20131230comicspuzzles

The Anniston Star

Monday, December 30, 2013

Blondie

HOROSCOPE By Bernice Bede Osol

Hagar the Horrible

Beetle Bailey

Snuffy Smith

Strong desires will persist this year. Follow through with your plans and maintain your convictions in order to achieve success. If you make the necessary sacrifices, this will be a creatively fertile period. Keep loved ones in the loop so they won’t cause difficulties at crucial moments. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — It’s time to make positive changes, but now is not the moment to share your thoughts in advance. Reflect on the past year and make decisions about how to proceed in the future. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Networking and making new friends will keep your mind active. Join a new group. Alone time will not be sufficiently challenging or stimulating. Interaction will lead to innovation. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) — Your partner will express frustration if you avoid your chores. If you take an honest approach, you may save yourself the hassle of having a needlessly emotional day. ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Chasing excitement will turn out to be costly. Focus on being productive and acquiring useful information. Your choices will set the tone for the year to come. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — A financial venture may reach a dead end. Do not take legal action, though you may be tempted. Someone unexpected may cause difficulties. Try to be helpful without being critical, and meet your responsibilities without complaint.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — You should make time for social activities today. Be cautious if you are juggling relationships. If you are asked for an honest, clear answer, you may have to make a difficult decision on the spot. CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Think carefully before promising something that you can’t deliver. If you’ve been exaggerating your abilities, you may get stuck with a job that leaves you feeling out of your depth. Keep your opinions to yourself. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Get to know your colleagues better through social activities. Distant friends or people from your past may turn up unexpectedly. Prepare to reminisce. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — If you use your imagination, you can turn your home into a palace. Assess the costs involved carefully before proceeding. Someone will oppose you fiercely if they think you are overspending. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) — Make sure to complete your domestic duties before relaxing or socializing. Don’t rush through things, or you may injure yourself. Try not to get into a bickering match. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — Focus on what you want to see change in the new year. You can advance professionally if you network with well-connected people. Make a point of revealing your abilities. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — Your emotional vitality will be strong, leading to greater self-confidence. Try new things and chase your dreams. Your ability to challenge others will catch someone’s eye.

Mutts

Garfield

Zits

Born Loser

Jump Start

Wizard of Id

B.C.

Pickles

Dilbert

Baby Blues

Get Fuzzy

Bound & Gagged

Mother Goose and Grimm

Dennis the Menace

Family Circus

THE CLASSIFIED CHALLENGE ACROSS 1 Tail end 5 Airing, as a golf tournament 9 Spoiled kid 13 “Splendor in the Grass” author 14 Premier Zhou who hosted Nixon’s 1972 visit 15 Lauderdale neighbor 16 *Sargent Shriver was its first director 18 Go-__: small racer 19 Dry gulch 20 Wite-Out maker 21 Mind flash 22 Move, to an agent 24 Seemingly forever 26 Doing the math, in a way 28 Top priority 31 National rival 33 Supreme Court justice Kagan 35 Dark horse 36 *With 45-Across, Iowa’s most populous city 37 Many Greta Garbo films, and what you’ll find at the intersections of four pairs of answers to starred clues 39 Runway disaster 40 Bigger picture: Abbr. 41 Fireplace bit 42 Ill humor 43 Caroline and Maria, to Ted Kennedy 45 *See 36-Across 48 Some cosmetic surgeries, for short 50 Midday 51 Fail to mention 53 Classic Pontiac 55 Crunchy snack 59 Gift-bearing trio 60 *Aptly named New York region 62 Longing 63 Company removed Wednesday, January 1, 2014 from the Dow 30 in 2013 64 Sicilian resort 65 Fish catchers 66 Scout’s good work

67 Positive votes DOWN 1 Strahan co-host 2 Nuke-testing dept. 3 Petri dish gel 4 Audiophile’s collection 5 Artist Yoko 6 Workers’ rights gp. 7 Six-inch putt, say 8 *Rank below earl 9 Beale Street blues legend 10 *Driving hazard 11 Cornfield measure 12 “Ciao!” 14 Food recall cause

