CROSSWORDS

ACROSS 1 Van Winkle & others 5 Chocolaty bean 10 __ in; wearing 14 Chicken’s home 15 Once more 16 Conceal 17 Cockeyed 18 Baroness or countess 20 Took a load off 21 Pantry stackables 22 Spacious 23 Loan shark’s crime 25 “To Each __

Own”; popular 1940s song 26 Too sweet 28 Ne’er-do-wells 31 Burst forth 32 Stretch of land 34 Where to find ossicles 36 Vigoda & others 37 Dress 38 Congressional aide 39 __ Vegas

Raiders 40 Geography class prop 41 Greyhound’s fleet 42 Drew close to 44 Just about 45 Milk producer 46 Actor Keith 47 “__ John B”;

Beach Boys hit 50 Give a manicure 51 30-day period: abbr. 54 Appalling 57 Suffix for tax or favor 58 Kitchen appliance 59 Think the world of 60 __ club; singing group 61 Small dowels 62 Punches hard 63 Rosary piece

DOWN 1 TVs, for some 2 Council Bluffs’ state 3 Language of

Brazil 4 James Bond, for one

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews 7/1/21

ACROSS 1 __-been; one no longer popular 4 Rosemary & thyme 9 Entreaty 13 Salmon hue 14 Shade of green 15 One not to be trusted 16 Wipe out 17 African antelope 19 Achy & feverish 20 Partners 21 Endures 22 Angry look 24 Brillo competitor 25 Fold mark 27 “__ or leave it” 30 Desert refuge 31 Measuring device 33 Atlas page 35 __ up; incite 36 Finnish steam bath 37 Cowboy’s boot spike 38 __-tac-toe 39 Actress Delta 40 Means of communication 41 Fish hawk 43 Easily angered; combative 44 Get __ of;

discard 45 Taps the horn 46 Pulsate 49 Part of TGIF 51 Freezing cold 54 Toward the sky 56 Ready, willing and __ 57 Hankering 58 Pig out 59 Bed board 60 __ into; starts talking about 61 One of seven deadly sins 62 Fell a tree

DOWN 1 Sledding spot

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews 7/2/21

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved. 7/1/21

5 Pet bird 6 Great pain 7 Hired vehicles 8 Feel miserable 9 Tip jar bill 10 Pick 11 Star car 12 West or Brody 13 Declare untrue 19 Bracelet’s place 21 Terse 24 Gullible fools 25 Leave at a pawn shop 26 CBS’s “__

Team” 27 Not rural 28 Mantilla fabric 29 Moderately priced 30 Wise men 32 __ on; walked over 33 Estes or Lowe 35 Take a break 37 “One __ Over the Cuckoo’s

Nest” 38 Cat in the wild 40 Feel about blindly 41 Radar screen image 43 Oak tree nuts 44 Comes up 46 __ out; say impulsively 47 __ around; compare prices 48 “All You Need

Is __”; Beatles song 49 Neighbor of

Calif. 50 Weather forecast 52 __ bargain; defendant’s deal 53 Bulrush 55 Take into custody 56 JFK’s predecessor 57 Phone inventor’s initials

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved. 7/2/21

2 Pain pills 3 __ blue; pastel shade 4 “__ Things in

Glocca Morra?” 5 Privileged group 6 Peeve 7 Men’s undies 8 __-through; transparent 9 Polite person’s word 10 Reclines 11 Vane direction 12 Creative works 13 Greek letter 18 British chap 20 Word with media or transit 23 Animal hideaway 24 Heroic tale 25 Expense 26 Numerical comparison 27 Adjust a grand 28 Not doable 29 Jeer at 31 City in Indiana 32 Diving bird 34 Hunted animal 36 Took to court 37 Send a parcel 39 Hush money 40 Quick look 42 Shows to be true 43 __ bender; minor accident 45 __ in; enter suddenly 46 Ruffian 47 Rescuer 48 Hit the ceiling 49 Bed size 50 Get the __ of; learn to do 52 Talon 53 Nevertheless 55 Org. for Spurs & Suns 56 Hardwood tree

