PUZZLES
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Preoccupation by Gary Larson
Universal Crossword edited by David Steinberg
ACROSS
1 Unaccompanied
at a party
5 Where people get
their starts?
10 What’s about a
foot?
14 Contented cat’s
sound
15 Unreactive
16 Rest in a
hammock, say
17 Actor who plays a
clergy member in
commercials?
19 Thing
20 Words of
agreement
21 Very virtuous
people
23 2002 rom-
com whose
protagonist
donates $40
billion
26 Reggae cousin
27 Donkey
30 Org. with a list
of popular baby
names
31 Census Bureau
office manager?
34 Popular payment
app
35 Plants in a dry
place?
36 Kitty starter
39 Pieces of
furniture in green
rooms
42 Does and bucks
43 Home Depot rival
45 Steer clear of
47 Spot on a major
team?
50 Tractor-trailer
53 Butterfingers
54 Operated
55 Suffragist Susan
B.
57 The “A” of CIA
60 Sphere of
influence
61 It may have a soft
shell
63 Forklift operator
for pillow factory?
66 Gave the once-
over
67 Host the show
68 Romance fiction
award
69 Extremities
70 Processes, as a
chip card
71 Reason to study
DOWN
1 Involuntary jerks
2 Houses with
steeply pitched
roofs
3 Naval fleet
4 Ingrained dirt
5 Nintendo console
6 Add-___ (extras)
7 New York team
with a bridge in its
logo
8 Chicken serving
9 Ball alternative, in
softball
10 Narrow opening
11 Cajun condiment
12 Cheer at a futbol
game
13 “A Nightmare on
___ Street”
18 Nephew’s sibling,
perhaps
22 One definitely
won’t share weed
with you
24 Puts on
25 Japanese sport in
a ring
28 Web location
29 Commotion
32 Like Jack Sprat’s
diet
33 Anti-DWI org.
34 Political second
banana, for short
36 Purina brand
37 Writer Ephron
38 Deceitful
40 Nike competitor
41 In the near future
44 Upset
46 First class,
informally?
48 Tool that
produces wood
dust
49 ___ Tax (unlucky
Monopoly player’s
first landing
space)
50 Band aide
51 Coastal features
52 One may lift
weights for hours
56 Valentine symbol
58 Mount Olympus
dwellers
59 Feminist
community org.
61 Thing in a golfer’s
pocket
62 Writer Rand
64 Homer’s frenemy
65 French
word within
“Miserables”
Sports Center by Julian Lim
Universal Crossword edited by David Steinberg
ACROSS
1 Went down a
chute
5 Way to a freeway
11 It might be part-
time
14 Sugar stalk
15 Document signed
before a stunt
16 One, in Cancun
17 *Harris, to Biden,
in 2020
19 Tex-___
20 “Head over heels”
and “hand over
fist”
21 Keg outlet
22 Practice, as a
trade
23 Meal that may
feature tempura
24 Dietary amt.
26 Letter before
omega
27 “The ___ of
Glory” (Lady
Gaga hit)
28 *Carnival’s setting
32 Medieval workers
34 Better ventilated
35 ___ milk
38 *Pairing on a fight
card
40 Stab or go
41 “To life,” at a bat
mitzvah
43 Labyrinths
45 *Outing for two
couples
47 Like flan
51 A, in Cannes
52 Heart of a
winner?
53 “That’s ___”
(Dean Martin love
song)
54 Drug made from
a fungus
55 Spray used
before sauteing
57 Floral Van Gogh
subjects
58 Grazed, say
59 Dramatic
baseball
maneuver, or
what you can
do within each
starred answer to
form two words/
phrases?
62 It was in orbit for
15 years
63 Definitely will,
after “is”
64 Ascended
65 Machines in
some labs
66 Assigned a job to
67 Is in the hole
DOWN
1 One who takes
things down
2 Extolled
3 One of nine in
baseball, usually
4 Signifies
5 Dominates, to
gamers
6 Worn-out horse
7 Periphery
8 Top-grossing
movie of all time
(2009)
9 Photographer’s
prefix for “data”
10 Gear up (for)
11 Parachutist’s
apparel
12 Short zinger
13 Squarish
18 “Just my 2 cents,”
in a text
24 Life ___
(inflatable vessel)
25 iPod predecessor
26 Lead-in to “que”
28 Freeze-___ (still
image)
29 Paramedic’s roll
30 Like a red
strawberry
31 Word before “cell”
or “spell”
33 “___ and the
Detectives”
35 Aged
36 Kind of guitar
37 Speaks with a
booming voice
39 Tops of Santa
costumes
42 Nickname that
anagrams to
“Bea”
44 Part-time athlete
46 Shows reluctance
48 Proceed leisurely
49 “Summer Nights”
musical
50 “Of course! Of
course!”
53 Verb that sounds
like its middle
letter
54 Genie’s place
55 Subtle summons
56 Blue-green
57 Polo shirt brand
60 Cartoon squeal
61 Summer, to a
Parisian
East Oregonian
A15
HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY MATHIS
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2021 Jupiter in Socially Responsible Aquarius
In the weeks ahead, with Jupiter gliding through the early
stages of socially responsible Aquarius, two kinds of
responsibility will be served. One will be presented on
the obvious platter, and you’ll see what you’re taking on.
