HOROSCOPE

Horoscope.com

Friday, February 24, 2023

ARIES — You’re known to be kindhearted. However, being taken advantage of can happen as a result. It’s important for you to trust your instincts to prevent this from happening. If what you hear doesn’t match your feelings, trust your feelings. If you think you’re being used, try to move past it. It would be a real shame if resentment permanently squelched your giving nature.

TAURUS — Your nature is intense, Taurus. You probably feel things deeply and spend a lot of time lost in thought. Yet, too much intensity can take a toll on your health and well-being. It might be time to go out and enjoy yourself. Get up from the chair and take a walk. Meet someone for lunch or do a little shopping or yoga.

GEMINI — Feed your mind today, Gemini. While you no doubt enjoy being active and social, you get bored fairly quickly, too. You need a constant supply of intriguing, fresh material in order to feel your best. Explore an interesting subject or learn a new hobby. Stimulate your mind and your body will become more energetic. Use the Internet if you can’t get away.

CANCER — If you think you have to prove that you have something valuable to offer, Cancer, consider this carefully. You’re naturally friendly and can get along with almost anyone. This may already be your strength. You have something great to bring to a crowd. Consider being yourself and not trying so hard to feel a part of things.

LEO — Consider putting your problem-solving skills to work today, Leo. You have a real flair for investigating situations and figuring out what happened. If something comes your way that seems mysterious, take the bull by the horns and get to the truth. If you’re baffled, use the process of elimination to narrow things down.

VIRGO — Virgo, don’t be fooled by others who aren’t straight with you. If you don’t know the person well, trust your instincts. You tend to care for others, so it can be easy for you to feel sorry for someone and be inclined to help. Make sure that the person you help really deserves it and is telling you the whole story. Taking this extra time can save you problems later.

By FRANK STEWART Tribune Content Agency

Friday, February 24, 2023

The most dangerous falsehoods are truths slightly distorted. If you believe in the adage “eight ever, nine never,” you’re being misled.

At today’s four spades, dummy played low on the first heart. East won and returned a heart, and South was relieved when his queen held. He next attacked the diamonds: diamond to the ace, diamond ruff. Declarer next took the K-A of trumps — and “nine never” failed him: East discarded.

South ruffed another diamond, led a heart to the ace and ruffed a diamond, but then he had to lead the ace and a low club. West rose with the queen(!), took his high trump and led a club to East’s king. Down one.

SECOND TRUMP

Regardless of “eight ever, nine never,” South should play dummy’s jack on the second trump. When the jack wins, South ruffs a diamond, leads a trump to the ace and ruffs a diamond to set up dummy’s fifth diamond. Making five.

If East had the queen of trumps, South would still be safe for 10 tricks. He could ruff his third club in dummy.

Your partner opens one club, you respond one

LIBRA — It could be easy to get carried away today, Libra. You might get caught up in some excitement or base your decisions on another’s word. You need to use your head on a day like this. Double-check everything and moderate your activities. Keep your limitations in mind. There’s nothing that says you can’t do whatever it is that catches your eye.

SCORPIO — The energy that you feel today may have you so jittery that others don’t know what to do with you, Scorpio. The day’s influences can bring a boost. You’d be wise to plan things to do to expend it all. Get busy with physical chores at work or home. Pull things out and organize, move furniture around, whatever it takes. It’s better to be productive than drive everyone crazy.

SAGITTARIUS — Venturing into something new and different may be what you need, Sagittarius. You have a very solid, practical side to your personality, but the need for excitement and adventure is likely to be just as strong. If you’ve had your nose to the grindstone recently, take some time off for fun. Visit a friend or, better yet, drive to a place you haven’t been to and explore.

CAPRICORN — You may want to learn about something today, Capricorn. At work and home there’s a set schedule of what you must tend to and when. On your own time, you’re free to research anything your heart desires. Intellectual growth is something you enjoy, so why not spend time online or in the library finding out more about your favorite things?

AQUARIUS — If you happen to meet new people today, Aquarius, be careful. Some folks appear interesting because they’re bold or dangerous. Perhaps they do things you’d never dream of doing. This may seem interesting, but it can lead to trouble and hurt you if you aren’t careful. Stick to your usual standards and ethics.

PISCES — You might have to make a choice between telling the truth and lying today, Pisces. In some circumstances, this can be difficult, especially if you’re afraid you will hurt someone’s feelings. Keep in mind that a lie can take more energy than the truth. Consider what you would want the other person to do in your place.

Sudoku

Codeword Puzzle

INSTRUCTIONS

Fill in the grid so every row, every column and every 3-by-3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9. that means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Sudoku puzzles appear on the Diversions page Monday through Saturday.

Crossword Puzzle

Answers to previous CODEWORD

How to play Codeword

Codeword is a fun game with simple rules, and a great way to test your knowledge of the English language. Every number in the codeword grid is ‘code’ for a letter of the alphabet. Thus, the number 2 may correspond to the letter L, for instance. All puzzles come with a few letters to start. Your first move should be to enter these letters in the puzzle grid. If the letter S is in the box at the bottom of the page underneath the number 2, your first move should be to find all cells numbered 2 in the grid and enter the letter S. Cross the letter S off the list at the bottom of the grid. Remember that at the end you should have a different letter of the alphabet in each of the numbered boxes 1- 26, and a word in English in each of the horizontal and vertical runs on the codeword grid.

Puzzle

diamond and he bids one spade. What do you say?

ANSWER: You can commit to game, and to jump to 3NT might work. But partner’s hand is not welldefined, and if he has a heart holding such as Q-x, a notrump contract will be safer if he is declarer. Bid two hearts, a “fourth-suit” call that doesn’t promise hearts but asks him to make another descriptive bid.