puzzle by sudokusnydictation.com

By Blake Slonecker
©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/26/20

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

02/26/20

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Wednesday, February 26, 2020

ACROSS
1 Commerce pact 
to be replaced by 
USMCA when it’s 
ratified
6 __ circus
11 Cook quickly
14 Fluffed-up dos
15 Apple music 
players
16 Actress Longoria
17 *Top brass
19 Outlaw
20 Iraq War concern: 
Abbr.
21 New beginning?
22 Spine-tingling
24 Farm female
25 *Response to 
wild applause
28 Almost on “E”
29 Biblical mount
30 Attend
31 “The Art of 
Loving” author 
Erich
33 Cubs’ home
34 Fort Collins sch.
37 *Political 
metaphor about 
dealing with 
bureaucracy
41 Wild blue yonder
42 Unagi, e.g.
43 Beyond angry
45 Membership fees
47 “Help!” at sea
49 P-like letter
50 *Market-based 
pollution-control 
policy
54 “__ Explain 
Things to Me”: 
2014 Rebecca 
Solnit essay 
anthology
55 Yellow-and-white 
daisy
56 “Otoh, what will 
you pay?”
57 Long of “Empire”
58 A-lister
59 Classic “Psycho” 
segment where 
one might see 
the starts of 
the answers to 
starred clues
64 Canon SLR
65 Programmer
66 Certain Jamaican, 
religiously
67 Brief reaction to 
oversharing
68 Newspaper 
essays
69 Wild West movie

DOWN
1 “Don’t think so”
2 Brief thing to 
say
3 Basic structure
4 Lincoln in-law
5 Shade of gray
6 Ones who dig 
hard rock?
7 Florida theme 
park
8 Play-__: kids’ 
clay
9 Wedding 
promise
10 Agreement
11 Striped equine
12 To no __: 
useless
13 Group of judges
18 Weight on one’s 
shoulders
23 Tesla Model X, 
for one
24 “The Hobbit” 
being
25 Sleeveless top, 
for short
26 “A Death in the 
Family” author
27 + or - particles
32 “Help!” at sea
33 UPS rival
35 Most 
ingratiatingly 
earnest

36 Get serious, 
gambler-style
38 Can’t live 
without
39 Push to the limit
40 Sage
44 Seemingly 
forever
46 World Heritage 
Site org.
47 Civil War 
swords
48 Baking soda 
target

50 Tenth 
Commandment 
verb
51 Universal 
principle
52 One side in the 
“cola wars”
53 Crewed in a shell
57 College Football 
Playoff org.
60 Sock __
61 Lyrical tribute
62 “No seats” sign
63 Cup handle

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COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Review: ‘Clone Wars’ final season
Black excellence 
gala closes out 
history month

SARAH PAYNE
For The Daily

Approximately 80 students, 
faculty 
and 
community 
members 
celebrated 
Black 
History Month at the Black 
Excellence 
Gala 
in 
the 
Union 
Tuesday 
evening. 
The gala included cultural 
performances and a buffet of 
soul food and African dishes 
and was sponsored by the 
Office of Multi-Ethnic Student 
Affairs. 
The event drew attendees 
from several Black cultural 
organizations 
on 
campus 
and in the community. These 
performances 
included 
singing, dancing, spoken word 
poetry and music. Additionally, 
there was an art gallery in the 
ballroom that featured Black 
art, photography and other 
creative pieces. 
Andrew Ward, Multi-Ethnic 
Student 
Affairs 
program 
manager, issued opening and 
closing statements for the gala. 
He expressed his gratitude for 
everyone who helped with the 
festivities of Black History 
Month this year and said he is 
excited for the future of this 
event. 
“It was such an incredible 
opportunity to work with these 
students, and it would not have 
been possible without them,” 
Ward said. “We want this to 
happen bigger and better next 
year, we would love to have all 
of your support next year as 
this is the final, closing event 
for Black History Month.”

Engineering 
freshman 
Maureen 
Thomas 
attended 
the event and reflected on her 
excitement for the cultural 
performances. 
“I am a part of the Latinx 
community on campus, and 
I came to support the Afro-
Latinos and to celebrate the 
culture here and have some 
fun,” Thomas said. 
University 
of 
Michigan 
alum Mariah Smith said she 
was excited to attend the 
event with her younger sister. 
Smith, who was also a featured 
performer in the event, said 
she 
appreciated 
how 
the 
community came together to 
celebrate black history. 
“For me, this event means 
a lot,” Smith said. “To see 
everyone come together and 
pull together this inaugural 
Black Excellence Gala is very 
important, and as an alumni to 
this University, it is very nice to 
be able to come back and be a 
part of this celebration and to 
be a part of history.”
LSA 
junior 
Madison 
Murdoch, who also attended 
the event, said she hopes the 
University will continue to 
host and support events like 
these.
“I find it really important to 
support Black History Month 
initiatives, their programming 
and events because if student 
support shows up then more 
of these events happen, and 
I think that it’s important,” 
Murdoch said.
Reporter Sarah Payne can be 
reached at paynesm@umich.

