Category: BUSINESS

Only 12 contestants remain in the singing competition after the April 27 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame-themed episode, where singers had the opportunity to dazzle the judges (and audience) with their own rendition of a track by any one of the nearly 400 Rock Hall inductees.

“Fire and Rain” singer James Taylor, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000, served as the guest mentor for the remaining contestants.

Ryan Seacrest, the longtime “American Idol” emcee, also announced the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees – a group that includes Cyndi Lauper, Outkast and Soundgarden – on last week’s episode.

The group of aspiring music stars, including platinum ticket winner Filo Ebid, will continue to fight to make their dreams a reality on “American Idol.”

Constructor: Matthew Stock

Editor: Amanda Rafkin

What I Learned from Today’s Puzzle

• TINGA (51D: Mexican chicken dish) The Mexican dish TINGA consists of shredded chicken in a sauce of tomatoes, chipotle chilis in adobo, and sliced onions.
• RAO (61D: Bollywood legend Akkineni Nageswara ___) Bollywood is a term used to refer to Hindi cinema. The word is a portmanteau of “Bombay” (the former name of Mumbai) and “Hollywood.” Akkineni Nageswara RAO (1923-2014) was an actor and film director. He had a seven decade career in Teluga cinema (films in the Teluga language), and appeared in over 250 movies. During that time he was honored with multiple awards, including the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest recognition in Indian cinema..

Random Thoughts & Interesting Things

• INTEGRATIVE CARE (17A: Collaborative practice among social workers, mental health counselors, doctors, etc.) INTEGRATIVE CARE seeks to address each patient’s unique needs through the collaboration of professionals in various fields. Studies have shown that INTEGRATIVE CARE can improve outcomes for patients, as well as increase patient satisfaction.
• DEERE (19A: John whose name is on lawn mowers) John DEERE founded his company in 1837 in Grand Detour, Illinois. That same year, he began manufacturing steel plows, which had an advantage over the iron and wooden plows Midwestern farmers had been using, because the steel surface slid easily through the soil. John DEERE now manufactures many kinds of machinery, including lawn mowers, combine harvesters, excavators, and tractors.
• REGGAE (21A: Jamaican music genre) and SKA (47A: Jamaican music genre)This is a fun clue echo. SKA originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was a precursor of REGGAE, which developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.
• OPERAS (31A: Prima donna’s shows) and ARIA (46D: 31-Across highlight) It’s fun to see OPERAS and ARIA in the same puzzle. This reminds me of the April 29 puzzle, when we saw ARIA cross-referenced to the singular OPERA.
• COSTA RICA (52A: Central American country home to over 900 species of birds) COSTA RICA is a country in the Central American portion of North America. It has coastline along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and borders Nicaragua and Panama. The capital of COSTA RICA is San José. COSTA RICA has a land area of just under 20,000 square miles, making it a bit smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia. Although it’s a small country, its climate and varied habitat make it home to numerous bird species. It makes sense, therefore, that COSTA RICA is a popular birding destination.
• YOGA MAT (66A: Floor covering in a hatha studio) Hatha YOGA is a branch of YOGA that focuses on stretching and flexibility, balancing periods of movement with periods of stillness.
• OTTER (3D: Aquatic mammal with dense fur) A sea OTTER has the densest fur (nearly one million hairs per square inch) of any mammal. An OTTER’s dense fur keeps them warm in the water by trapping air that acts as insulation. This trapped air also provides some buoyancy. Their dense fur is important, as OTTERs lack a layer of blubber found in some other marine mammals.
• OSLO (29D: Norway’s capital) OSLO is the capital of Norway and the country’s most populous city. The city of OSLO was founded in 1040 A.D. Its original name was Ánslo. It has also been named Christiania (also spelled Kristiana). 
• AHOY MATEY (32D: Talk Like a Pirate Day greeting) AHOY, MATEY! You have some time to practice your pirate talk before the next Talk Like a Pirate Day. International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19. The holiday began as an inside joke between two guys in Albany, Oregon – John Baur and Mark Summers. It gained more widespread recognition when they sent an email about their invented holiday to humor columnist Dave Barry, who liked the idea and promoted it in his column.
• HAWK (35D: Javan ___-eagle (national bird of Indonesia)) The Javan HAWK-eagle is a medium-sized raptor endemic to Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania.
• EDNA (36D: Novelist Ferber) EDNA Ferber (1885-1968) won a Pulitzer Prize for her 1924 novel, So Big. Some of her other works include Show Boat (1926, which was adapted into a musical), Cimarron (1930, adapted into a 1931 Academy Award-winning movie), and Ice Palace (1958, adapted into a 1956 movie).
• CABO (52D: ___ San Lucas) CABO San Lucas is a city in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is located on the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula. CABO San Lucas is a resort city, and is one of Mexico’s top tourist destinations. This answer brought up a memory of watching the TV series The Love Boat when I was growing up. Wow, I haven’t thought about that for a long time! I looked it up to see if my memory was correct, and CABO San Lucas was one of the stops the boat made on the show.
• PUMA (57D: Shoe brand named for a big cat) This may be my cat, Willow’s, favorite shoe brand, as it’s named for one of her big cat cousins)

• STET (58D: Editor’s “leave this”) STET, a Latin word meaning “let it stand” is used in proofreading to indicated that a previously marked change is to be ignored.
• A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed:
  • BLOOP (41A: Robot sound)
  • AHA (6D: “Eureka!”)