GOREN BRIDGE

17 Watched 23 Deli counter qty. 25 Times in history 26 *Theater guide 27 Procter & Gamble toothpaste 29 Polish target 30 Prepare a blog post, say 31 Yemen’s Gulf of __ 32 Part of a memorable boast 34 “Conspiracy of Fools” company 37 Drain slowly 38 “That makes me happy”

42 U.K.-based luxury automaker 44 Two in a Dickens title 46 Ancient region of present-day Turkey 47 *We, to Monet 49 Lifted or boosted 51 Neighbor of Saudi Arabia 52 Defensive spray 54 “The Raven” opening 56 Downfall cause 57 “Breaking Bad” Emmy winner Gunn 58 Old cereal box stats 61 Mars, e.g.

IRINA RULES BRIDGE East-West vulnerable. East deals. NORTH ♠A54 ♥ AKQ95 ♦ A8 ♣J53 WEST EAST ♠9 ♠ 10 8 7 2 ♥ J 10 6 4 3 ♥7 ♦ 10 9 7 6 ♦KQ53 ♣KQ97 ♣A64 SOUTH ♠KQJ63 ♥82 ♦J42 ♣ 10 8 2 (Hands rotated.) The bidding: EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH Pass Pass Pass 1♥ Dbl 1♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♣* Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ Pass Pass Pass *Asking for three-card spade support

Opening lead: Ten of ♦ This hand is from the World Championship Ladies Teams, known as the Venice Cup, played in Bali, Indonesia recently. South was Irina Levitina of New York, representing the United States. Declarer won the ace of diamonds and played a trump to her king. She reasoned that East’s double, as a

SOLUTIONS TO TUESDAY’S PUZZLES

vulnerable passed hand, surely meant that she held a singleton heart. This presumed 5-1 heart split would prevent her from developing dummy’s long heart for her 10th trick, and the other suits offered no hope. Levitina backed her cardreading with her courage and led a heart toward dummy at trick three, inserting dummy’s nine when West played low! She now had the 10 tricks she needed — five spades, four hearts, and one diamond. The percentages were in her favor. There were four low hearts outstanding and only two high ones — the jack and 10. Should East have a singleton heart, as declarer believed, it was twice as likely to be a low card rather than a high card. There is a legitimate defense to defeat this contract. East-West must start with three rounds of clubs, ending in the East hand. The fourth round of clubs now promotes a trump trick for East. The new year starts with a beautifully played hand. May there be many more. Happy New Year! (Tannah Hirsch and Bob Jones welcome readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001. E-mail responses may be sent to tcaeditors@tribune.com.)

AnnistonStar.com THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

CLIRE SHOECN THILGF

Jumble puzzle magazines available at pennydellpuzzles.com/jumblemags

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

Print answer here: Yesterday’s

256-235-9211

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: IMPEL KNACK PULLEY RELENT Answer: When they got caught in the downpour in Kiev, they were in the — “UK-RAIN-E”

CLASSIFIEDS

THE CLASSIFIED CHALLENGE ACROSS 1 Tail end 5 Airing, as a golf tournament 9 Spoiled kid 13 “Splendor in the Grass” author 14 Premier Zhou who hosted Nixon’s 1972 visit 15 Lauderdale neighbor 16 *Sargent Shriver was its first director 18 Go-__: small racer 19 Dry gulch 20 Wite-Out maker 21 Mind flash 22 Move, to an agent 24 Seemingly forever 26 Doing the math, in a way 28 Top priority 31 National rival 33 Supreme Court justice Kagan 35 Dark horse 36 *With 45-Across, Iowa’s most populous city 37 Many Greta Garbo films, and what you’ll find at the intersections of four pairs of answers to starred clues 39 Runway disaster 40 Bigger picture: Abbr. 41 Fireplace bit 42 Ill humor 43 Caroline and Maria, to Ted Kennedy 45 *See 36-Across 48 Some cosmetic surgeries, for short 50 Midday 51 Fail to mention 53 Classic Pontiac 55 Crunchy snack 59 Gift-bearing trio 60 *Aptly named New York region 62 Longing 63 Company removed Wednesday, January 1, 2014 from the Dow 30 in 2013 64 Sicilian resort 65 Fish catchers 66 Scout’s good work

