6A — Monday, November 25, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts

By Ed Sessa
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/25/19

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/25/19

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Monday, November 25, 2019

ACROSS
1 Pole on the 
Pequod
5 Conclude from 
evidence
10 Auto loan figs.
14 Smoothie berry
15 Land, in France
16 Talk over tea
17 *Soccer ref’s 
formal warning
19 Like wet mud 
pies
20 Bullring bravo
21 Like dried-out 
mud pies
22 Cerebral __: 
brain layer
24 Name of many 
pharaohs
26 Singer Mars
27 *Letter box 
access
30 Emeril 
catchword
33 Like XLII, 
numeral-wise
36 Elevator 
innovator
37 Classic theater 
name
38 Eurasian border 
range
39 Fiber sources
40 Four-leaf clover, 
to some
41 Astronaut 
Armstrong
42 Apartment 
payment
43 “In Xanadu did 
__ Khan ... ”: 
Coleridge
44 Weigh station 
unit
45 *Area where 
cellphones don’t 
work
47 Weighty exam
49 Montblanc topper
53 Prohibited
55 Biblical “you”
57 Rose of rock 
music
58 “Sorry to say ... ”
59 Later than 
expected ... and 
where the ends 
of the answers to 
starred clues may 
be found
62 Opposite of went
63 Bay window
64 Many an Omani
65 Like two, not one

66 Simultaneous 
equation 
variables
67 No longer here

DOWN
1 Big city big shot
2 Amtrak express 
train
3 Witch trial town
4 Shop __ you 
drop
5 Formal words of 
confession
6 Hickey spot
7 Start to unravel
8 Slip up
9 Disaster relief 
organization
10 Seed that grows 
squirrels?
11 *Sneak into the 
shot
12 Level with a 
wrecking ball
13 River of Hades
18 Neptune’s realm
23 Part of KO
25 Petite
26 Cheesy pancake, 
perhaps
28 Cosmetics giant
29 Lamp support
31 Ice skating feat
32 Mimicking bird

33 Littlest of the litter
34 Snack 
sometimes eaten 
from the inside 
out
35 *iPad’s giant 
ancestor
37 City where Joan 
of Arc died
39 Loaf holder
43 Weak- or knock- 
follower
45 Crime scene 
sample

46 In full view
48 “Peer Gynt” 
dramatist
50 Egypt’s capital
51 Guy felling trees
52 Annapolis frosh
53 Clock front
54 Norse king
55 Girl Scouts’ __ 
Mints
56 Hurried, old-style
60 Historical period
61 Kids’ game with a 
safe area

The dawn of the holiday season calls for one thing and one thing 
only: a new Netflix Christmas flick starring Vanessa Hudgens. If 
we cannot have “High School Musical 4,” at least we can rely on 
an annual romcom starring Hudgens to spread tidings of comfort 
and joy. Last winter, we were gifted with “The Princess Switch,” 
where Hudgens plays a successful baker who trades places with 
her princess doppelganger and winds up falling in love with a 
prince. Though not exactly the “The Princess Switch” sequel 
we asked for, “The Knight Before Christmas” offers the same 
cheerful spirit and fairytale romance that we’ve been yearning 
for all year.
The movie starts with Sir Cole (Josh Whitehouse “Poldark”) 
who, at one moment, is a medieval English knight preparing for 

