Today's Entertainment

January 15 - 21, 2018 Page 3 ACROSS 1. Michele of "The Mayor" 4. "__ Trek: The Next Generation" 8. "America's __ Talent" 11. Suffix for heir or host 12. Race loser, in Aesop's fable 13. Charles, for one 14. "Battle of the __ __" 17. Fifty and sixty 18. Your, to Shakespeare 19. "Mr. Candid Camera" 21. "Around the Horn" network 24. Hospital employee 25. Einstein's initials 26. "It Comes __ Night"; 2017 Joel Edgerton horror movie 27. One of the Kettles 28. Reylynn Caster's role on "Me, Myself and I" 30. Not quite closed 32. "The New Adventures of __ Christine" 34. Suffix for vocal or visual 35. Star of a sitcom that premiered in Fall 2017 (2) 41. "Judging __" 42. Favorite drink of Radar on "M*A*S*H" 43. __ King Cole 44. Prefix for like or satisfaction 45. Prince William's alma mater 46. "Austin Powers: The __ Who Shagged Me"; 1999 film DOWN 1. Goodman or Cariou 2. 90 degrees from NNE 3. Portrayer of Gomez Addams 4. "Get lost!" 5. Feather's partner, in phrase 6. Joan Van __ 7. Take a nap 8. Grows old 9. Rower's need 10. Cobb and Burrell 15. "Real Time __ __ Maher" 16. "__ __ Ones" (2013-14) 19. Role on "The Nanny" 20. "Do __ others ..." 22. One of the Three Bears 23. "Don't Go __ the Water"; 1957 Glenn Ford movie 29. Calhoun's namesakes 31. Smart and Stapleton 33. "She __ Him Wrong"; Mae West film 34. __ Armitage of "Young Sheldon" 35. "__ About You" 36. "What Kind of Fool __ __?" 37. Butterfly catcher's need 38. "Samantha __?" (2007-09) 39. Siesta 40. Place where the meals are slop Solution on page 2 CoverStory By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it Just as executive pro- ducer Ryan Murphy has told a different tale with each season of "American Horror Story," the same is true of his "American Crime Story." That stands to reason in the latter case, since that series is telling finite, true stories. First was the nine-Emmy-winning "The People v. O.J. Simpson," and though Hurricane Katrina was envisioned as the second subject, that has turned out instead to be "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," which begins its 10-episode FX run Wednesday, Jan. 17. Opening with an ele- gantly staged sequence directed by Murphy and detailing the actual 1997 crime in Miami Beach, the drama stars Edgar Ramirez ("The Girl on the Train") as iconic fashion designer Versace, Pe- nelope Cruz as his sister Donatella, singer-actor Ricky Martin as Versace's longtime partner Anto- nio D'Amico, and Mur- phy-show veteran Darren Criss ("Glee") as serial killer Andrew Cunanan. "I think the thing about 'American Crime Story,'" says Murphy, "is that we're not just (dramatiz- ing) a crime. We're trying to talk about a crime within a social idea. This was always interesting to us because the idea was that Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die. Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is, one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims — many of whom were gay — was because of ho- mophobia at the time. "Homophobia (factored in)," Murphy maintains, "particularly within the var- ious police organizations that refused in Miami to put up 'Wanted' posters, even though they knew that Andrew Cunanan had probably committed many of these murders and was probably headed that way ... all of which we deal with in the show. I thought that that was a really in- teresting thing to examine, to look at again, particu- larly with the president we have and the world that we live in." Ramirez explains his principal interest in play- ing Versace "has to do with (his) being haunted. Both being haunted and hunted. And I think that is something that I really connected to, a character that basically came into the States to change ev- erything, forever." Darren Criss is among the stars of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," premiering Wednesday on FX. 'American Crime Story' Season 2 dramatizes the Gianni Versace murder

• Cover