67 Positive votes DOWN 1 Strahan co-host 2 Nuke-testing dept. 3 Petri dish gel 4 Audiophile’s collection 5 Artist Yoko 6 Workers’ rights gp. 7 Six-inch putt, say 8 *Rank below earl 9 Beale Street blues legend 10 *Driving hazard 11 Cornfield measure 12 “Ciao!” 14 Food recall cause

GOREN BRIDGE

17 Watched 23 Deli counter qty. 25 Times in history 26 *Theater guide 27 Procter & Gamble toothpaste 29 Polish target 30 Prepare a blog post, say 31 Yemen’s Gulf of __ 32 Part of a memorable boast 34 “Conspiracy of Fools” company 37 Drain slowly 38 “That makes me happy”

42 U.K.-based luxury automaker 44 Two in a Dickens title 46 Ancient region of present-day Turkey 47 *We, to Monet 49 Lifted or boosted 51 Neighbor of Saudi Arabia 52 Defensive spray 54 “The Raven” opening 56 Downfall cause 57 “Breaking Bad” Emmy winner Gunn 58 Old cereal box stats 61 Mars, e.g.

IRINA RULES BRIDGE East-West vulnerable. East deals. NORTH ♠A54 ♥ AKQ95 ♦ A8 ♣J53 WEST EAST ♠9 ♠ 10 8 7 2 ♥ J 10 6 4 3 ♥7 ♦ 10 9 7 6 ♦KQ53 ♣KQ97 ♣A64 SOUTH ♠KQJ63 ♥82 ♦J42 ♣ 10 8 2 (Hands rotated.) The bidding: EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH Pass Pass Pass 1♥ Dbl 1♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♣* Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ Pass Pass Pass *Asking for three-card spade support

Opening lead: Ten of ♦ This hand is from the World Championship Ladies Teams, known as the Venice Cup, played in Bali, Indonesia recently. South was Irina Levitina of New York, representing the United States. Declarer won the ace of diamonds and played a trump to her king. She reasoned that East’s double, as a

SOLUTIONS TO TUESDAY’S PUZZLES

vulnerable passed hand, surely meant that she held a singleton heart. This presumed 5-1 heart split would prevent her from developing dummy’s long heart for her 10th trick, and the other suits offered no hope. Levitina backed her cardreading with her courage and led a heart toward dummy at trick three, inserting dummy’s nine when West played low! She now had the 10 tricks she needed — five spades, four hearts, and one diamond. The percentages were in her favor. There were four low hearts outstanding and only two high ones — the jack and 10. Should East have a singleton heart, as declarer believed, it was twice as likely to be a low card rather than a high card. There is a legitimate defense to defeat this contract. East-West must start with three rounds of clubs, ending in the East hand. The fourth round of clubs now promotes a trump trick for East. The new year starts with a beautifully played hand. May there be many more. Happy New Year! (Tannah Hirsch and Bob Jones welcome readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001. E-mail responses may be sent to tcaeditors@tribune.com.)

AnnistonStar.com THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

CLIRE SHOECN THILGF

Jumble puzzle magazines available at pennydellpuzzles.com/jumblemags

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

Print answer here: Yesterday’s

256-235-9211

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: IMPEL KNACK PULLEY RELENT Answer: When they got caught in the downpour in Kiev, they were in the — “UK-RAIN-E”

CLASSIFIEDS

THE CLASSIFIED CHALLENGE ACROSS 1 Tail end 5 Airing, as a golf tournament 9 Spoiled kid 13 “Splendor in the Grass” author 14 Premier Zhou who hosted Nixon’s 1972 visit 15 Lauderdale neighbor 16 *Sargent Shriver was its first director 18 Go-__: small racer 19 Dry gulch 20 Wite-Out maker 21 Mind flash 22 Move, to an agent 24 Seemingly forever 26 Doing the math, in a way 28 Top priority 31 National rival 33 Supreme Court justice Kagan 35 Dark horse 36 *With 45-Across, Iowa’s most populous city 37 Many Greta Garbo films, and what you’ll find at the intersections of four pairs of answers to starred clues 39 Runway disaster 40 Bigger picture: Abbr. 41 Fireplace bit 42 Ill humor 43 Caroline and Maria, to Ted Kennedy 45 *See 36-Across 48 Some cosmetic surgeries, for short 50 Midday 51 Fail to mention 53 Classic Pontiac 55 Crunchy snack 59 Gift-bearing trio 60 *Aptly named New York region 62 Longing 63 Company removed Wednesday, January 1, 2014 from the Dow 30 in 2013 64 Sicilian resort 65 Fish catchers 66 Scout’s good work

