The Cryptic Crossword: Sunday, December 31, 2023

“I called you here to share my ‘White Lotus’ theories.”

“OMG, I got into my first-choice college currently being dismantled by the government!”

“Oh, and try to have everyone fill out one of these.”

“I’m sorry, we did everything we could before Elon cut our funding.”

“Maybe we should fight some of our international conflicts the old-fashioned way, like with a chess match, or a race to the moon?”

“We’ll have to stop research now that the Neanderthals are back in charge.”

“Wait, are we bidding? You can’t bid on something I already bought.”

“Is that your ‘thinking about dinner’ look, or your ‘lost in a wordless fog of horror’ look?”

Sarah Kempa’s Daily Cartoon humorously riffs on Elon Musk and DOGE’s firing of federal workers and conflicting orders regarding five accomplishments.