ACROSS 1 Family member 4 Li’l __; comic strip hillbilly 9 Octopus’ octet 13 Fervent 15 Bit of garlic 16 __ up; absorb 17 Kelly or Wilder 18 Sleeveless wraps 19 Delhi dress 20 Stand for 22 Aggravates 23 Mesmerized; enthralled 24 Spanish article 26 No-nonsense 29 __ error; office

boo-boo 34 Establish as fact 35 Pursue on foot 36 Long __; way back 37 Overdue 38 SWAT team actions 39 USC or UCLA 40 Court witness’ oath 41 Chimes 42 No longer fresh 43 Awful 45 Left shore 46 __, dos, tres… 47 TV’s Dr. __ 48 Smooth-talking 51 Constant; reliable 56 “__ Out the

Barrel” 57 Clamor 58 Chief Greek deity 60 Isn’t __ to; can’t 61 Pub game 62 NM-to-NC direction 63 Supervisor 64 Simple ghost costume 65 Shakespeare’s

“your”

DOWN 1 Hang limply

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews 7/3/21

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved. 7/3/21

2 Finished; done 3 Largest digit 4 Agree to take 5 Use dynamite 6 Slangy denial 7 __ though; albeit 8 Antsy 9 St. Francis of __ 10 __ of the crowd; stadium noise 11 Gospel writer 12 Winter resort rentals 14 __ of; withhold from 21 Track-and-field event 25 “Diamonds __

Forever”; 007 film 26 Banana __; ice cream treat 27 Swap 28 Helicopter blade 29 Neighbor of

Argentina 30 Boys 31 Man-made waterway 32 Light on one’s feet 33 Was smitten with 35 Summon 38 Ricochets 39 Use 41 Canister 42 Spinnaker or jib 44 Russia’s dollars 45 Most reserved 47 Stickum 48 Seize 49 Mexican wolf 50 Woes 52 Webster or

Wyle 53 Forest destroyer 54 Orderly 55 __ out; spew forth 59 Eyelid woe

Dear Annie Written by Annie Lane

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com. To find out more about Annie Lane, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Dear Annie: I ended a relationship about a year ago when it turned abusive. My girlfriend at the time acted like she was going to give me a kiss after an argument but instead bit me in the face. The first time was bad, but about a month later (after not dumping her immediately like I should have), she did it again except viciously, like an animal. Needless to say, I've been happily single since.

I'm looking to get back into dating now, as I feel like I have healed and grown from this, but I still have one problem.

I'm afraid of letting any new potential partners kiss me. If someone gets their face too close to mine or I can feel their breath, I panic. Total amygdala hijack.

How do I ask a woman whose kisses I want to not kiss me?

I know that with a little time and some desensitization by planned exposure, I can overcome this, but I just feel like it's a terribly unfair thing to ask of a new potential partner.

I'm concerned about one aspect specifically: How do I ask this of them and not freak them out or make them feel unsafe in the immediate? Or if not unsafe, then like an absolute rejection? "Hey, so, don't kiss me, please" would make me feel rejected. But if I come out and explain why, wouldn't that give you the instacreeps? Got any suggestions? -- Twice Bitten Dear Twice Bitten: Writing this column is a privilege I'm grateful to have, but it's not easy hearing how people abuse the ones they're supposed to love. I'm so sorry that your ex-girlfriend did this to you. Of course the trauma would make it difficult for you to kiss anyone again. While you might be able to overcome this just fine on your own over time, I encourage you to seek support in the process. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text "START" to 88788. These empathetic trained specialists can help you work through what you're feeling and develop a game plan to help you feel safe again. In the meantime, my advice is just to let any woman you're dating know that you'd like to take it slowly. You don't owe anyone details you're not comfortable sharing yet. And if such a reasonable request scares a woman off, then she wasn't the one for you.

