google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Sunday September 4, 2022 Zachary David Levy

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Sep 4, 2022

Sunday September 4, 2022 Zachary David Levy

 

Theme: "I Oughta Be in Pictures" - I is added to each movie.

22. Film remake about a student who finally finds the right martial arts teacher?: THE SIXTH SENSEI. The Sixth Sense.

37. Film remake featuring a spooky archaeological site?: MIDNIGHT RUIN. Midnight Run.

51. Film remake heavy with art metaphors?: MONA LISA SIMILE. Mona Lisa Smile.

69. Film remake featuring broken raga instruments?: THE FAULT IN OUR SITARS. The Fault in our Stars.

89. Film remake that tries to prove all unmarried men are created equal?: BACHELOR PARITY. Bachelor Party.

99. Film remake featuring spa treatments that are no joke?: A SERIOUS MANI. A Serious Man.

123. Film remake that documents soapbox sites?: TIRADING PLACES. Trading Places.

We've had I addition theme in the past, but no extra film layer. Tight and elegant.

I only know "tirade" as a noun. Spellcheck does not like tirading. I just noticed that all the other new "I' words are nouns.


Across:

1. Device that may catch a private remark: HOT MIC.

7. Enemy of ancient Athens: SPARTA. "This is Sparta!"



13. Comfortable: AT HOME. Where's Leeza?

19. First MLB player inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame: ICHIRO. He was just inducted into the Mariners' Hall of Fame.

20. More hackneyed: CORNIER.

21. Unlike automobile gasoline: LEADED.

24. Earnings: INCOME.

25. Breath mints that contained Retsyn: CERTS. Google shows that "Retsyn is a trademarked name for a combination of copper gluconate and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil".

26. Mend: HEAL.

27. Jerky spot?: KNEE.

29. Goodyear city: AKRON.

30. Realm from 800 to 1806: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

31. NASA scientist Geoffrey who won a Hugo for his short story "Falling Onto Mars": LANDIS. Learning moment for me.



33. "Finished!": DONE.

35. "The Coldest Rap" rapper: ICE-T.

44. Etched art: ENGRAVING.

49. Comes up: ARISES.

50. Molecule central to many vaccines: RNA.

53. Choice: OPTION.

56. Wharton degs.: MBAS.

57. __-dried tomatoes: SUN.

58. Lighthouse view: SEA.

60. Grounation Day celebrant: RASTA. From Wikipedia: Grounation Day (April 21) is an important Rastafari holy day, second only to Coronation Day (November 2). It is celebrated in honour of Haile Selassie's 1966 visit to Jamaica. 



61. "Affirmative": YES.

62. Got: ATTAINED.

67. JD-to-be's exam: LSAT.

75. Hue: TINT.

76. Result of a sincere compliment: EGO BOOST.

77. Vitals checker, briefly: EMT.

79. Speed reader?: RADAR. Good old clue.

82. Cul-de-__: SAC.

85. "Uh-uh!": NOT.

86. Chris of Vampire Weekend: BAIO. Turns out he's the first cousin once removed of actor Scott Baio. 


87. Magic charm: AMULET.

95. First mo.: JAN.

96. Audrey Tautou title role: AMELIE. Lovely movie.

98. Holds dear: TREASURES.

103. Sign of neglect: DUST.

104. Emcee: HOST.

105. Yiddish word meaning "little town": SHTETL.  Like the town in "Fiddler on the Roof".

108. African viper: ASP.

111. Sign on: LOG IN.

114. Petrol brand: ESSO.

118. Region: AREA.

119. Food distribution giant: SYSCO. I think Jeannie used to work for them.


121. "Leave that to me": I'M ON IT.

126. Nod off: SNOOZE.

127. With a keen eye: ALERTLY.

128. "Blitzkrieg Bop" surname: RAMONE.  The Ramones.

129. Tree decor: TINSEL.

130. Number with 100 zeroes: GOOGOL. Count yourself.



131. Raw bar choice: OYSTER.

Down:

1. Catch: HITCH.

2. Earth tone: OCHER.

3. "Finished!": THERE.