67 Positive votes DOWN 1 Strahan co-host 2 Nuke-testing dept. 3 Petri dish gel 4 Audiophile’s collection 5 Artist Yoko 6 Workers’ rights gp. 7 Six-inch putt, say 8 *Rank below earl 9 Beale Street blues legend 10 *Driving hazard 11 Cornfield measure 12 “Ciao!” 14 Food recall cause

GOREN BRIDGE

17 Watched 23 Deli counter qty. 25 Times in history 26 *Theater guide 27 Procter & Gamble toothpaste 29 Polish target 30 Prepare a blog post, say 31 Yemen’s Gulf of __ 32 Part of a memorable boast 34 “Conspiracy of Fools” company 37 Drain slowly 38 “That makes me happy”

42 U.K.-based luxury automaker 44 Two in a Dickens title 46 Ancient region of present-day Turkey 47 *We, to Monet 49 Lifted or boosted 51 Neighbor of Saudi Arabia 52 Defensive spray 54 “The Raven” opening 56 Downfall cause 57 “Breaking Bad” Emmy winner Gunn 58 Old cereal box stats 61 Mars, e.g.

IRINA RULES BRIDGE East-West vulnerable. East deals. NORTH ♠A54 ♥ AKQ95 ♦ A8 ♣J53 WEST EAST ♠9 ♠ 10 8 7 2 ♥ J 10 6 4 3 ♥7 ♦ 10 9 7 6 ♦KQ53 ♣KQ97 ♣A64 SOUTH ♠KQJ63 ♥82 ♦J42 ♣ 10 8 2 (Hands rotated.) The bidding: EAST SOUTH WEST NORTH Pass Pass Pass 1♥ Dbl 1♠ Pass 2NT Pass 3♣* Pass 3♠ Pass 4♠ Pass Pass Pass *Asking for three-card spade support

Opening lead: Ten of ♦ This hand is from the World Championship Ladies Teams, known as the Venice Cup, played in Bali, Indonesia recently. South was Irina Levitina of New York, representing the United States. Declarer won the ace of diamonds and played a trump to her king. She reasoned that East’s double, as a

SOLUTIONS TO TUESDAY’S PUZZLES

vulnerable passed hand, surely meant that she held a singleton heart. This presumed 5-1 heart split would prevent her from developing dummy’s long heart for her 10th trick, and the other suits offered no hope. Levitina backed her cardreading with her courage and led a heart toward dummy at trick three, inserting dummy’s nine when West played low! She now had the 10 tricks she needed — five spades, four hearts, and one diamond. The percentages were in her favor. There were four low hearts outstanding and only two high ones — the jack and 10. Should East have a singleton heart, as declarer believed, it was twice as likely to be a low card rather than a high card. There is a legitimate defense to defeat this contract. East-West must start with three rounds of clubs, ending in the East hand. The fourth round of clubs now promotes a trump trick for East. The new year starts with a beautifully played hand. May there be many more. Happy New Year! (Tannah Hirsch and Bob Jones welcome readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001. E-mail responses may be sent to tcaeditors@tribune.com.)

AnnistonStar.com THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Unscramble these four Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

CLIRE SHOECN THILGF

Jumble puzzle magazines available at pennydellpuzzles.com/jumblemags

by David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

Print answer here: Yesterday’s

256-235-9211

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: IMPEL KNACK PULLEY RELENT Answer: When they got caught in the downpour in Kiev, they were in the — “UK-RAIN-E”

CLASSIFIEDS

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