Dear Annie: Your answer to "In Love but Losing," who was dating a younger man but whose adult son did not approve, was great. My boyfriend is 27 years younger than me. We have been together for eight years, living together for seven. We rarely even remember that there is an age difference. My son, who is a few years older than my boyfriend, didn't approve at first but kept an open mind, and now he and my boyfriend get along. They call, text, hang out, sometimes even without me. The only family problem we still have is with my boyfriend's mom and sister. (I'm the same age as his mother.) They feel I am keeping him from finding someone to be happy with for the rest of his life. My response to them is every day he leaves the house to go to work, he chooses to return. -- No Judgment There

Dear NJT: Congrats on eight great years. Love is the world's most precious commodity. Far be it from me or anyone else to begrudge those who find it in unexpected places.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM

4,320

4,240

4,160

4,400

4,200

4,000

10 DAYS S&P 500 Close: 4,297.50 Change: 5.70 (0.1%)

34,560

33,900

33,240

35,000

34,000

33,000

32,000

10 DAYS Dow Jones industrials Close: 34,502.51 Change: 210.22 (0.6%)

3,800 31,000

30,000

3,600

J F M A M J 29,000

J F M A M J

StocksRecap

NYSE N ASD

Vol. (in mil.) 3,858 Pvs. Volume 3,350 Advanced 1458 Declined 1028 New Highs 156 New Lows 7 4,844 4,313 1472 1804 90 23

HIGH LOW CLOSE CHG. %CHG. WK MO QTR YTD

DOW 34,553.16 34,245.48 34,502.51 +210.22 +0.61% s t s +12.73% DOW Trans. 14,914.41 14,812.01 14,880.79 +26.16 +0.18% t t s +18.98% DOW Util. 880.98 872.77 876.07 -2.09 -0.24% t t t +1.32% NYSE Comp. 16,568.92 16,517.03 16,555.35 +7.78 +0.05% s t s +13.98% NASDAQ 14,526.81 14,478.06 14,503.95 -24.38 -0.17% s s s +12.54% S&P 500 4,302.43 4,287.96 4,297.50 +5.70 +0.13% s s s +14.41% S&P 400 2,700.60 2,688.30 2,696.12 +2.32 +0.09% s t s +16.89% Wilshire 5000 45,161.63 45,029.03 45,113.86 +18.96 +0.04% s s s +14.34% Russell 2000 2,317.30 2,295.43 2,310.55 +1.71 +0.07% s s s +17.00%

Merck’s moves

New U.S. COVID-19 cases and deaths are falling, but there’sstill an urgent need for treatments to keep infected people from landing in the hospital.

Druggiant Merck and partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics aim to produce the first pill to do that. Their molnupiravir,now in late-stage patient testing, looks promisingenough that the U.S. government recently signed a $1.2 billion deal to buy 1.7 million treatment courses for Americans — if it’s proven to work.

Mizuho analyst Mara Goldstein says that’snot guaranteed, because creating antiviral drugs is particularly difficult, but Merck is ahead of competitors.

“Merck’sefforts and experience in (antiviral drugs) do count for a lot,” Goldstein adds.

Even if the New Jersey drugmaker fails, Goldstein sees many reasons toown Merck shares, including consistent profit and revenuegrowth, its lucrative animal health business, a quarterly dividend of 65 cents per share and a $9 billion payday from spinningoff its women’s health business that can fund acquisitions. While Merck depends heavily on its $17 billion-a-year cancer drug Keytruda, Goldsteinsees promise in itsstrong pipelineof vaccines and other drugs for cancer, autoimmune disorders and heart disease.

Momentum at Merck: Analystssee the drug and vaccine maker continuing to boost sales and profits each year,even if itsexperimental pill for treatingnew COVID-19 patients at home doesn’t work out.

$25 billion 20 Key product sales Net income $60 billion Total revenue

15

10

5 40

20

0

’20 ’21* ’22* ’23* ’24*

Keytruda (various cancers) Januvia/Janumet (diabetes pills) Animal Health (vaccines and drugs) Gardasil (HPV vaccine) 0

’20 ’21* ’22* ’23* ’24*

Source: FactSet *estimate Linda A. Johnson; Alex Nieves • AP