his younger brother’s knighthood, and the 
next, is magically transported by a wise old 
witch into a small town in Ohio in the year 
2019. Heeding the witch’s advice, Cole is 
determined to search for his life’s “quest” 
before Christmas day. Upon his arrival to 
the modern world, Sir Cole bumps into 
Brooke (Vanessa Hudgens “High School 
Musical 3”), a kind, but romantically 
skeptical high school science teacher. 
After an awkward, yet pure encounter, 
the pair meet again later that night, when 
Brooke nearly runs Sir Cole over with her 
car during a snowstorm. Out of both guilt 
and intrigue, upon learning that Sir Cole 
has no place to go, Brooke offers him a bed 
in her guest house. As the days leading up 
to Christmas go by, Sir Cole and Brooke 
prepare for the holidays together, Sir Cole 
teaching Brooke about the customs in his 
world and Brooke sharing the traditions in 
hers. A friendship between the two soon 
develops, which of course, quickly begins 
to morph into something more.
Though at surface level “The Knight 
Before Christmas” is intended strictly 
for a preteen, female audience, the movie is arguably enjoyable 
for anyone in search of a little holiday pep with a sprinkle of 
romance. Unsurprisingly, this movie follows a similar framework 
to “The Princess Switch”: a twist of fate, followed by a meet-cute, 
which ultimately leads to a budding romance. The unpredictable 
elements of “The Knight Before Christmas” are far and few in 
between, and the film certainly does not pack a whole lot of 
cinematic punch; however, it does successfully invoke a sense of 
nostalgia for the most wonderful time of year. 

With the majority of their time together filled with bread-
baking, tree-chopping and hot chocolate drinking, Brooke and 
Sir Cole are certainly no Kate and Leopold, but their love story is 
sweet and seasonal, which is a box that all holiday movies should 
check. I’ve seen my fair share of low-budget Netflix films — 
some are truly awful, without purpose or direction. But, despite 
its lack of originality or spunk, “The Knight Before Christmas” 
is a wholesome reminder that the holiday season is around the 
corner and maybe that is all that it needs to be.

Netflix’s Christmas miracle, starring Vanessa Hudgens

FILM REVIEW

SAMANTHA NELSON
Daily Arts Writer

These days, it’s hard to tell whether reality television is scripted or 
not, especially when some Kardashian scandal just so happens to get 
leaked to the press right before the latest season of “Keeping Up With 
the Kardashians.” The “reality” aspect makes it more entertaining 
to watch because it takes us away from the drama in our own lives, 

even if deep down most of us know that it’s all scripted and carefully 
produced. But this transformation to more realistic reality television 
came after a renaissance (watch some clips from the first seasons of 
“Keeping Up”), and there’s one show that seemed to miss the memo. 
That show is “Blind Date,” a reboot of a show from the early 2000s by 
the same name. Each persona is made to be a caricature of a person 
that couldn’t possibly exist in real life, which is the main indicator 
that this show didn’t make enough effort to assimilate to the current 
standard of the reality television genre.
The premiere follows two pairs every 
episode and takes each of them through their 
first date from an activity, to a bar, to a hot tub. 
The first pair’s introduced as “Party Peter” and 
“Sexy Kristen,” which you can immediately tell 
are the only two characteristics the episode 
is going to milk for the rest of their date. The 
immediate labeling of these two was already 
concerning, but what was even more alarming 
was the daunting realization that Peter referred 
to himself as “Party Peter,” a self-declared “fun 
drunk.” This was maybe after three shots. 
The only hint of three-dimensionality we see 
in Peter is his initial interview, when he takes 
on the “I work too much to find love” persona, 
which sounds like something out of a Wattpad 
story in itself. 
And it gets worse. The second pair, 
Angelique and Slick 23, have perhaps the most 
uncomfortable and cringey date of human 
existence, as if the first one wasn’t torture 
enough. It kicks off with an interview with 
Angelique, who repeats an unnecessary amount 
of times repeating how lying is a turn-off for 
her. They meet, and he introduces himself with 
an accent that he doesn’t have, then they go to 
a sex toy shop for a wholesome first date. For 

the entirety of their date, Slick 23 refuses to tell her his real name, yet 
they somehow make it to the hot tub until Angelique decides to leave. 
Probably for episode length reasons.
While the first date was bad, the second one did not allow the 
show to redeem itself in any way, but was admittedly a pinch more 
entertaining simply from the absurdity of it all. The show also inserted 
random meme-like edits to make fun of the characters, which were 
hardly ever funny or additive to the quality of the episode as a whole. 
Reality television is supposed to be trashy and dramatic, but this show 
is so far detached from “The Bachelor”-level trashy television that I 
had a near-existential crisis thinking about its place in the world of 
television as a whole. Save yourself the precious half-hour that “Blind 
Date” took up in my life and take a power nap or call your mom. It’s 
not worth it.

