WHISPER By Robin Stears ©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC 02/11/20 Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis 02/11/20 ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: Release Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 ACROSS 1 Catch sight of 5 Nudged with one’s snout 10 Come clean, with “up” 14 Escape 15 Greek marketplace 16 Ski resort near Salt Lake City 17 *Expensive flying option 19 Greenish-blue 20 Egg: Pref. 21 Warning word often preceded by a color 22 Scarlett of Tara 23 Chemical reaction named for its two processes 25 Rhoda’s sister 26 __ of Capricorn 28 *Space for home projects, e.g. 30 Old fast jets 31 Augusta National signature shrub 33 __ Titanic: ill- fated ship 34 Of the seventh planet 35 Snake’s sound 38 Red wine choice 39 Atomizer output 43 *Collaborative activity 45 1920s-’30s “Blonde Bombshell” Jean 47 Let out, as fishing line 48 Vodka brand, familiarly 49 Group of musical notes 50 Lauder of makeup 54 Auto title ID 55 Word after King or Hong 56 *Payment method being replaced by mobile banking 58 Impulse 59 Prepare, as Parmesan 60 Et __: and others 61 Bridge “no bid” 62 After, in French 63 Aussie pal, or what can follow each word in the answers to starred clues DOWN 1 Serious attempts 2 Thin fragments 3 August birthstone 4 Cry of success 5 Table salt, to a chemist 6 Look at rudely 7 Skyrocket 8 Once, once upon a time 9 Some govt. lawyers 10 Priest’s title 11 __ Roosevelt, first lady for 12 years 12 Celebrity status 13 Respectful bows 18 Curbside cry 22 Like Mindy’s alien husband 24 Covert missions 25 Inhalation 27 “The Office” star Steve 28 Without vigor 29 Miscellany 32 Swedish singer Larsson with the Top 20 hit “Never Forget You” 34 Called balls and strikes 35 Snobby 36 Portuguese lady 37 South Seas wrapped garments 39 “The A-Team” actor 40 Randy Newman song played at Dodger Stadium 41 Formally request 42 Hostess sponge cake 44 Joins the flow of traffic 46 “Just gimme __!” 50 Wild West Wyatt 51 Practice boxing 52 A beret covers it 53 “__ Tu”: 1974 hit 56 Tiger Woods’ org. 57 Sandwich meat CLASSIFIEDS 734-418-4115 option 2 dailydisplay@gmail.com FOR RENT - avail fall 2020 2BR close to central. Info at www.tcapts.com FOR RENT “Rob is short for Bobert, so Karan + Rob = Ka- bob.” “HELP WANTED: Need work- ers, pref- erably not enneagram type 3.” “What’s for lunch Ryan? The can tells all...” puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com 5 1 5 3 6 7 2 6 8 5 8 6 4 3 2 1 1 2 6 9 9 4 1 8 5 7 5 4 5 4 © sudokusolver.com. For personal use only. Generate and solve Sudoku, Super Sudoku and Godoku puzzles at sudokusyndication.com! Sudoku Syndication http://sudokusyndication.com/sudoku/generator/print/ 1 of 1 6/3/10 9:19 AM SUDOKU Folk music is rooted in stories, a tradition that’s been passed down over many generations but constantly evolves as it takes the shape of modern society and culture. Folk artists pride themselves in maintaining this evolving folk tradition, writing music that tells the story of their lives and remains authentic to the narrative-centered roots of folk. The Lone Bellow follow this tradition in their new album Half Moon Light, dedicating the project to the small, often unnoticed details of the story of their lives, and extracting wisdom from these moments. The fifteen-song album is cathartic in nature, a space for the trio to soothe their brokenness and the brokenness they see in the world. “Let it break you / Let it help you lay down what you held onto,” the group pleads in “Count on Me.” The somber undertones in many of the songs point to themes of death and loss. “I Can Still Feel You Dancing,” is a eulogy for lost relatives and the piano interludes throughout the album — “Intro,” “Interlude,” and “Outro” — are recordings from the funeral for lead singer Zach Williams’ grandfather. Despite the album’s heaviness, the trio’s musical performance is life-giving. Anyone who’s listened to a Lone Bellow album or has seen them perform live knows that their harmonies are unmatched; The passion the trio possesses allows their stories to come alive. The band offers moments of life in songs like “Good Times,” urging their audience to embrace the lives they have while they’re still around. As they chant “Let no good time slip away,” the trio creates a sense of community that mimics a summer night, singing songs around a campfire with the people you love. I got to witness the magic of The Lone Bellow at their recent performance at Ann Arbor Folk Festival when the group performed a short set comprised of their older songs as well some songs off the new album. After listening to the new project, I was surprised to find that the tracks on the album sounded nearly identical to their live performance. With its stripped back vocals and guitars, Half Moon Light allows the musical talents of the group to shine through in their simplicity. Half Moon Light, in its soulful, folksy nature, is a celebration of life itself. Clearly The Lone Bellow have weathered highs and lows since their last album release, and the way they approached Half Moon Light as a space to let go of all the pain they’ve hung onto is a testament to the way music can heal. Like their prior albums, Half Moon Light preserves folk tradition through its story-telling and capacity to reach people at a personal