4. Visibility reducer: MIST.

5. Grammy-nominated folk singer DeMent: IRIS. What's her most famous song?



6. Crew leader, briefly: COX.

7. "What a shame": SO SAD.

8. Early tourney match: PRELIM.

9. Fashion's __ Taylor: ANN.

10. Underwriter's assessment: RISK.

11. Many an Olympic gymnast: TEEN.

12. "Acoustic Soul" singer India.__: ARIE. Hi there, Splynter, tell others about your clue.

13. Journalist Velshi of MSNBC: ALI.

14. Rent payer: TENANT. How I wish our HOA could cap the number of rental units.

15. System infiltrator: HACKER.

16. Litter box concern: ODOR.

17. Exec's note: MEMO.

18. Fall setting: EDEN.

20. Chinese-American chef and restaurateur Joyce: CHEN. Gimme!



23. "I mean to say ... ": THAT IS.

28. Border: EDGE.

31. Strauss of denim: LEVI.

32. Thailand, once: SIAM. "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble... Siam's gonna be the witness" Whatever your interpretation, I like the song.

34. Extremely: OH SO. Really like this curtain D-Otto found for us. So easy to install. Blocks out the sun nicely.



35. Funds for later yrs.: IRAS.

36. Ore. neighbor: CAL.

38. Soft & __: DRI.

39. Guitarist Lofgren: NILS.

40. "Good to know": I SEE.

41. Novelist Leon: URIS. He wrote "Exodus".



42. Going past the fourth qtr., say: IN OT.

43. Grams: NANA.

44. "Fleabag" award: EMMY.

45. Poker player's "pass": NO BET.

46. Grind, as teeth: GNASH.

47. __ cavity: NASAL.

48. NASA garb: G SUIT.

52. Navel type: INNIE.

54. "Parks and Recreation" actor Chris: PRATT. Son-in-law of Arnold Schwarzenegger.


55. Part of TTFN: TA TA.

59. Besides: ALSO.

62. Going up in smoke?: AFIRE. For real.

63. Beach souvenir: TAN.

64. Sounds of reproach: TUTS.

65. Lang. of Jamaica: ENG.

66. Lorna __ cookies: DOONE.

68. Female sib: SIS.

70. Abbr. after many names: ET AL.

71. Two-headed fastener: U BOLT.



72. Turbine blade: ROTOR.

73. Run over: RE-AIR.

74. Strike down, biblically: SMITE. Root of smitten.

78. Little dogs: TOYS.

79. Indian noble: RAJA.

80. Middle of a Latin trio: AMAS.  Amo, amas, amat.

81. __ buggy: DUNE.

83. Fivers: ABES.

84. Period of inactivity: CALM.

86. Like dry champagne: BRUT.

88. Artists' mecca near Santa Fe: TAOS.

90. Spy-fi org.: CIA.

91. Coop group: HENS.

92. Sale indicator: RED TAG.

93. Epistle apostle: PAUL.

94. Braying beast: ASS.

97. Remote button: MUTE.

100. Savanna beasts: RHINOS.

101. Give a charge to: IONIZE.

102. "Sorry! Couldn't resist!": I HAD TO.

106. Bird call: TRILL.

107. Bitty: EENY.

108. Neckwear named for a British racecourse: ASCOT. The Ascot Racecourse.



109. Tableau: SCENE.

110. Conundrum: POSER.

111. Tilt: LIST.

112. Potent start?: OMNI. Omnipotent.

113. "Keep talking": GO ON.

115. Unaccompanied: STAG.

116. Rural tower: SILO.

117. After-lunch sandwich: OREO.

119. Crack up: SLAY.

120. Sweet tubers: YAMS.

122. __ Aviv: TEL.

124. Braz. neighbor: ARG.

125. In favor: PRO.

J.D. sent me this picture of his grandkids. She said this: Below are my 4 grandsons. Truman is now 15. Fourteen years ago I found your tiny blog and started doing puzzles…best thing I did in my retirement. I do continue to donate my time in the boys' classes. This year I’m in Dylan's 4th grade.



We had a follow-up with the ortho doctor. All's good with Boomer's left shoulder. The doctor asked for one thing: no more falls.

