HOROSCOPE

Horoscope.com

Friday, March 31, 2023

ARIES — Finding balance in your world will be no sweat once you get into the groove, Aries.

Waking up is likely to be the most difficult part of the day, but once you conquer that incredible feat, you should be fine. Try taking a cold shower instead of a warm one this morning. This will serve to open up your mind and get your blood pumping when you need it most.

TAURUS — You may feel like the smallest issue is suddenly a life or death situation, Taurus. Depending on your mood, you may think you’re on the brink of complete disaster, but the next minute be soaring high in the clouds. The drama that surrounds you is more a product of your reaction to your environment rather than the environment itself.

GEMINI — Things may come to you more easily than usual today, Gemini. This is a sign that you’re on the right path and doing things correctly. Life shouldn’t have to be full of stress and heartache. If something isn’t flowing smoothly, you should consider taking a new approach toward it. Keep a smile on your face and be respectful of the people around you.

CANCER — Check your messages often, Cancer. Someone is trying to contact you and you may keep missing each other by minutes. It’s important to connect with this person to take care of some matters. If your objectives are clear, things should work out fine. Two people working toward the same goal make the power of the joint effort extremely potent.

LEO — You will get much farther than you think today, even with minimal effort, Leo. There are plenty of avenues to take now, so even if one is jammed, there’s always another that you can reach easily.

Soon you will arrive at your destination with time to spare. The trick is to keep moving. Don’t get stuck in one place with your engine running.

VIRGO — Don’t get too caught up in the emotional side of life today, Virgo. Keep things light and keep them moving. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Unfortunately, you may have quite a bit of that green stuff growing on you now. Get up and get moving. One little bit of effort will send you off and running.

Codeword Puzzle

Don’t hesitate.

LIBRA — Try not to be overwhelmed by the frenzied activity around you, Libra. Unexpected variables are popping up everywhere, and your first reaction may be to flip out. This is the opposite reaction that you need to have now. Calm yourself down and take small bites. Don’t try to eat the whole eight-course meal in one fiveminute sitting.

SCORPIO — It’s time to bring more fire into your life, Scorpio. Consider calling up an old flame or friend from the past who stirs the passion within you. Inspire your inner yearning for excitement and adventure. Eat spicy foods and adorn yourself in bright colors. Even the smallest actions will help bring more of this dynamic, activating energy to your life.

SAGITTARIUS — This is one of those days in which you may ask for five minutes to complete a certain task and an hour later finally finish whatever you set out to do. Keep in mind that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Things are taking you longer than expected not because you’re inefficient but because you’re more passionate than usual about what you’re doing.

CAPRICORN — Don’t be afraid of the fire today, Capricorn. Instead, embrace it and incorporate more of it into your life. Certain people may intimidate you at first, but that doesn’t mean you should run away from the scene. More than likely this feeling of intimidation is a signal that there’s something you need to learn from that person or situation.

AQUARIUS — Tackle things that require high energy today, Aquarius. This is your day to make short work of chores, errands, or any sort of physical activity. Patience is the thing that you will lack, if anything, but don’t worry, because your strengths lie elsewhere now. Your heart is apt to sing once you get going on a personal project about which you feel passionate.

PISCES — Even though you feel most comfortable when things are organized and meticulous, Pisces, you’re going to need to be flexible. Allow room for surprise and adventure. Bask in the adventurous spirit that must be adopted when you walk out the door with no idea where you will end up.

Daily Bridge

By FRANK STEWART

Tribune Content Agency

Friday, March 31, 2023

Opening the bidding (“striking the first blow”) may be beneficial for both offense and defense. But skimpy opening bids impede accuracy in constructive bidding.

In the Soloway Knockout Teams at the Fall NABC, both Norths opened one diamond with sub-minimum high cards and a hand bereft of winners. The resulting four-heart game with a combined 20 HCP and a shaky trump suit was an underdog.

SECOND CLUB

At one table West led a trump, and East took the ace (not best) and returned a spade to the ace. West then cashed the ace of clubs and led a club to dummy. Declarer picked up East’s queen of trumps and ruffed a club in dummy to set up the suit. Plus 420.

In the replay, West led the ace of spades, then a low club (not best). South might have guessed right. If to have a chance he assumed East had the A-Q of trumps, he could have given West the ace of clubs for his overcall. (South could have played East for specifically Q-x in trumps and the ace of clubs.) But South played low from dummy and lost four tricks.

DAILY QUESTION

You hold: he bids two diamonds. What do you say?

ANSWER: This case is close.

Your hand is almost worth inviting game with a bid of 2NT, especially since the ten of clubs may provide a second club stopper. If your jack of diamonds were the queen, you might choose that call. As it is, bid two hearts and hope your partner can find a third bid.

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-Saturday and on the crossword solutions page in Saturday’s Life section.

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

10

Your partner opens one heart, you respond one spade and