TODAY’S CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1 Cartographer’s

book 6 Ski lift (hyph.) 10 Erupt 14 Auto option 15 Relieve 16 Younger Guthrie 17 Comedian —

Kovacs 18 By Jove! 19 Cruise- ship

deck 20 Botanical

activity 22 Out of the sun 24 Georgetown

athlete 25 Where to get

down 26 Price tag 30 FBI agent

(hyph.) 32 Take — — 33 Circle size 35 — all she

wrote! 40 Due to 42 Presupposes 44 Gravy spot 45 Fill a pipe 47 Advance 48 Loaf end 50 Waker-uppers 52 Dinosaur bone 56 Rick’s old flame 58 Leggy

swimmers 59 Meet by chance

(2 wds.) 64 Teri of “Tootsie” 65 Zoologist —

Fossey 67 Prow opposite 68 Great

merriment 69 Place of exile 70 Like a wolf’s

howl 71 Open wide 72 Precious 73 Hazy

conditions DOWN 1 Shake — —! 2 Part of NWT 3 Singer — Del Rey 4 Get real! (2 wds.) 5 Do a slow burn 6 Ant-sized 7 Skycap’s tote 8 Quiet — —

mouse 9 Suez Canal end

(2 wds.) 10 Greens course 11 Bwana’s sighting 12 Tribal adviser 13 Pine source 21 Wee bits 23 Gives a clue 26 File labels 27 Cynical rejoinder

(2 wds.) 28 TV’s Imogene 29 War movie river 31 Lady’s honorific 34 Solar plexus 36 Luau

entertainment 37 Love in Baja 38 Dogsled pullers 39 Tax-form IDs 41 Not with-it 43 Charley horse 46 “Open sesame”

guy (2 wds.) 49 “Forgot”

a letter 51 Expires 52 Socked in 53 Florida town 54 Scatter around 55 Philosopher —

Kierkegaard 57 Type of eclipse 60 Gossip tidbit 61 First-century

emperor 62 Math cls. 63 Change for a five 66 Percent ending

This is tough to navigate. The consequences, as you know, can be serious, but the pressure the kids themselves are under — to watch or play and then discuss at school the very thing you just nixed — is intense.

The way we’ve approached is to preview where possible, and set limits accordingly, and then allow our kids to appeal our decisions. The more absolute you are in your bans, the harder kids will pounce on banned material at their friends’ houses — and the less they’ll talk to you about what they see.

When we yield, it’s usually in response either to their environment or to their ability to handle tougher material.

We also rely heavily on Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.org) because it teases out the nature of the adult content — say, cartoonish violence, versus realistic. Knowing that plus knowing your kid plus previewing when possible cuts down on secondguessing. And watch with your kids, so you can talk.

There’s also this to fall back on: You’re the parent. You have to be seen as a jerk about this stuff sometimes. Find ways to say yes so the no has the necessary authority, and good luck.