Wound covering

ACROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 1 "Let There Be Rock" band 14 15 16 5 Wound covering 17 18 19 9 Specialized lingo 14 Foal's mother 20 21 22 15 Medic or legal 23 24 25 starter 16 "Gone With the 26 27 28 29 30 31 17 Wind" star Clothes presser 32 33 34 35 36 18 Impossible to fill 37 38 39 40 41 20 Limb's partner 22 Cash in 42 43 44 45 46 23 Geyser output 47 48 49 24 Gas guzzler 26 Caustic criticism 50 51 52 53 54 55 28 32 Carry on Galaxy rival 56 57 58 59 60 35 Picnic side dish 61 62 63 37 Salon service 38 Hunter's quarry 64 65 66 40 Soften, as 67 68 69 lighting 41 It may be inflated Copyright 2022 by The Puzzle Syndicate 42 Christmas ball, 68 Standards org. 13 "It's us against 43 Parking lot e.g. 69 Count (on) ___" covering 45 Dwell on 19 A million million 44 Garden State 47 More or ___ DOWN 21 Slim Shady capital 48 Head wreath 1 Out of place 25 Cape of ____ 46 Like most models 50 Flatware finisher 2 Insertion mark Hope 49 Bay windows 52 Send payment 3 Pilotless plane 27 Program airing 51 Zaps in an OR 56 Waikiki 4 Part of a peso 29 Nautical adverb 53 Bea Arthur role welcomes 5 Washer cycle 30 Badgers 54 Urge onward 59 "Honest Abe", 6 Tropic of ____ 31 Rare bills 55 Itsy-bitsy for one 7 1944 film, "____ 32 One to worship 56 Resident of 61 Heartbroken and Old Lace" 33 Fiery heap 66-across 63 Pull one over on 8 Call to Little 34 Brooding 57 Carson's 64 Anoint, old-style Bo-Peep mothers successor 65 Barbie, for one 9 Visitor from afar 36 Start, as a 58 Bakery fixture 66 Tree of life site 10 Library patrons voyage 60 451, to Caesar 67 Blanc et al. 11 Cutting remark 39 Gut feeling? 62 Toothpaste tube 12 Eye flirtatiously letters

Mixed-Up Moe

The Sock Hop

The annual sock hop is a popular event, so you can imagine the horror when organizers discovered some song titles in the jukebox were scrambled thanks to Mixed-Up Moe. Can you unscramble these 12 songs before the sock hop starts in 12 minutes?

1. BBAY EOVL 2. AIDNNCG IN HET ERESTTS 3. ELTS AGHN ON 4. AUDRONRNU UES 5. EERDLA OF TEH CAKP 6. SRATE NO MY IOLPLW 7. NOE FNIE YAD 8. SYAHCT OLNWC 9. AD ODO RNO NRO 10. EB YM ABBY 11. IWSTT ADN HSUOT 12. TSI YM TPRYA

Turn Upside Down For Answers

11. Twist and Shout 12. Its My Party Clown 9. Da Doo Ron Ron 10. Be My Baby 6. Tears On My Pillow 7. One Fine Day 8. Cathys Hang On 4. Runaround Sue 5. Leader of the Pack

Baby Love 2. Dancing In the Streets 3. Lets 1. (Puzzle solution is on P. 19)

Embroideress creates unique keepsake for baseball fans

by John English

Hoopla Correspondent

It took Sherry Alsup six months to find the nerve to rip apart her first baseball.

That was the hard part for the 65-year old owner of Sherry’s Creations, an embroidery company that specializes in machineembroidered baseball designs.

Alsup, who moved to Fort Worth in 1979 and has been married for 42 years, said her significant other was not completely convinced she could do it early on.

“My husband doubted me all the way,” Alsup said. “I stitched it out and even got it laced, only missing one hole. Not bad for a first try. My husband was very impressed to say the least. After that, I haven’t stopped making these unique gifts for people.”

Her embroideries include everything from team logos, to clever quotations, to people’s names or family member’s names and much, much more.

Alsup said she actually started her business using bunnies, pillows and quilts for her designs, but started using baseballs four to five years ago for a personal reason.