Lots of VA appointments ahead, starting with Tuesday morning's blood draw. If the platelet number is good, then Boomer will get a freshly-made bone strengthener cocktail. Hoping for a miracle that his PSA (742) will go down or at least stabilizes, as this oral chemo is our last hope.

C.C.

31 comments:

Subgenius said...

The first themed answer I got was “The Fault in 0ur Sitars”. This made the gimmick obvious, which helped me to solve the rest of the themed answers and the puzzle as a whole. There were a number of proper names that had to be solved through a combination of WAGs and perps, but solve them I did, in the end. The rest of the puzzle seemed pretty straightforward. FIR, so I’m happy.

desper-otto said...

Good morning!

My mantra should be, "Read the puzzle title, d-o." Got the theme early, but the title would have helped me get it even earlier. Cute. CERTS, our discontinued breath mint, is back for an encore. I looked it up. It seems partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil cannot be used as a food ingredient in the U.S. Who gnu? Didn't notice until reading C.C.'s recap that this was a DNF -- had HATCH where HITCH (ACHIRO/ICHIRO) needed to go. Bzzzzzzt. And another one bites the dust. Thanx, Zachary and C.C. (Iris' most famous song is probably Our Town, which was sung at the end of the final episode of the TV series Northern Exposure. Iris has a most unusual vocal quality that some people compare to fingernails on a blackboard.)

SHTETL : Appears in the backstory of immigrants Tata and his daughter in Ragtime.

GOOGOL : Ran across this one last week while doing the NYT Spelling Bee.

We got 2.5" of rain yesterday with more predicted today. Tomorrow it'll be four weeks since the mower guys were here. The tire tracks they burned into the grass have started to fill in. Elsewhere the grass is about 9" tall. We're liable to get a citation from the city...not in a good way. I no longer own a mower, so it'll just have to wait until they show up.

Lemonade714 said...

Fun puzzle by ZDL, though I agree that TIRADING is a outlier. Some good news for Boomer and now we hope more coming this week. JD, I cannot believe how big the grands have gotten. You must be so proud. I will never forget the "book" you kept of new fill.

Enjpy the holiday weekend all

Anonymous said...

Re: Iris, yes "Our(My) Town", "Let the Mystery Be", "Wasteland of the Free" and a great duet with John Prine "In Spite of Ourselves".

Montana said...

Best wishes to Boomer and CC!

Irish Miss said...

Good Morning:

Another pleasant Sunday solve. Unlike DO, I did read the title and when I filled in The Sixth Sensei was off to the races with the theme. Knowing the theme helped but not to the point of lessening the challenge of figuring out the movie titles, as the clues were tricky. I was familiar with all of the films but saw only A Serious Man and Trading Places. Perps were needed for Landis, Rasta, Ramona, Baio, and Iris, plus for the spelling of Shtetl. My w/os were minimal: Ozone/Ocher, Rust/Dust, and Tiny/Eeny. Props for a low thee letter word count and very clean fill. Leon Uris was a favorite of mine and I think I read all of his novels. He and Herman Wouk provided me with many hours of reading pleasure during my younger years.

Thanks, Zachary, for a very enjoyable trip to the movies and thanks, CC, for ushering us through the grid. Love your window covering! Glad to hear that Boomer’s shoulder is better and I echo the doctor’s wish for no more falls. Good luck with the upcoming appointments.

My ice maker is not working (long story) so I ordered some easy-release ice cube trays from Walmart. (I have two trays but they require the strength of Hercules to get the cubes loosened.) Anyway, a package was left outside my door yesterday and when I picked it up I thought “Wow, this is awfully heavy for 4 plastic ice cube trays.” (Visions of a watermelon encounter flashed through my mind.) Upon opening the package, the heft was accounted for by 30 cans of cat food, plus Scrunchies, a stick of deodorant, and tweezers. I’ll spare you the saga of the time and effort it took to correct this error, but if all goes well, the replacement trays will be delivered today. Meow!

Have a great day.

Big Easy said...

Good morning all. I caught the added "I" at the THE SIXTH SENSEI, knew "The Sixth Sense" was a movie but didn't notice the movie theme. The only other theme fill that I knew was a movie was "Trading Places". It was an easy Sunday fill with my last fill being SHRETL. Never heard of it; initially filled GHETTO. I HAD TO change RUST to DUST to get RED TAG.

