OUR 2011 CHRISTMAS CROSSWORD



Across

1. Those who discriminates against people on the basis of their age (7)
8. Mimics (5)
13. Anti-lock Breaking System (abbr.), a feature Alanna's 1990 Toyota pickup lacked. After racking up 298,000 km on the little red truck, major repairs were needed so Alanna gave it away and bought a 1987 Toyota pickup with 198,000 km on the odometer. Alanna loves cars that only Alanna could love. Art wonders if the same holds true about her husband. (3)
16. Famous French mime Marcel ___ (7)
17. The name of Art's colleague Peter Shurvin's son. Peter is one of the chaplains at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria and one of the group of hospital chaplains that Art supports in his position of Advanced Practice Leader for the Spiritual Health program in the Vancouver Island Health Authority. This is a mostly administrative position but does involve working with churches in the community to facilitate their provision of spiritual care to their members who are admitted to hospital. Peter's son's name also happens to be the name of one of the sons of Pierre Trudeau. (5)
18. Country where Art's mother was born (abbr.) (3)
19. Fish for credit or sympathy for sacrifices one has made (4, 3, 6)
21. Sixty-two, which Art turned on 1 December, not long after he and Alanna made a brief visit to Ontario to celebrate Alanna's sister Colleen's sixtieth birthday. Colleen did not know we were coming (although her husband John knew). What a surprise when we walked into the restaurant where they were celebrating her birthday! While in Toronto we took the opportunity to visit also with Alanna's other sister, Brigid, and her partner, Ted. We also visited old friends Angela and Pavel Li-Muller, and Greg Carruthers and Jack Hall, Jesuit priests with whom Art entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1972. Art had not seen Jack in over 20 years but it seemed like only yesterday. (3)
22. NBA star Lamar ____ (4)
23. With which politicians would like to be coated, metaphorically (6)
25. How faithful Christians who have died are often described (6,2,3,4)
30. The last printed ___ of The Journal, the newsletter for Corpus Canada, was sent to subscribers this December with a Letter From The Publisher, signed by Art, who is president of Xristos Community Society, the registered charity that publishes The Journal. Art informed readers that henceforth The Journal would be published exclusively online on the Corpus Canada website (www.corpuscanada.org). Do take a look at the back issues. Art has written a number of articles over the years. (5)
32. Unit of electrical resistance (3)
33. About, on a memo (2,2)
34. What a lawyer is hired to do (4,2,1,4)
39. Weapon that may be thrown (5)
40. Computer Generated Imagery (abbr.) (3)
41. Israeli airline (2,2)
42. Letter after sigma in the Greek alphabet (3)
43. Who might be called to testify in a cheque fraud case (11,6)
51. Consume (3)
52. Kind of nobleman (4)
53. Floral necklace (3)
54. ___ Roberts. She leads the singing at St. John's United Church, which Art attends on Sunday mornings after attending mass with Alanna the evening before at St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church. Once a month he attends Sunday morning worship at Centennial United Church to cheer on Alanna who is the much-loved minister there. In November Art gave a workshop at Centennial on sexual morality and the Bible to assist members of the congregation who are wrestling with whether to change a church policy that bans the minister from officiating at same-sex marriages. Several of those in attendance, including people on both sides of the issue, thanked Art afterwards. Alanna recorded the workshop and has made it available on CD to members who were not at the workshop. (5)
57. Type of shirt worn in cool weather (4-7)
61. ___-friendly (4)
62. Use needle and thread (3)
63. Hard up (5)
64. What you see in a periodic chart of the elements (8,7)
70. Canon S95, for example, which we bought this year because it is good at taking pictures in low-light conditions. (6)
71. Stead (4)
72. Raises (3)
73. Once when attending a baseball game in Victoria Art without thinking reached out as if to use a TV remote control to take another look at a play, proving how much people who watch sports on TV depend on ____ . (7,6)
81. Wager (3)
82. Bend down (5)
83. The country where we have sponsored two underprivileged children through Chalice (formerly Christian Child Care International)
for the past several years. The $29 we pay each month goes toward the child's education and other needs. Every few months we get a letter from the child along with an English translation. We started sponsoring Yurij when he was in his early teens and now he is a young man with a job that he loves. After he left the program we agreed to sponsor Levko, who is 15 years old, the sole child of a disabled mother, and very poor. We have no children of our own, so this gives us a chance to experience the satisfaction of helping a child grow up to be a good and productive member of society. (7)
84. A bachelor's last words, but also spoken this August when, the day after the Ed and Carolyn's anniversary celebration, we were privileged to officiate at the wedding of Art's widowed eldest sister, Marguerite, and her fiance, Elgin, also widowed. The wedding took place at Centennial United Church, where Alanna is the minister. Art conducted the ceremony and Alanna signed the marriage license. It was a lovely occasion and Marguerite and Elgin are enjoying the happiness that both of their late spouses would wish them to have. (1,2)
85. Gives more credit than is deserved (5)
86. Negotiations (7)