“I had grandsons playing baseball, and I happened to see a post on Facebook showing machine embroidered baseballs,” Alsup said. “I knew I had to learn how to do it for my grandsons at least.”

Little did she know that this act of affection would grow into what Sherry’s Creations would eventually become.

“I have done a wedding baseball for some avid baseball fans,” Alsup said. “I made two for a slot YouTuber for Slot Con. I added a slot machine, his sayings, the year and his logo. He gave one away at the event and kept one. I also have done newborn baby baseballs with all of the stats and their name on them. I recently did a Father’s Day baseball for one of my customers for his two sons.

“He used to coach both of them in the younger leagues, so I incorporated a father silhouette and the boys on each side. I did them in the color of their uniforms. I added each one’s name and number, plus the mom asked if I could lace the baseball in each one of the boys team colors...the children will hopefully, someday realize what a unique gift they received that day.”

Alsup said she tries to keep her prices reasonable, and said embroidering has been a passion for her for quite some time.

Embroidering a baseball is an involved process, and it begins withAlsup talking to the customer to get an idea of what he or she is looking for.

If she does not have the team logo, she will get it digitized by a company and then unlace the baseballs and mark them to know exactly where the top and bottom are.

Alsup then designs the baseballs using software, letter by letter, and downloads it onto a USB thumb drive and places it in her embroidery machine.

“Before my new upgrade machine, I had to do the lining up the pedals on a template,” Alsup said. “I’m a perfectionist, so if something wasn’t centered just right, that meant I redid it. Now, fortunately, I have a top-of-the-line Brother machine that has a projector and camera to help me make sure it’s right the first time.”

After that, it is time to relace the baseball, which takes 20-30 minutes per ball.

“Everyone says the baseballs look even better in person than in the pictures,” Alsup said. “Some say they were brought to tears.”

One such client was a mother who wanted to create personalized baseballs for each or her children.

“I had a customer who bought baseballs for her three sons that were playing,” Alsup said. “I knew she had recently miscarried a fourth son. I wanted to do something special for her. I knew he would never have a baseball like his brothers, so I decided to do one for her.

“I put baby feet with a heart between the feet and added wings. The team name was ‘Heaven’s Team,’ with his name and the date of his birth. We were both in tears.”

Alsup said, in recent years, she has started to branch out a bit and work with other mediums.

“I’m currently working on 12 softballs,” Alsup said. “I always have projects. I’m just waiting for a break to do what I want to work on -- other than baseballs. I have a purse for a lady to get completed. Thankfully, she is a great friend and very patient. I hope in the future I learn how to add stitch photos to my baseballs.”

Alsup said he has no plans of stopping any time soon, either.

“I really enjoy creating these baseballs and softballs,” Alsup said. “It gives me a little extra spending money to supply all of my crafts, fabric and supplies. Plus, there’s the benefit of making someone happy. That part never gets old.”

Alsup welcomes people to contact her at Sherryalsup@sbcglobal.net for more information about Sherry’s Creations.

COURTESY

Sherry Alsup started embroidering baseballs when her grandchildren were in youth baseball. Now her business creates keepsake balls for anyone.

CULINARY.NET

Watermelon Ice Cream Bars

Watermelon Curd: 3/4 cup watermelon juice 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 cup honey 1 pinch salt 3 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into small cubes

Crust: 8 graham crackers, crushed 2 tablespoons honey 1 pinch salt 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled basil leaves, for garnish

Whipped Cream: 1 cup heavy whipping cream

To make watermelon curd: In medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine watermelon juice, lime juice, honey and salt. Stir to combine then add eggs.

Place pan over medium heat and cook, adding cubed butter to pan and stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats back of wooden spoon. Immediately remove from heat and carefully pour through fine mesh sieve. Cool completely in refrigerator.

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. In food processor, pulse graham crackers until rough crumbs form. Add honey, salt and melted butter; pulse until mixture resembles wet sand.

Line 8-by-8-inch pan with parchment paper then press graham cracker mixture into bottom of pan in even layer. Bake crust about 10 minutes, or until just beginning to brown. Allow crust to cool completely. Add curd to crust and chill.