PUZZLES
Saturday, January 8, 2022
Universal Freestyle by Billy and Molly Bratton
Universal Crossword edited by David Steinberg
ACROSS
1 Breakbetween
notes
5 Features of feet
9 “Como estas?”
response, often
13 The fossil Big Al,
once
16 Indie pop singer
Parks
17 Hypothetical body
beyond Pluto
18 Grain tower
19 Audio player
20 Relates (with)
22 Just slightly
cooked
23 Big cheese
24 “That’s false!”
27 Whip up
28 Librarian’s rebuke
29 L.A.’s region
31 Plucked
instruments
33 Usher in?
35 ___ and true
37 Shade darker
than turquoise
38 Passion
40 Map close-up
42 The record-
holding cat
Creme Puff’s was
38 years
43 Sign the back of
45 Made
embarrassed
47 Prepare, as a
factory
48 Orange skin
49 Con artists’
accomplices
50 Their tails have
scales
54 Mani’s partner
55 Online blurb that
may include your
pronouns
57 He was trapped
in a net with
Aphrodite
58 Where to “find”
the McCrepe
59 ___ lover’s pizza
60 Necklace bit
61 Recipe division
DOWN
1 Laser-focused
2 Spanish for “she”
3 High-five noise
4 Exfoliation
products
5 Spud nugget
6 Eighth of a cup
7 “Red” Viking
8 Early riser?
9 Layer under nail
polish
10 Liqueur invented
in Dublin
11 Actor who
appeared on
Time’s cover with
the quote “I’m
fully who I am”
12 Apt time given
this clue’s number
14 Family cars, often
15 Placed atop
21 Twelfth of a foot
23 Young adult novel
in which campers
dig
24 Rae of “The Hate
U Give”
25 “You’ll be OK”
26 “That’s news to
me!”
27 Michael of
“The Muppet
Christmas Carol”
30 Like a good apple
32 Snow day
transport
34 One lets you earn
checks for doing
chores
3 “Can’t do it”
4 Once around the
sun
5 Employment expo
6 Is up against?
54
7 Deep desire
8 Reason to see the
55
ophthalmologist
57
9 Stand in the
corner of a dance
61
party?
10 Mario’s brother
64
11 403(b) alternative
12 Only three-letter
65
scale note
13 Attempt
21 “Fancy meeting
66
you here”
67
22
Colorants
68
26 Prefix smaller than
micro-
69
27
Joint below the
70
hip
29 Like those seated
71
after the opening
number
30
Elbow crease
DOWN
31
Place unlikely to
1 Chocolaty cafe
freeze over
order
2 Alphabetically first 33 OB-GYNs, e.g.
35 Cheering people
preposition, per
most lists
36 “Slow Churned”
Blasting material
Jeopardize
They sniff
Classic camera
brand
One in a line at
the airport
Tantrum
“That’s your
opinion”
Words to learn for
the SAT
“Floor Is ___”
(Netflix show)
Rhyme for
“snooze,” in an
idiom
Dried plum
PC maker
Ceramics and
cartooning
Completely full
Request for
seconds
Mom-and-pop
orgs.?
HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY MATHIS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2022 Lunar Squares
The fresh Aries moon forms three squares: First, to
Venus, then the sun and finally, to Pluto. Many believe in
their rightness. Those who leave room for the possibility
that they are wrong will have an edge. The humble can
see opportunities that are invisible to the confident.
Openness is necessary to improve. Caution avoids
disaster.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You are a warrior. It
doesn’t mean you always want to fight the opposition.
It means that your actions are imbued with purpose. The
purpose today will be to assist in keeping things orderly
and peaceful.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Rare entities are sought
after; common ones are overlooked. When everyone
wants it but few can have it, the value goes up. To make
something more precious, you will limit access to it.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Your relationship with
a certain person is moving with the times, a sign that
there’s real potential here. The better you know and trust
each other, the more opportunity there will be to conquer
the world as a team.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). There’s nothing wrong
with mediocrity, yet you’re not interested. You’ll pick
what you’re already good at and work as hard as it takes
to make yourself remarkable.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). An uncomfortable feeling
comes back. In the past, you didn’t know how to manage
it -- maybe you still don’t -- but you’re willing to try to
take it on anyway.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). On one hand, you
hate to waste. On the other hand, in today’s case, (SET
ITAL)not(END ITAL) wasting will take a great deal of
preparation (which can feel to you like waste). It’s a
matter of choosing your battle.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Your improvements will
come by way of subtraction. Getting rid of things makes
room. It works in love, too, as relationships could use
more space. Back off and wait for the wonder that will
rush to fill in the blank.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Emotions are among
the day’s most valuable gifts. Feelings lead you places.
Lovely ones send you to beautiful vistas. Raw and painful
ones are shortcuts to an improved version of yourself.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Occasionally,
your mind adopts an unhelpful strategy (for instance,
obsessing about a situation that you can’t control). Tell
your mind to figure out the part of the scenario you can
do something about.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You won’t take pity
on a single soul, especially not on yourself, because you
wholeheartedly believe in each person’s ability to rise to
the occasion and do what’s necessary.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Circumstances are
changing quickly. It seems like you just made the plan
and it already needs alterations. That you’re able to
adjust easily is a skill on its own -- one you’ll be using
often in the weeks to come.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You have a gift for
putting yourself in the other person’s place and really
understanding what it’s like to be there. You’ll sort out a
conflict and save the day.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 9). A year sprinkled
in wonders! Your optimism and curiosity will attract
fascinating people. Friends and teachers will help you
nail an achievement. You’ll keep building relationships.