‘Blind Date’ is pointless but has returned to television

TV REVIEW

SOPHIA YOON
Daily Arts Writer

Cozy is one of those words that seems to have been exploited by 
Pinterest. It’s all about “cozy” interior decorating, “cozy” recipes 
for winter weekends or “cozy” winter trends. Cozy seems like milk 
foam in coffee: pretty, but perhaps unnecessary.
However, when you take into consideration the bleak and 
barbarous backdrop for the word, you might feel a bit more in its 
corner. Cozy fights the cool grey wash that hovers over everything 
in the winter, battles the glum exhaustion that plagues student’s 
faces 
and 
replenishes 
everyone’s 
deprived 
senses, 
which 
are 
exhausted 
from 
the 
boredom 
of 
a 
snow-
covered world. Really, 
cozy feels like a small 
soldier in a transitional 
time.
Out 
of 
all 
your 
transitions in flux at the 
University right now — 
between 
Thanksgiving 
break to finals season, 
from home life to campus 
life, 
from 
worrying 
about 
your 
current 
classes to building next 
semester’s schedule — 
the overarching transition is from late fall to established winter, 
a winter that has lost the excitement of initial snowfalls and has 
settled into something slower and darker. 
And quieter, too. The whiter the world looks, the quieter it gets. 
Natural sounds and human voices are pretty much gone, and if 
you take your earbuds out and listen to the ambient noise around 
you, you’ll find all that’s left is the mechanical noise of traffic and 
heating units. It’s not very pleasant, I’d actually highly recommend 
putting your earbuds back in. 
Once you plug your earbuds in, you might find yourself in the 
middle of a cozy playlist. You know the kind — singers murmuring, 

soft and low, among the susurrus of guitars and ukuleles, cellos 
and basses ringing rich and deep; all of the noises are soothing but 
a bit incomprehensible. That’s okay, though, because somehow the 
music fills a very human need: it’s warm. If the purpose of art is 
to accompany humans through life, then cozy art is vital. We slog 
through winter in search of warmth and company and are often 
met with bleak grey skies and an overwhelming feeling of isolation. 
All of winter can often feel like one massive, unending cloud 
passing over the sun, whose warmth is just barely out of reach. 
So we make art that has warmth at its heart. It’s humanity’s take 
on hibernation. We consume warm music and comforting movies 
and spiced dishes to fill our souls, as well as our senses. This art is 
a way to create a fire. We 
hang string lights and 
burn candles and brew 
tea to bury the bleakness 
of the ice and cold. 
The only true thing I 
know about transitions 
is that they are always 
happening. We as human 
beings are in a perpetual 
state 
of 
transitioning. 
Even 
endings 
and 
beginnings 
are 
not 
completely 
definite. 
Rather 
than 
endings, 
life seems to be strung 
together 
by 
infinite 
beginnings 
dovetailing 
one another. 
I think the same is true of the art we consume. The last few songs 
of our playlist often become the first few songs of our next one. One 
movie we like leads us to seeing another from the same director. 
We drift through art as we transition from excitement at winter 
into a slower seasonal sadness, from being able to freely enjoy the 
warmth of the world to being cooped up inside, from the comfort 
of a brief break at home to facing finals. Winter can feel like one big 
blank page, equally intimidating to artists, students and humans 
alike. And so we fill it with our own warmth, our own art. 
With art, we make our own homes, we ease our endless 
transitions. 

My fight against the winter blues

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

STEPHANIE GURALNICK
Daily Arts Writer

NETFLIX

BRAVO

The Knight Before 
Christmas

Netflix

Now Streaming

Blind Date

Series Premiere

Bravo

Mondays @ 11:30 p.m.

We consume warm music and 
comforting movies and spiced dishes to 
fill our souls, as well as our senses. This 
art is a way to create a fire. We hang 
string lights and burn candles and brew 
tea to bury the bleakness of ice and cold.

