Coroner: 67-year-old Christian County woman dead following Tuesday house fire
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A Christian County woman is dead following a house fire Tuesday in the city of Assumption.
Candace L. Curtis, 67, of Assumption died from exposure to carbon monoxide from smoke and soot produced during the blaze in her home, Christian County Coroner Amy Calvert Winans said Thursday.
An autopsy on Thursday confirmed the cause of death. Calvert Winans said Curtis lived alone.
More:Springfield suspends Dirty South’s liquor license; commission to hear case Oct. 4
Calvert Winans said the incident is under investigation by the Office of the Illinois State Fire Marshal.
Contact Riley Eubanks: reubanks@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@rileyeubanks
NYT Crossword Answers: Homeland of many Paiute and Shoshone
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Today’s Theme
This is a theme where the puzzle’s title, “Study Breaks,” really helps, as do the two kinds of indicators in the grid itself. There are seven circled letters, each in a theme entry; each of those letters is embedded in a series of three, four or five shaded squares. Beside those two features, the seven theme clues don’t distinguish themselves, so this is not a puzzle where your mind can anticipate other examples once you’ve solved one or two.
My first sure thing was the name trivia at 74-Across, the “openly lesbian anchor” who also happens to be a crossword constructor herself, RACHEL MADDOW. I noted the shaded/bubbled CHE(L)M only briefly, and used crosses from this big entry to make some headway on the east side of this grid, which made the bigger theme entry beneath it apparent. At 92-Across, “Ones fighting for change” are POLITICAL ACTIVISTS; the shaded/bubbled letters here are CAL(A)C.
Honestly, in retrospect I should have parsed out those shaded letters and noticed that they did not include the circled letter, but I missed the importance of that feature. Nothing clicked at all until I’d reached the (fittingly) final theme entry in the puzzle at 119-Across: “Bringing up the rear.” This solves to LAST IN LINE; the shaded/circle bit is LA(S)TIN, and the shaded letters make only a recognizable, unabbreviated term: LATIN. Oh! LATIN, CALC, CHEM. Back to school, indeed — and I can assure you that I’d fail any test in any of those subjects today, no matter how hard I crammed three decades ago.
The topmost theme clue, at 21-Across, is mathematical, and it hammered the above point home, because I needed a lot of crosses to solve “Function whose output is 45° when applied to 1.” Gee, Mr. Stock, I probably did know that once; it’s ARCTANGENT, which includes AR(C)T. There’s a class I could see taking again and surviving, especially if it involved pastels and not an exam on the lesser painters of the Renaissance.
Notice that each circled letter is in the midst of an academic subject, which makes for a very neat trick that might make you recall the puzzle’s title, “Study Breaks,” that I mentioned before. If you read those letters from top to bottom, they spell out what they actually do to the words spelled by the shaded letters: CUT CLASS.
Constructor Notes
Priyanka: I am so ridiculously excited for this puzzle! Big shout-out to Matthew for mentoring me through the process of discovering crossword construction as an incredibly fulfilling pandemic hobby, and to my roommate Sofia who got me into crossword solving in the first place! We spent many a morning on the 1 train, with me trying and failing to make conversation while she raced to best her Tuesday solve time. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, I figured. As a fairly self-aware nerd, I found this theme very appropriate as a debut. Matthew and I started out with CORE CURRICULUM as a revealer but meandered our way to CUT CLASS, a journey which certainly mirrored my experiences from first year to fourth year in college. Matthew: I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of Priyanka’s New York Times debut! We first collaborated on a puzzle for the Universal Crossword syndicate in early 2020, and I’m so happy to have worked together and been friends ever since. Priyanka brought so much joy and excitement to each step of the construction process for “Study Breaks,” and I think it absolutely shows in the liveliness of the theme answers and the freshness and inclusivity of the fill. I’m proud to share this puzzle with her and with you all, and hope you enjoyed solving it as much as I did co-constructing it!
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Schooner Fall Classic Up Next For OU Golf
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Schooner Fall Classic
NORMAN - Oklahoma women’s golf returns home after opening the season at the Sam Golden Invitational to host the Schooner Fall Classic Sept. 26-27 at the Belmar Golf Club. The tournament is in its eighth year of competition, features a par-70, 6,094-yard course.
The Sooners finished the Sam Golden Invitational fifth with a 17-under 847, and was led by Mikhaela Fortuna’s 9-under 207. OU tallied its best round of the tournament to complete the first day of competition, recording a 279 in the second round.
