

Dickinson by email to ask

[email protected].

ASK AMY

Helping a newfound son