The cross of two unknowns- PRATT & RASTA- took a while but SITARS helped. Grounation Day is not on my calendar. I'm not religious but using any religion to get stoned is farcical.
LANDIS, BAIO, AMELIE and Audrey Tautou, RAMONE and "Blitzdrieg Bop", IRIS DeMent, Joyce CHEN, were other unknowns filled by perps.

Only know ARIE because it follows India in puzzles.

IM & DO- I never look at the title. It's a puzzle that you should try to figure out, which I didn't. Not a movie buff.

KS said...

FIR, but stared at shtetl for so long I almost second guessed myself on the perps. My least favorite clue was for reair. Yuk!

Lucina said...

Hola!

Another Sunday puzzle is in the books! It's always a long solve for me but sipping coffee while doing it is a pleasant undertaking.

What a clever title that provided a bit of help.

It's ironic that SNOOZE is followed by ALERT TO though I wasn't ALERT TO a couple of errors. SHTETL is completely unfamiliar to me and left most of it blank. I see another mistake at TRILL and ALERTLY. I had ALERT TO.

Have a super Sunday, everyone!

Lucina said...

C.C.
I'll say some prayers at Mass today that Boomer's health improves and that his tests show good results.

Husker Gary said...

Musings
-Fun fills with even a clever title. Speed bumps in Seattle and Miami.
-AKRON as fill and Soap Box in a clue
-Sometimes lyrics just jump into my head: “TREASURE these few words till we're together, Keep all my love forever, P.S. I love you, You, you, you”
-This song was written by a PAUL who was not an apostle
-I’M ON IT – Running three errands yesterday got me big brownie points
-Charles Ingraham correctly said GOOGOL as the million-dollar answer on the U.K. version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, but there was a problem
-RISK – Life insurance was too expensive for Apollo astronauts, this was their ingenious solution
-That G-SUIT is meant to keep blood from pooling in the legs during rapid changes in direction
-A recent waitress had this Latin trio tattooed on her arm to celebrate her sobriety: Veni, Vidi, Vici. Cool!
-Boomer’s news and J.D.’s picture were both pleasant.

Jinx in Norfolk said...

DNF, not being able to get a foothold anywhere near Seattle. "Reveal Word" rendered HOT MIC, then after my head cleared from the V8 can strike, I finished up in a jiffy. I mainly liked the puzzle, but absolutely hated "poker player's pass" for NO BET and "turbine blade" for ROTOR. No. Just no. Kind of like cluing "color in the USA flag" for ORANGE. "NO BET" is called by the dealer in craps, roulette and sometimes blackjack when a player is too late in placing a bet. In poker, you either check, call, raise or fold when it's your turn. "Turbine part" would have been fine for ROTOR.

It didn't help that I had never heard of The Sixth Sense, Mona Lisa Smile or The Fault in Our Stars, and only sorta heard of A Serious Man (I think).

I wanted veni, vidi, vici, but that's why pencils have a blunt end.

For some reason, "Fleabag" made me think of "Hot_l Baltimore".

On to Monday!

Misty said...

Delightful Sunday puzzle, Zachary, many thanks. And thank you especially for your kind shout-out to me with MIST! You must have thought of MISTY when you posted that--thank you so much! I'm embarrassed to say it gave me a huge EGO BOOST

I loved your Sunday commentary, as I always do, C.C. And thank you for the update on Boomer. You are also both in my daily prayer, and I'll look forward to Boomer's always delightful commentary tomorrow.

And now on to the puzzle. "Graunation Day? Really, there is such a day? Well, I'll just have to celebrate it AT HOME, with some OYSTERS and ALSO some OREOS for dessert, along with some ICEd Tea, or even better, some dry BRUT champagne! Shouldn't make me GNASH my teeth. Since I'll be alone, I guess this will have to be a BACHELOR PARiTY. But you can all join me in spirit!

Have a great Sunday, everybody.



Subgenius said...

After listening to “Let the Mystery Be” I have a new favorite folksinger - Iris DeMent!