The old alliances will be a perfect match for new
opportunities. A May investment will be part of your
legacy. Taurus and Aries adore you. Your lucky numbers
are: 10, 3, 33, 18 and 49.
Universal SUDOKU
39 It’s called in class
41 NYC museum in
“Ocean’s Eight”
44 Oxidizes
46 Security devices
48 Jordanian city
named one of
the New Seven
Wonders of the
World
SOLUTIONS
49 Flood with
messages
50 Trackpad
alternatives
51 “A likely story!”
52 Have a nice meal
53 Miso dish
56 Caught in a ___
of lies
Universal Crossword edited by David Steinberg
47
48
49
52
B7
36 Left in the lurch
Barbershop Quartet by Rebecca Goldstein
ACROSS
1 Too ___ cooks
5 Bones with teeth
9 Lesser-known
celebs
14 Woodwind
related to the
heckelphone
15 Postmortem bio
16 One of a dozen in
a box, often
17 Musical ending
18 Unavailable
19 Roll from Poland
20 Colloquial
hangover remedy
23 Circle segment
24 Owns
25 Snatching sound
28 Home to the Indira
Gandhi Memorial
Museum
30 Nickname hidden
in “archetype”
32 Short ___ sweet
34 Rearview mirror
dangler, perhaps
37 Blotch
40 “You’ve got mail”
ISP
41 Accomplishes
42 Machine
learning’s field,
informally
East Oregonian
ice cream brand
37 Plopped down
38 Flamingo’s color
39 Bart and Lisa’s
bus driver
43 Kvetched
44 Steep increase
45 How some pranks
are pulled
46 Desert in northern
China
50 Attempt
51 Snooze, in El
Salvador
53 Designer von
Furstenberg
54 Magazine’s outer
page
56 Ringlet
58 Glitzy rock genre
59 Folded food
60 “Door” in a door
61 Kamala Harris
and others: Abbr.
62 “Your Song”
singer Rita
63 Salon job depicted
by the starts of
20-, 34-, 42- and
57-Across?
HOROSCOPES BY HOLIDAY MATHIS
MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2022 Cosmic Mentorship
Not every discipline is right for every person. Cultivating
the ones that are a good fit to the most helpful degree is
an art. The Martian angle to Neptune that’s moving into
tomorrow’s squared aspect is a kind of cosmic mentor,
helping us find the right thing to get better at. The
pursuits that are good for us are thrilling to devote to.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). When you recognize
others for their achievements, you fulfill a profound and
universal need so primal that many do not even realize
they have it: the need to feel important and respected.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Humor is revealing.
Joking gives away the truth of the situation. You’ll laugh
with friends and be gentle with the humorless. Maybe
they are protecting a part of themselves.
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Some say the human
brain processes one emotion at a time, but you’ll
challenge the notion. The duality of your sign engenders
complexity. You’ll find yourself taking in all sides of a
bittersweet or tragicomic circumstance.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Someone will play the
comparison game with you. You’re good at this one.
One of your best tactics is to be very impressed by your
opponent’s play and let them have all the glory.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). The situation is reminiscent
of the fable about the ant and grasshopper. You’re the ant,
busily storing away grain even when you have plenty.
When the grasshoppers laugh, you’ll pity their future
selves.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Who will come to the
party? Who will participate in your plans? Do they really
like you? Yes on all accounts. You don’t even have to try
hard. They’ll be swept into your natural enthusiasm.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Sharing what matters to
you brings gifts too numerous and subtle to describe.
Your arguments get better, and your knowledge deepens
as you listen up. All thrive with the discussion going
strong.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). As uncomfortable
as it can be living with an outspoken inner critic, there
are benefits, too. Without this voice in your head, you
wouldn’t be the profound thinker and industrious
individual you are.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Those who are
all over the map are as lost as the mapless. Get a quick
overview and then home in on one thing. Believe in it and
stick to it until you arrive.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). If support from well-
meaning people feels like pressure instead of motivation
toward the goal, you’ll question it. Honor your instinct on
the matter. You feel as you do for a reason.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). To fully appreciate
what you have and use it to your best advantage is the
greatest win. Once you maximize your existing resources,
new ones will become available.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You need space in your
schedule to do important things, such as nothing at all.
You repair and restore yourself in the breaks. Consider
making fewer commitments. Your future self will thank
you.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 10). Your dreams are
possible. It’s a little scary, but you’ll charge forward. No
excuses. No quitting. You’ll change something about
your habits and thinking that will seal you to your work
with a new spirit of devotion. Finances perk up with
solid, interesting work. You’ll be pursued by employers
and love interests. Sagittarius and Libra adore you. Your
lucky numbers are: 1, 44, 38, 12 and 6.
Universal SUDOKU
SOLUTIONS