In addition to Fortuna, Hannah Screen , Libby Winans , Meagan Winans and Maria Fernanda Martinez made up the OU contingent in the season opening tournament. The same group makes up the Oklahoma lineup for the Schooner Fall Classic.
Fernanda Martinez opened the season with a career-best round of 68, while Fortuna fired off back-to-back rounds of 68-69 to close out the Sam Golden. Screen and M. Winans recorded a 1-under 215 to start their season with M. Winans making her first appearance in the Crimson and Cream.
No stranger to the Schooner Fall Classic, L. Winans will make her fourth appearance in the tournament Sunday. As a freshman, she tallied a career-low round of 64 in the 2018 Schooner, which is tied for the second lowest round by an Oklahoma golfer in program history. L. Winans finished with a career-best 206 through 54 holes.
Fortuna will be entering the Schooner for the third time in her OU career. The Manila, Philippines natives has four career rounds at the Schooner in the 60s, which includes two rounds of 67.
Nina Lang , Nieves Martin Torre and Kaylee Vesely will also be in the field, competing as individuals and making their debut this season.
OU LINEUP
Mikhaela Fortuna , Sr., Manila, Philippines: Two NCAA Regional appearances (2021 at Columbus, 2019 in Norman) … Second-lowest scoring average (72.88) in OU history … Played in four events for the Sooners in the spring of 2021 after sitting out fall season … Posted T12 finish at the Big 12 Championship and was in second after the first round … Six of her nine rounds in 2021 are par or better … Career-best finish is T7, accomplished three times … 3-0 at Big 12 match play in 2021 … Second-lowest single-season scoring average (71.90) in OU history as a sophomore.
Hannah Screen , Sr., London, U.K.: Two NCAA Regional appearances (2021 at Columba, 2019 at Auburn) … In second season with the Sooner after transferring from Houston where she was All-AAC and led the Cougars to an AAC title … 71.66 scoring average would be lowest in program history … Led Sooners at five tournaments in 2020-21, including T4 at Big 12 Championship … 2021 All-Big 12 honoree … 2021 All-American honorable mention.
Maria Fernanda Martinez , R-Jr., Veracruz, Mexico: First appearance at an NCAA Regional in 2021 in Columbus, Ohio … Career scoring average of 74.34 is 12th-lowest in OU history … Tied career-best finish of T19 at the Big 12 Championship, posting back-to-back 70s to close the tournament … Advanced to round of 32 at the USGA Women’s Am Four Ball with sister Maria Jose, who plays at Houston.
Libby Winans , Sr., Richardson, Texas: Two NCAA Regional appearances (2021 at Columbus, 2019 in Norman) … Second all-time at OU for career scoring average (72.89) and third-best versus par average (1.2) … Career-low round of 64 is second-best in school history … Set OU freshman record for scoring (72.59) in 2018-19 … Sister, Meagan, is a freshman on the team.
Meagan Winans , Fr., Richardson, Texas: Made first career appearance in the Crimson and Cream at the Sam Golden Invitational … Finished tied with Screen at the Sam Golden with a 1-under 216 … Sister, Libby, is a senior on the OU women’s golf team.
THE FIELD
No. 3 Oklahoma State
No.7 Baylor
T-No. 12 Florida State
No. 26 Texas A&M (RV)
No. 27 Oklahoma (RV)
No. 35 Tulsa (RV)
No. 42 Iowa State (RV)
Illinois
Houston
Kansas State
North Texas
SMU
TCU
Texas State
UTSA
THE COURSE
The eighth-annual Schooner Fall Classic will be played at Belmar Golf Club in Norman - a par-70, 6,094-yard course.
HISTORY
The Schooner Fall Classic is in its eighth year of competition. The Sooners finished tied for second at last year’s event with Baylor winning with a 7-under 833.
In 2018, Oklahoma set program records for lowest team round (267) and lowest three-round (831). Under head coach Drouin-Luttrell, the Sooners have four top-five finishes at the Schooner, most recently in 2020.
RECORDS
Team – Alabama 807, -45 in 2018
Individual – Jiwon Jeon (196, -17) Alabama in 2018
FORMAT
Fifty-four holes will be played over two days with 36 holes being played Sunday, Sept. 26 and the final 18 on Monday, Sept. 27. The first round of competition will feature a 9 a.m. shotgun start, while Monday’s final 18 holes will start off holes 1 and 10 at 8:30 a.m.
LIVE STATS
Live scoring and final results will be posted on GolfStat.com. A full recap will be posted on SoonerSports.com following the completion of rounds each day.