NEWS CONTENT

Break-up Series: Date in the MET

COMMUNITY CULTURE NOTEBOOK

The following review contains spoilers.
“Star 
Wars: 
The 
Clone 
Wars” 
gets 
resurrected for its seventh and final season 
after a seven-year hiatus following its 2013 
cancellation. 
Unlike 
Emperor 
Palpatine’s 
resurrection in “The Rise of Skywalker,” the 
final season of “The Clone Wars” sets itself as an 
expected progression of the “Star Wars” saga — 
a fitting coda to the ending of a trilogy.
Fans of “The Clone Wars” animated series 
may remember that season six was truncated 
down to 13 episodes from the original episode 
count in the 20s. The episodes, unable to be 
released under its syndicated network Cartoon 
Network, were released through Netflix. 
Season six (also called “The Lost Missions”) 
began to lay the groundwork of the show’s 
grand finale with the potential uncovering of 
the Sith plot of Order 66, meandering toward 
the characterizations and adventures of 
multiple members of the Jedi Council such as 

Mace Windu or Yoda. 
The premiere of season seven, called “The 
Bad Batch,” spends little time situating you 
into the final stages of the Clone War — a 
marked change of pace that sets you toward the 
denouement portrayed in “The Revenge of the 
Sith.” While you are drawn back into the setting 
and tone of the final season, you may find 
yourself enamored with the character focus of 
the premiere: the clone soldiers (Dee Bradley 
Baker, “Family Guy”).
Have you ever wondered what your 
inner monologue may sound and look like? 
Baker’s performance as clone hero favorites 
Rex and Cody alongside the titular Bad 
Batch commandos leaves very little to the 
imagination. Baker’s performance as the Bad 
Batch, clone troopers with “desirable” genetic 
mutations, is perhaps amongst the actor’s 
greatest vocal performances. While portraying 
each individual clone trooper with their own 
personality through different inflections of 
the pervasive “clone trooper voice,” Baker 
also perfectly encapsulates the bickering of 
the common foot soldier, dripping with the 

balance of tension and camaraderie. You 
wonder if Baker’s inner monologue is as eclectic 
— perhaps even as chaotic — as his masterful 
portrayal of at least eight different clones. 
Baker’s performance of the clones proudly 
displayed in the premiere paints a somewhat 
different tone and picture of the denouement 
of the Clone War. In “Revenge of the Sith,” the 
focus of the film lies in Anakin Skywalker’s 
(Hayden Christensen, “The Last Man”) fall 
to the dark side. True to the series’ role as a 
complement to “Revenge of the Sith,” “The Bad 
Batch” is the harbinger of the denouement of 
auxiliary fighters and characters — chief among 
them the clones. While it may be disappointing 
that neither Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein, 
“Avengers Assemble”) nor any Jedi have major 
appearances in the premiere, you can take 
comfort in the expectation and inevitability 
that each character will also find their own 
conclusion. While the premiere of “The Clone 
Wars” may seem underwhelming at first 
glance, it ultimately succeeds in setting up the 
conclusion of many of your favorite, auxiliary 
characters.

BRENDON CHO
Daily Arts Writer

My worst first date ever began at Steps on 
Broadway, an old dance studio on New York 
City’s Upper West Side.
I wore a purple leotard and grey biker shorts 
with my hair in braids to a full afternoon class. 
I remember the gorgeous Spanish teacher 
coming up to me at one point during barre and 
instructing me to drop my tailbone so my butt 
didn’t protrude in a grand plié and thinking 
how out of shape I was.
I made eye contact with a younger man who 
had shaggy brown hair and an air of confidence 
about him that the professional dancers who 
take classes at Steps can never seem to leave at 
the door. 
Still recovering from breakup depression, I 
just focused on completing the hour and a half. 

By the time the last combination of jumps came 
around, I noticed this young man was allowing 
me to go in front of him. I was so zoned out that 
he gave me a short laugh and motioned me in 
front of him. 
I jumped and twisted in the air, thanked the 
teacher and finished class. Safely in the hallway 
and feeling very good that I made my way here, 
the boy from before appeared in front of me as I 
was changing into street shoes. 
“Hi. I’d like to take you to the Met,” he said. 
“What?”
“I dance for New York City Ballet, so I get free 
tickets. I would like to take you to the American 
Ballet Theater’s end-of-season performance.” 
He ran his hand through his shaggy hair.
“Um … okay. That sounds awesome.”
“Okay. So meet me at the Met at 8 on 
Saturday.”
“Like the Metropolitan Opera? At Lincoln 
Center? With the fountain and everything?”

