Today's Entertainment

May 9 - 15, 2022 Page 3 ACROSS 1. "__ __ Harvey" 9. Actor Chaney Jr. 10. "Sesame Street" char- acter 11. "__ Got a Secret" 13. Potato salad ingredi- ent 15. "The George __ Show" (1954-60) 17. ABC game show (2) 18. Initials for Jackie Ken- nedy's 2nd husband 20. __ Grosland of "New Amsterdam" 21. "Ordinary Joe" network 23. Olsen of vaudeville 24. Actor Young 25. Role on "Law & Order: SVU" 26. Spielberg's 1982 crea- ture 29. "__. Elsewhere" 30. "FBI" actress 34. Clear the slate 36. "... the bombs bursting __ __ ..." 38. "__ __ Married an Axe Murderer"; Nancy Travis film 39. Drug agent 42. Suffix for real or rigid 43. Series for Will Estes (2) DOWN 1. Stewart or Cryer 2. College credit 3. Tierney or Wilder 4. "Bad Times at the __ Royale"; 2018 movie 5. McQueen's initials 6. Old Roman robe 7. Instinctive feeling 8. One who raised Cain 9. "NCIS: __ __" 12. "Abbott __" 14. Actress Sandra & oth- ers 16. University in Colum- bus 19. Final notice, for short 20. Wallach & Marienthal 22. Initials for actor Clu 23. "Person __ Interest" 27. Guitarist Paul 28. OB-__; women's doc- tor 30. 11th word in "Jack & Jill" 31. Actress Russo 32. Puerto __ 33. "__ in Manhattan"; Jennifer Lopez film 35. Lowe or Reiner 37. "__ Complicated"; Meryl Streep movie 40. __ negative; rarest blood type 41. Lansing's initials Solution is on page 2. CoverStory By George Dickie Cora Seaborne is a woman who escaped one monster and is pursuing another. As played by Claire Danes ("Homeland," "Star- dust") in the six-episode drama "The Essex Ser- pent," premiering Friday, May 13, on Apple TV+, she's a 19th century so- cialite who departs London following the death of her abusive husband to pursue her passion for natural history in the rural wilds of Essex, much to the disap - pointment of Luke Garrett (Frank Dillane, "Fear the Walking Dead"), a hotshot surgeon who has the hots for her. There in what best friend and traveling companion Martha (Hayley Squires, "The Miniaturist") calls "witch-burning country," Cora investigates reports of a sea monster that accord - ing to legend has claimed a few victims. On one jaunt, she crosses paths with Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston, "Loki"), the local vicar, with whom she has a mutual attraction. This man of the cloth takes the newcomer into his home with wife Stel - la (Clémence Poésy, "The Tunnel") and his family. But when tragedy strikes, the locals accuse Cora of attracting the creature. The series, which is based on the eponymous novel by Sarah Perry, was actually filmed in Essex, northeast of London, where the foreboding marshy landscape set the tone for the darkness of the story, which executive producer Jamie Laurenson believes has relevance today. "Though it's set in the Victorian era," he explains, "it's an incredibly timely story about a community confronted by fear and superstition. And it sort of talks about science and reli - gion in ways that felt incred- ibly contemporary in spite of its period setting. And I think everything we've gone through in the last couple of years with COVID and all our various communities being turned on their heads by something that we didn't understand and it was out of our control (made) the story of 'The Essex Ser - pent' feel more timely and more relatable." "The Essex Serpent" didn't escape the effects of the pandemic, either. Pro - duction was delayed when Keira Knightley, the original Cora, dropped out due to COVID-related child care concerns. Danes signed on and her accent so im - pressed Laurenson that it had him wondering if she was really a Brit. A Victorian widow searches for 'The Essex Serpent' in dark Apple TV+ drama 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 "Theodore Roosevelt" (His- tory — miniseries premiere, May 30) Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and celebrated historian Doris Kearns Goodwin are among the executive producers of this new five-hour docuseries that con - cludes on Tuesday. The fourth in a series of History Channel presidential portraits — preced- ed by "Washington," "Abraham Lincoln" and "Grant" — this new presentation focuses on the man regarded by many as the first "modern" president. Theodore Roosevelt was justly celebrated as a champion of social justice, a passionate conservationist and a self-proclaimed "bull moose" who once delivered an 84-min - ute speech while bleeding from a failed assassination attempt.

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