CrossEyedDave said...

Little bit of a slog, not due to content as much as it was just "big." Combined with some isolated sections that required theme answers to flesh out.

As I crawled through this monstrosity, it reminded me of another movie with an "I" in it.

You can watch the entire movie on YouTube, but "why" you would do that is beyond me. To all the people that I could not understand "why" they hated science fiction movies, I owe you a sincere apology...

Monkey said...

When the NE corner remained blank for a long time, I despaired, but breezed through the rest, got the theme, went back NE and finished. Phew! Liked the speed reader clue.

Irish Miss: good luck on your next shipment. I don’t use my ice maker. I use the twist trays. I noticed that the strength required must be connected to the type of water your area provides. But that could also be my imagination.

Good news for CC and Boomer.

Wilbur Charles said...

TIRADING 》Soapbox. I thought soapbox derby contestants were prone to anger

CC, Patti "gerund*'ed" TIRADE. And…
Say hello to Splynter (c. Below)

AKRON just celebrated 87th birth of AA

Not to be confused with Judge Kennesaw Mountain LANDIS who ruled that Baseball couldn't be antitrust because it was a sport**.

D/RUST for last fill. "Who gnu?", Said the Owl to the Bovine. FIR

PK, you're a riot

WC

* Clue from yesterday
**After SOTUS refused to reconsider in 1970 Marvin Miller threatened to use 1940s Indenture Ruling(Olivia DeHavilland) and MLB agreed on bargaining and arbitrator. Big surprise? Arbitrator was honest

Kelly Clark said...


Prayers and Masses continue for Boomer, and for you, C.C.

Thank you for the recap -- I thought it was a delightful puzzle.

waseeley said...

Thank you Zach for a leisurely Sunday morning stroll through cInematic punland. Did miss a FIR though, as at some point I changed DUST to RUST and when filling 108D forgot to notice that RERTAG didn't make any sense.

Thank you C.C. for the recap and for the update on BOOMER, who BTW gets a CSO (along with Ray - O) for 20A CORNIER. I think it's a toss up as to which is CORNIEST.

Some favs:

All the themers were clever and helpful. Of the films being lampooned, I've seen only TRADING PLACES. While the additional "I" wasn't used consistently, in each case it was helpful. TIRADING is the GERUND form of the NOUN used in the clue, valid I think. TRADING is the VERB used in original movie. I wouldn't trust spell check as an authority on ANYTHING.

131A OYSTER. Chesapeake Bay SUSHI.

5D IRIS. One of my favorites. Probably her most famous song "Let the Mystery Be".

46D GNASH. One of my favorite poets.

63D TAN. Clever.

71D U BOLT. This held me up for a while. I've used them for lots of things, but I was visualizing a short length of all-thread rod with some kind of nut on either end. Or maybe it was just me.

100D RHINO. An acronymic homonym of this beast is much in the news these days to describe an insincere politician. I don't intend to imply by that that there is such a thing as a sincere politician.

102D I HAD TO. I HAD TO change GOOGLE to GOOGOL to make it work.

Cheers,
Bill

Gary,thanks for that RISK assessment on the Apollo astronauts.

waseeley said...

Whoops. Make that ADJECTIVAL form of the GERUND used in the clue.

PK said...

Hi Y'all! Zachary thanks for this enjoyable challenge & amusing theme. Hard but not unfair.

Things I didn't know perped in OK. DNK: BAIO, AMELIE, SYSCO, RAMONE, GOOGOL, IRIS, ALI, CHEN, G SUIT, PRATT.

I've seen none of the movies, but did know of a few. My kid studied under a SENSEI for a while. Favorite chuckle-worthy term was BACHELOR PARITY & its clue.

Has anyone outside of Jamaica heard of Grounation Day? Spell check hasn't. RASTA perped in and perplexed me.

Like IM, I read most, if not all, of Leon URIS books years ago. Not light-hearted subjects but important.

TUTS, not Tsks. Never said Tuts in my life. Except the Egyptian boy king.

C.C., thanks for a great expo. My prayers continue for you and Boomer.

WilburC: Thanks.

Anonymous T said...

