Today's Entertainment

December 20 - 26, 2021 Page 3 ACROSS 1. "NBC __ __ With Lester Holt" 10. Sher of "The Middle" 11. "__ Game PM" (1975- 81) 12. Speck 13. Actress __-Margret 14. Rower's need 16. "I Know __ __ Me"; Lindsay Lohan movie 18. __-pitch softball 20. End of each "Old MacDonald" verse 21. Goulash 22. NBC weekend show, for short 23. "People Are Funny" host 24. Christmas carol 25. Suffix for bold or cold 27. Egypt's continent: abbr. 28. "Family __ __" 32. Famous Chairman 33. Pop singer Bobby 34. __ Sing; cook on "Bonanza" 37. "Harold & __ Go to White Castle"; 2004 film 39. Alana __ __ Garza of "FBI" 40. "When Nature Calls With __ __" DOWN 1. Stacey's man 2. Words that end bachelorhood (2) 3. "__ Smart" 4. Initials for Ozzie's wife 5. Middle of the alphabet 6. Pull hard 7. Initials for actress Travis 8. Intestinal bacteria (2) 9. "The __ __ August"; 1987 Bette Davis movie 13. Hitchcock's initials 15. Carl or Rob 16. "That's amazing!" 17. Ken or Barbie 18. "Islands in the __"; 1977 George C. Scott film 19. "__ __ a Deal" 21. Crooned 24. "The __ King Cole Show" 26. Asian capital city 29. Lendl of tennis 30. Bit of bacteria 31. "__ Got Game"; Denzel Washington film 34. "Death Becomes __"; Streep/Willis movie 35. Flamenco shout 36. "Peter __" 38. "God Friended __" 39. "__. Phil" Solution is on page 2. CoverStory By Jay Bobbin As one sign of the world returning to a semblance of normalcy this holiday sea- son, The Kennedy Center Honors are back in place. Typically staged at year's end, the event from the showplace in Washington, D.C. — which salutes several legends of the performing arts — had its 2020 edition postponed until this past spring, due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the usual timing is resuming as The 44th Annual Kennedy Center Honors are televised by CBS on Wednesday, Dec. 22. In a ceremony taped on Dec. 5, five entertainment icons are feted by friends and peers who usually include previous Honors recipients, some of whom (such as Julie Andrews, Gloria Estefan, Herbie Han- cock and John Williams) participated in making the latest choices of honorees. Justino Diaz: A San Juan-born bass-baritone, Diaz spent his early years performing in his native Puerto Rico. After study- ing at the New England Conservatory, he entered a Metropolitan Opera com- petition and won, making his Met debut in "Rigoletto" in 1963. In the nearly six decades since, he has performed at many of the world's great opera houses. Berry Gordy: The found- er of Motown Records nurtured many acts that be- came iconic in their time on the singles charts and have remained so ... including Diana Ross and the Su- premes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and the Jackson 5. Also a producer and song- writer, Gordy eventually ex- panded Motown into such other areas as moviemak- ing ("Lady Sings the Blues") and Broadway shows ("Mo- town: The Musical"). Lorne Michaels: Orig- inally a radio writer and performer in his native Can- ada, Michaels co-created "Saturday Night Live" for NBC in the mid-1970s, and the rest is television history. The program has launched an army of comedy stars over its nearly five decades, and Michaels also has pro- duced many movies featur- ing them ("Wayne's World," "Tommy Boy," etc.). Bette Midler: One of the most famously self-styled of all entertainers, the proudly brassy Midler — known for turning camp into art — parlayed her initial success in music into movie stardom that has seen her headline such hits as "The Rose," "Beaches" and "The First Wives Club." Joni Mitchell: Symbolic of a certain era in popular music, singer-songwriter Mitchell's work ("Both Sides, Now," "Big Yellow Taxi," etc.) is simultaneous - ly timeless, which has kept her a major influence on successive artists. Bette Midler, Berry Gordy, others receive latest Kennedy Center Honors The identity of the featured celebrity is found within the answers in the puzzle. In order to take the TV Challenge, unscramble the letters noted with asterisks within the puzzle. InFocus "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts" (HBO Max — movie premiere, Jan. 1, 2022) Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and other cast members join filmmaker Chris Columbus as they travel back to Hogwarts for the first time to celebrate the anniversary of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," the first of eight films in the franchise, which was released in 2001. (ORIGINAL)

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