level. The Lone Bellow embraced the opportunity to open up about their own lives, and now they’re taking us with them as they try to cope with and understand the moments in life we all struggle with. Lone Bellow’s ‘Half Moon Light’ threads life, death A GILLARDI PHOTO KAITLYN FOX Daily Arts Writer Breaking news: school shooting. Too often, these words flash across the screens of homes all over America. Listening to the atrocities recounted on TV, it all seems too horrific to be true. Surreal clips of crying family members and mourning communities unveil before our eyes, and disbelief permeates every inch of our being. It’s hard to ignore the unwelcome feeling of morbid curiosity that our imagination sets into motion. What must it be like to attend a regular day at school, only to have it end in such tragedy and horror? What were the victims’ last thoughts? What was the shooter thinking? Sahar Mustafah’s upcoming novel “The Beauty of Your Face” gives us a glimpse into the terrifying realities of a school shooting, and the circumstances that bring about this all-too- common incident. The story follows a Palestinian-American woman, Afaf Rahman, as she navigates faith, family struggles and the unshakeable racial prejudices in American society leading up to and following 9/11. Afaf’s narrative is told through two alternating timelines. The bulk of the novel focuses on her life growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, while a present-day encounter with a school shooter frames the story. “The Beauty of Your Face” details Afaf’s journey from a scarring youth to a meaningful adulthood, in which she works as the principal of an all-girls Muslim school in Chicago: the Nurideen School for Girls. With profound insights and glittering words, Mustafah explores the realities of growing up in a community that rejected Afaf’s Palestinian immigrant family. Chicago in the 1970s and ‘80s was a world where women were “kicked and shoved (...) at the supermarket” and called “rag- head” at the gas station for wearing headscarves. As a young girl, Afaf is forced to be hyperaware of her Palestinian roots as she faces everything from microaggressions and ignorance to outright and intentional racism. She suffers heartbreak and hardship when her deeply unhappy sister, Nada, disappears without a trace and her parents succumb to the emotional burden of sadness that descends upon the family. Afaf’s difficult childhood makes her story all the more inspiring as she finds her way out of the spiral of misery that her parents surrendered to through perseverance and her discovery of Islam. After 9/11, Afaf faces a new set of hardships as the underlying current of xenophobia in America crystallizes into a misguided fear of terrorists. This fear and hate is inevitably directed at Afaf and her family solely because they are Muslim. The headscarf Afaf donned with pride in her late teenage years becomes a symbol of terrorism in the eyes of ignorant American nationalists. In a heartbreaking exchange between Afaf and her daughter Azmia about recent terrorist attacks, Azmia asks her mother, “How can they do that? Aren’t they Muslim too?” to which Afaf has no good answer except “They’re not true muslimeen, habibti.” It is impossible not to share Afaf’s disbelief and frustration at the undeserved abuse she endures just because overseas terrorist groups use her cherished religion in the name of evil. The story is told mostly from Afaf’s perspective, but her narrative is periodically interrupted by chapters told from the point of view of the shooter. The shooter’s mind is a world of twisted fantasy, fueled by online chat rooms where anyone who isn’t white or born in America poses a threat to his existence. His perspective is both haunting and disturbing, as his initially cold and hateful voice gives way to a deep sense of loneliness. Though at times hard to read, this unconventional perspective highlights the depth of the divide between the xenophobic shooter and the students of Nurideen School for Girls. Mustafah seems to suggest that so much of the violence and hate in this country stems from this fundamental lack of understanding between people. “The Beauty of Your Face” is a complex generational novel that is all too relevant in today’s divided America. The underlying plea of the characters, “We are a religion of peace, not terror. We are Americans too,” echoes urgently through the pages of the novel. Afaf tries to bridge the gap between her and the shooter, urging him, “Tell me about your pain,” but it’s too late for him to see past their differences. Afaf and the shooter’s lives and experiences have led them to this point, and her small act of recognition can no longer put an end to the events that are unfolding. Nevertheless, the message rings loud and clear. Maybe violence could be avoided if people took the time to understand other people’s pain and find commonalities in their shared human experience. ‘The Beauty of Your Face’ timely in a nation divided EMMA DOETTLING For the Daily Half Moon Light Dan Deacon Domino Recording Company ALBUM REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW BOOK REVIEW The Beauty of Y our Face Sahar Mustafah W. W. Norton & Company Apr. 7, 2020 6 — Tuesday, February 11, 2020 Arts The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com