Sunday Lurk say...

Thanks for the Boomer update, C.C. Loving thoughts your way for a week of healthy results.
Is that your home in the blinds picture? -- very feng shui.

Jinx - how'd you miss the zeitgeist that was Sixth Sense?

IM - have you tried the old-school ice-trays with a leaver? My grandparents had them in the '70s
//OMG - They still make them.

PK - Outside of Jamaica? Like BigE said, I'm sure many a pot-head cite Grounation Day for their 4:20 activities.
Misty, save the OREOs for later munchies ;-)

HG - Thank you for informing me of the most ingenious method of "Postal Insurance."

"with some kind of nut on either end. Or maybe it was just me." LOL, waseeley... In IT Support we'd note most tickets as the "nut behind the keyboard" :-) #PEBKAC //Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair

Y'all have a wonderful Labor Day eve.
Cheers, -T

sumdaze said...

FIW ... in several places. No EGOBOOST today. Nevertheless, enjoyed the movIe tItles theme. Caught it at BACHELOR PARITY -- with the puzzle's title ALSO.
Among my TREASURES is an AMELIE dvd.
Fav clue: Speed reader?
THERE, I'm (DOONE?) (DUNE?) DONE!

Irish Miss said...

Tante Nique @ 1:10 ~ Thank you, the correct order was delivered this afternoon, although the need has been negated, see below.

Anon T ~ @ 3:47 ~ The old-fashioned lever type tray is what I was using but the lever didn’t want to leve! Using all my strength, I could only raise it halfway.

Through my nephew’s perseverance, a new water filter got installed correctly and the ice maker is making ice once again. The only problem is, the ice is charcoal gray in color. Hopefully, a few cycles will correct this. (He was delighted to take the 30 cans of cat food for his 3 cats.)

Anonymous T said...

IM - do they make them with Teflon? :-)
A carbon-filter in the icebox takes 5+ minutes of running water to remove the charcoal coloUr [Where's my Certificate, C, Eh!!?! - I'll send you the LoonIes! :-)]* from the water.

Fill a pitcher or two with water from the fridge and your ice will be clear again.

Glad to read the cats got their kibbles.

Cheers, -T
*for new reader: This is a running gag that I may have pushed a bit.

Jayce said...

I liked this puzzle and had fun figuring out how "I" got to be in pictures.

I liked:
The aforementioned movie title modifications
LEADED clue
KNEE clue
RNA clue
The words TREASURES, SHTETL, and GNASH
"Epistle apostle".

I didn't like:
NO BET, for the reason Jinx at 12:33 PM said. (I immediately entered CHECK)
ROTOR, also for the reason Jinx said
COX, because I thought COX'N was the usual term.

Yesterday I entered SNOOZE but the right answer was SIESTA. Today my SNOOZE was good.
Putting in CAP instead of COX prevented me from seeing SIXTH for a while.
Sometimes my doctor has issued KNEE jerk diagnoses and medications.
Hand up for correcting RUST to DUST.
The DUSTy archives of my memory saved me from the Natick of ICHIRO crossing IRIS.
When I see the name Lofgren I can't help but think of Rep. Zoe Lofgren.
The receptionist at our dentist's office is named Lorna. I think it's a pretty name.
I got an EENY kick out of seeing DOONE and DUNE.

Happy Sunday and good wishes to you all.

Irish Miss said...

Anon T @ 4:50 ~ My fridge doesn’t have a water dispenser. The ice is beginning to look clearer, so it should be back to normal very soon. (Just in time for a Dewar’s or two! 🥃🥃!)

Anonymous T said...

IM - I like your style. -T

Wilbur Charles said...

IM, ICE in your Scotch? Tinbeni is shocked, shocked I tell you...

Michael said...

With scotch, don't we have 'rocks' as the accompaniment? None of this 'ice' stuff, per the Royal Scotch Imbibement Act of 1760....

Anonymous said...

DNF because my mind was elsewhere.Had no patience since the Western Hothouse is affecting EVERYTHING! My beloved garden is withering before my eyes and I need to wash clothes after 9 p.m. Midnight and the temps are still in the mid-eighties!! At least no fires threatening my home!!