Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1505323
16 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 AUGUST 2023 NEWS ACROSS 1) BBQ side 5) Chowder morsel 9) Pelted on Halloween, say 14) Garr of "Tootsie" 15) Leslie Caron title role 16) Alfalfa's heartthrob 17) The Bard's stream 18) Somali supermodel 19) Toaster's need 20) Magic 8 Ball reply 23) Cross-referencing word 24) Rudder locale 25) Bocelli offerings 27) Sancho's mount 28) Wimbledon do-over 30) Caked-on dirt 32) Jobs or Wozniak 35) Ned who composed "Air Music" 37) ___-friendly ("green") 38) "Don't worry" 41) Game with "Draw Two" cards 42) Ice cream measures 43) All the "noble" elements 44) Uncle __ Rice 46) Windows forerunner 47) WolfBlitzer's network 48) Esther of "Good Times" 50) Not worth a __ 51) Menu phrase 54) Paul McCartney hit 58) Samuel of the Supreme Court 60) Pride Lands sound 61) Sport for behemoths 62) Put one over on 63) Saddlers' tools 64) Swift horse 65) Still-life pitchers 66) Black Friday event 67) Seahawks coach Carroll DOWN 1) Hangs in there 2) New Orleans embankment 3) Sprang up 4) Chimes player 5) Dover landmarks 6) Put a cap on 7) Astronaut Shepard 8) Smaller than compact 9) Landscaper's tool 10) Of the French 11) Morally ambiguous situa- tions 12) Ernie of the PGA 13) Some "Law & Order" figs. 21) Cut some slack 22) Idaho, e.g., informally 26) A Bolivian capital 27) "Selma" director DuVemay 28) Artists' studios, often 29) Libidinous god 31) Monastic titles 32) Cold shoulder 33) Copier need 34) Be frugal 35) Alternative to Vegas 36) Big champagne bottle 39) Half a cassette tape 40) Office PC connection 45) Christian of "Bobby" 47) Like a rasp 49) French cathedral city 50) Pint-sized 51) Sky hue 52) Paul of "American Graffiti" 53) InDesign software compa- ny 55) Timeline segments 56) Caucus state 57) CEO's "Pronto!" 58) The Red Baron was one 59) First gear F Solution to last week's crossword The answers to today's crossword will be published in next week's Midweek edition Weather Sunny during the day becoming partly cloudy overnight Visibility Good Wind West Southwest force 2 to 3 veering Northwest force 3. Overnight becoming West force 2 to 3 TOMORROW Crossword WEATHER SUNNY 30 0 / 21 0 TODAY SUNNY 30 0 / 21 0 FEELS LIKE 31 0 FEELS LIKE 31 0 YET another missive from for- mer Labour minister Evarist Bartolo – written in his now customary Facebook posts – appears to take a dig at the La- bour premiership Robert Abe- la. Bartolo, longtime education minister who in his twilight years was foreign minister, appeared to refer to Labour's current state as "a ship in the middle of the ocean with a half-hearted captain." No specific mention of Ab- ela, although the metaphor is suitable for the seafaring prime minister, the owner of a moto- ryacht. The PN media was quick to latch on to the status update as a direct reference to Abela, who assumed the leadership in 2020 and was re-elected in 2022, during which Bartolo failed to regain his seat. "But the crew is losing trust in him. There is no enthusiasm from anyone to take his role," Bartolo wrote in his typically coded fashion – again a muted reference to severed alliances within Abela's PL. "The passengers can choose a new captain and crew," Barto- lo now said, referring to voters and the PN – as well as two re- cent surveys in which pointed to a lack of trust in Opposition leader Bernard grech. "But they do not have faith in those who say they are ready to comman- deer the ship. Even more pas- sengers are losing trust in those who say they are capabale of steering the ship." Forecast for Bartolo? Stormy seas and a rudderless boat it seems. "This boat is going to get taken over by the current, seas and winds." Freed from the shackles of organised politics, Bartolo has become a more outspoken – if diplomatic – critic of some of his party's stances. But even as minister during the political crisis of 2019, he was clear that Labour had to expel members of the Muscat clique which he had dubbed "murderers" and "money-laun- derers". Those close to Muscat and former chief of staff Keith Schembri at the time, chiefly the unofficial OPM envoy to Libya Neville Gafà, responded in kind by hitting out at Barto- lo. Bartolo missive on rudderless Labour appears to depict Abela as 'half-hearted captain' Former Labour minister on Facebook suggests country is like a ship with a half-hearted captain, but whose passengers still do not trust a new crew to take over Former Labour minister Evarist Bartolo