Down

1. Unit of electric current (3)
2. Guy's date (3)
3. Baseball stat (3)
4. Extremely cold (3)
5. A jazz session (3)
6. California border lake (5)
7. "Blue ___ Shoes" (5)
8. "Me too" (2,2,1)
9. Zero on a golf tournament leader board (3)
10. Winter time in Toronto Ont. (3)
11. Musical beat (6)
12. Indian woman's garment (var.) (5)
13. Mother-of-pearl source (7)
14. "Faith and ____ " : Irish expression (7)
15. Slim (7)
20. Floor cleaner that may be wet or dry (3)
24. How people open their cell phones (4,2)
25. Invite someone to enter (3,2)
26. Take to court (3)
27. Romanian monetary unit (3)
28. Refusals (3)
29. Definite article (3)
30. Cause of scratching (4)
31. Long story (4)
35. Sassy (4)
36. Muhammad ___ (3)
37. Feline (3)
38. Visitor from outer space (5)
39. Instrument played by Art's favourite jazzman, Stan Getz (3)
42. Tattle (4)
44. This was not the expletive Art uttered when he fell while travelling on the ferry from Bella Coola to Port Hardy with Alanna on the second-to-last day of their summer vacation. Art broke his collarbone (right side, and Art is right-handed, so has been limited in the use of his dominant hand). It is a displaced fracture that has been slow to heal. Art was off work from 9 August to 15 September. He sees the doctor at the beginning of January to assess the progress he is making. The worst case scenario is needing surgery. Hopefully, it will heal on its own. Before the accident, we had a fine vacation visiting family in the Okanagan and spending a couple days in Barkerville, the reconstructed gold rush town in the Cariboo region. We highly recommend it as a tourist destination. (4,2)
45. Pale (3)
46. Old horse (3)
47. Global Registered Share (abbr.)(3)
48. Santa's helpers (5)
49. Donna ___ , American actress (d. 1986). A variant of her surname is "Reid", which happens to be Art's brother Ed's wife Carolyn's maiden name, and the name of other relatives of Carolyn who, along with numerous relatives of Ed, attended the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary this August. We all felt gratitude not only for their marriage but that Ed has survived the bladder cancer with which he had been diagnosed the previous year. Despite the multiple sclerosis with which Carolyn has lived for a very long time, she continues to display a valiant spirit and a positive outlook on life. (4)
50. Neat (4)
54. Female demons (7)
55. Like a horseshoe (1-6)
56. Has the appearance of (5,2)
57. Meadow (3)
58. Bird that symbolizes people of type 5 in the enneagram system of nine personality types, of which Art is a classic example. If anyone is interested in learning more about who they are and why they behave as they do, we recommend they read up on the enneagram. Alanna claims to be a type 7 but Art thinks she's all over the place! (3)
59. ___ Fruit Salt, competitor of Alka-Seltzer (3)
60. Electric fish (3)
62. Meager (6)
65. Alanna's ethnic ancestry (5)
66. Hits with an open hand (5)
67. Yang's opposite (3)
68. Came together (3,2)
69. Garment worn by some Muslim women (5)
74. Pacifier (3)
75. Foot part (3)
76. Make a mistake (3)
77. Chum (3)
78. Speak falsely (3)
79. Some (3)
80. Agreement (3)