The other will come sneakily, without presentation, so
you’ll hardly realize the agreement you’re making. Stay
keen to both.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’ll be the one who
brings everyone together. Does knowing they will
influence one another for better and worse make you
reconsider your guest list?
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Trials are your best
teachers. You’ll meet challenges that affirm your strength
and resourcefulness. Fellow earth signs Virgo and
Capricorn prove worthy team members.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Nonproductive stretches
can be uncomfortable or even alarming for movers like
you. Don’t fight it; ride it. Something excellent will come
out of the break, and it actually won’t put you behind at
all.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Not all boundaries are
meant to keep others out. Often the fences and limits
provide a much-needed sense of order. Lay down a few
rules to give structure to today’s uncharted territory.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Everyone falls. Whether you
fall down, fall short or fall for the tricks and traps of a wild
world, there’s only one thing to do -- pick yourself up and
walk on with the lesson in your pocket.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). “Just be yourself,” they
say. Meanwhile, “yourself” isn’t the easiest person to
“just be,” when you’re in the process of exploring and
becoming. So instead, experiment and be whoever you
want to be in the moment.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You cultivate an
atmosphere of emotional safety around you. People
sense you’ll take care of them and make their lives a little
easier, maybe even momentarily delightful. No wonder
you’re popular.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). It requires courage
to take a chance. Give yourself credit for assuming a
risk, carrying it and being big enough to accept the
consequences, whatever they may be.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Maybe the
mystics and geniuses are right about life being an
illusion. The question is what to do about it. Can you
dream differently? What would it take to pierce the
perception that entraps you?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Stimulating
environments engage the mind, but when they go on for
too long, the imagination suffers. Creativity needs the
breathing room that only boredom can provide. A dull
stretch is the precursor to inspiration.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Boasting, posing
and posturing is the behavior of insecurity and under-
confidence. You get the best out of yourself and others
by offering the remedy of kind attention and acceptance.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The relationships you
cherish the most will be the ones that demand something
of you and afford you the opportunity to emotionally
expand. When it comes to love, you get what you put in.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (July 28). Never have you been
more purposeful. You prefer the sort of power that comes
from skills honed over time and earned merit. And yet,
when you visit the person at the top and are granted a
game-changing position, take it! This is either part of the
payoff for your work or an advance payment for what you
will do soon. Virgo and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky
numbers are: 40, 26, 38, 10 and 5
Universal SUDOKU
SOLUTIONS
HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY MATHIS
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021Mars Opposes Jupiter Under Leo’s Watch
Under these Leo aspects, our ideas of what a relationship
should be continue to conflict with our heart’s impulses,
preferences and leanings. We wonder if we can bring
this heart and mind discord to a settlement. Probably
not -- not today at least. You’re better off welcoming the
tension.
“The heart has its reasons which reason knows not of.”
-- Pascal
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You don’t always
have to know what you’re doing, or how to do it, to
successfully execute your purpose. Intention comes
with its own intelligence and it will serve you well today.
Head on into the thing!
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). To focus on your favorite
interest to the exclusion of all else isn’t exactly healthy,
but greatness is often tinged with such obsession and
achieved through a process of imbalances righted.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). The thing that gets your
back up isn’t all bad. Anger can be a creative resource, or
it can be a distraction keeping you from more important
work or, even more important, fun. So, which is it?
CANCER (June 22-July 22). You are moving ever-
forward, driven by a mix of curiosity, need, responsibility,
loyalty and ambition. It’s good fuel, but you also require
the very practical energy provided by proper nutrition.
Look into new choices in that regard.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re a magnet for talented
people, and you spot them even when they are not
performing the thing they are so talented at. Your own
talents are activated and grow in the atmosphere you
create together.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It helps to have an
awareness of the price paid by those who went before
you. Mentally touching on that history -- the integrity
and sacrifices of remarkable people -- will shield you
from the vulgarity and idiocy so common today.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’re known to politely
decline invitations, and now you’ll take that skill to
the next level by saying no in such a way as to also
compliment people, letting them know how much you
like them, even if you can’t do all they want.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You make plans, and
you stick to them. The same loyalty and follow-through
applies whether orchestrating for yourself or for others.
Integrity is a 360-degree virtue.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Explaining has
a way of complicating things. If there’s a lot to explain,
maybe there’s something wrong with the procedure
itself. Take a few steps back, and ask yourself if there’s a
simpler way to accomplish the aim.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Words are organizing
tools. Wordless ideas are also organizing tools. Work
from both directions. You’ll get your head straight by
talking or writing things out, and you’ll get your words
straight by thinking and feeling things through.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). A voice is a powerful
tool. Making the most of it is a responsibility most
people are not aware enough to claim. You seize the
opportunity, educate yourself on pressing issues and
choose your words carefully.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Your idols keep
you sharp, but so do your rivals. Today, you may find
your rivals the more motivating of the two, as the fuel
they provide will be immediate, readily available and
abundantly flowing.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (July 29). Your best is more than
good enough; you believe it, live it and leverage it into
ever-more useful achievements, ones to the great benefit
of you and others alike. Oddly, though you’ve never been
better at realizing your potential, you are also somehow
becoming increasingly selfless, as you become the work
and ideals you endeavor. Libra and Scorpio adore you.
Your lucky numbers are: 8, 1, 39, 50 and 44.
Universal SUDOKU
SOLUTIONS