“Yeah. Can I have your number?”
With my new Saturday night plans, I floated 
back to the couch I was crashing on at 191st 
Street. 
Three days later, I wore a pair of Converse 
and a Scotch & Soda dress in front of the Met 
with a dead phone and only a vague memory 
of what this boy looked like. I eventually found 
him next to the fountain, and we walked in 
together. 
“So there’s this guy called Balanchine, 
and he choreographed a couple of the pieces 
tonight,” he said.
“I know who Balanchine is.”
“Oh. Well, this company shouldn’t really be 
doing these pieces because City Ballet is trained 
specifically-”
“I know. I actually know some people in City 
Ballet. I used to train with them.”

NATALIE KASTNER
Daily Arts Writer

Read more online at 
michigandaily.com

Welch said his experience going 
through the prison and then the 
parole process makes him a good 
mentor for others.
“I realized that my personal 
history is a part of what forged 
the 
path 
for 
me 
to 
make 
communication and connection 
with people so we can resolve the 
issue as much as we can,” Welch 
said.
State Sen. Jeff Irwin, D-Ann 
Arbor, 
and 
Kyle 
Kaminski, 
Legislative 
Liaison 
for 
the 
Michigan 
Department 
of 
Corrections, described resources 
provided 
to 
people 
recently 
released from prisons. Kaminski 
said he doesn’t feel there are 
enough resources for citizens 
returning home from prison. 
“I don’t think we’ve done 
enough as a state,” Kaminski said. 
“I think we’ve done a lot compared 
to other states, but there’s a lot of 
opportunity to make things better, 
and I think we’ve made some 
progress over the last few years, 
but I think there’s more progress 
to be made. … These types of 
discussions can have a far greater 
impact on communities around 
the state than most people are 
willing to recognize.”
 
Irwin shared his thoughts on 
the need for emotional support 
resources for those who have 
just returned home after being 
incarcerated.
“There’s the mental, emotional 
and social side of it,” Irwin said. 
“That is very important and there 
are some policy things that we 
need to be doing in Lansing to 
address those issues as well.”
Malachi Muhammad, employee 
at The Lunch Room and formerly 
incarcerated person, said for many 
returning home who are Black or 
Latinx, there is a lack of mental 
health support, due to preexisting 
cultural stigmas in each group. 
Mary 
Heinen 
McPherson, 
co-founder of the U-M Prison 
Creative 
Arts 
Project, 
also 
discussed 
struggles 
regarding 
mental health. She said she felt 
left behind by half of her former 
friends and family and was unable 
to contact the people she had 
formed bonds with while in prison 
due to MDOC regulations.
“When I came home, I was 
lonely,” Heinen McPherson said. 
“My whole life had been inside 
of a prison along with those of us 
that were all locked up together. 
So, to live with everyone that 

you knew all those years in four 
different prisons and then come 
home and be told, ‘It’s a violation 
of your parole if you have contact 
with anybody,’ you’re like, ‘What 
the hell am I going to do now?’ 
Everybody that you knew and 
loved was inside. I was ostracized 
from the community.”
Heinen McPherson shed light 
on the unique struggles that 
she encountered as a formerly 
incarcerated woman. 
“I can tell you that out of the 
thousands of women that I knew 
all those years and that I know 
now,” Heinen McPherson shared. 
“I don’t know anybody that didn’t 
suffer some major trauma, sexual 
assault, abuse or some terrible 
thing that shaped what happened 
to them before, mostly during, 
and after prison. With women, the 
primary consideration is children 
and family. There’s a lot of drama 
around kids and what’s happened 
to the mama and the grandma. 
And that’s something that we don’t 
talk about much.”
As the Q&A session began, 
Kaminski discussed the ways 
in which formerly incarcerated 
individuals are often discriminated 
against while attempting to secure 
housing. He said landlords often 
use a felony as a proxy for race 
when looking at possible tenants. 
“I think a lot of landlords use 
criminal history, which is an 
allowable exclusion, as a proxy for 
not allowed exclusions, like race,” 
Kaminski said. “I think folks need 
to be really careful about that, 
because why are they excluded 
based on criminal history?”
Irwin talked about eliminating 
the 
box 
on 
job 
or 
school 
applications that asks whether an 
applicant has committed a felony.
“We need our government to 
pass laws like ‘Ban the Box,’” Irwin 
said. “We need our government to 
rebuild these kinds of programs 
in the community like we used to 
have that would support returning 
prisoners. I think this really 
connects directly to this whole 
question of, ‘How do we help 
businesses feel comfortable hiring 
returning prisoners? How do we 
help landlords feel comfortable 
renting to these folks?’”
Welch also talked about the 
importance of voting and getting 
involved with politicians to pass 
legislation that will help formerly 
incarcerated people as well as 
those currently incarcerated.

RETURNING
From Page 1A

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

6A — Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Arts & News
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