The “Drew Barrymore Show” regular took to Instagram on April 30 to share a photo of herself in a red bikini, readying to cold plunge for personal health benefits.

“My pool is 66°. Now, for a cold plunge that’s relatively warm. (that’s what they say whoever they are) but along with everything else I’ve been experimenting with, this has helped improve my mood, has reduced inflammation and it’s easier than filling my bath up with ice cubes,” the former “Kids Baking Championship” judge wrote.

In her carousel, which included a video of her cold plunging, Bertinelli donned a colored towel in her backyard.

The post came a week after her birthday. On her 65th birthday on April 23, Bertinelli penned an Instagram note to her 1.6 million followers.

Unless you’ve been held captive by a Wampa, crash-landed a TIE Fighter on Jakku or were eaten by the Sarlacc – though Boba Fett did come back like a champ from that doomsday scenario – it’s probably not news that “Revenge of the Sith” is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

In honor of Star Wars Day (May the 4th) – and the very special birthday – it’s time to hit up Disney+ or bust out the Blu-rays to rewatch all 11 “Star Wars” films (the nine-chapter Skywalker Saga, plus a couple of spinoffs) in this galactic franchise. (Pro tip: If you’re a total newbie, watch the original 1977 “Star Wars” first.)

But which “Star Wars” is the best of the best? These are the rankings you’re looking for.

11. ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ (1999)

George Lucas’ prequels get a bad rap and, well, they kind of deserve it at times. Especially this one. What basically is a two-hour trailer for the rest of Anakin Skywalker’s story is kind of a mess – he was immaculately conceived? What’s this about midichlorians and the Force? The pod-race set piece is fun the first five times yet gets old quick, Darth Maul is the coolest guy in the movie and he’s in it for all of three minutes, trade negotiations are not the way to start a sci-fi movie, and as for Jar Jar Binks … yeah. One thing it does do well is set up the political atmosphere that leads to the Empire and introduces Anakin as the chosen one who will bring balance to the Force. Just not in the way anybody expects.

On the eve of the 2025 event, Birkhead wore her mom’s dress to the annual Barnstable Brown Gala on May 2. Her mom wore the same gown — a floor-length black dress with crystal-adorned front and back straps — to the same gala in 2004.

“Dannielynn is wearing Anna Nicole’s dress that she wore 21 years ago to this same event. Life full circle. She said she chose the dress because it was her Mom’s and ‘super cool,’ ” the 18-year-old’s dad Larry Birkhead wrote on Instagram.

Since its inception in 1989, the star-studded Barnstable Brown Gala has donated more than $21 million for diabetes treatment and research from the proceeds of the annual party.

The affair is hosted by local philanthropist Patricia Barnstable-Brown and her son Chris Barnstable-Brown at the family’s private mansion in Louisville, Kentucky, where the derby takes place.

This not a drill: We’ve got a new team of Avengers. And they’re probably not the folks you expect.

In “Thunderbolts*,” a B-team of Marvel Cinematic Universe supporting players levels up to the A-list, though they have to navigate past traumas – and tussle with one of their own – in an emotional final act. 

The movie features Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), the former Winter Soldier, and Russian assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) forming a team – named after the lowly pee-wee soccer squad Yelena was on as a kid – with fellow antiheroic misfits Red Guardian (David Harbour), John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

Almost eight months after the embattled music mogul was arrested in New York, Combs is about to stand trial on allegations of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty to all five counts.

The commencement of the trial comes after Combs’ attorneys unsuccessfully pushed to delay its start by two months, arguing a postponement would provide them with “necessary time to prepare” his defense. They maintained that there was “substantially new conduct” alleged in an expanded April 3 indictment, and that the government was still producing evidence.

But U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian ruled against this request during an April 18 hearing, clearing the trial to proceed on its scheduled start date. Subramanian told the court there was no reason to think that Combs’ attorneys did not have sufficient time to put a defense together.

When does the Diddy trial begin?

Combs’ trial is set to begin on Monday, May 5. Jury selection is expected to start on that date, which happens to be the same Monday of another high-profile event in New York: the Met Gala.

But did you know it can actually be beneficial to your mental health? Enter bibliotherapy, the practice of using literature to heal. 

Emely Rumble, a licensed clinical social worker, biblio/psychotherapist and professor at Queens College in New York, first encountered the term when she studied abroad in college. There, she found London’s Poetry Pharmacy, which sells “books chosen to address your mood or emotional ailment.”

Now, after nearly 15 years of prescribing literature on her own, Rumble’s book “Bibliotherapy in the Bronx” (out now from Simon & Schuster) aims to bring the therapy practice to those in need of comfort.