Theme: "Hollywood Endings" - Each common phrase is rephrased as if the last word is a movie starred by the actor in the clue.
23. Editing scenes from a Wesley Snipes vampire film?: CUTTING BLADE.
28. Putting the final touches on an Ed Asner Pixar film?: WRAPPING UP.
47. Going on a promotional tour for a Sigourney Weaver family film?: PLUGGING HOLES.
64. Showing the final cut of a Jennifer Lawrence sci-fi film?: SCREENING PASSENGERS.
89. Hiring actors for a Shailene Woodley survival-at-sea film?: CASTING ADRIFT.
103. Composing the music for a Tom Hanks fantasy film?: SCORING BIG.
112. Acquiring the rights for a Sandra Bullock action film?: LANDING SPEED.
Very consistent set. The last words are all movies, most are well-known ones by big stars. Adrift is new to me.
This is Gary Larson's favorite theme type, rephrasing common phrases. He's a wordsmith.
Across:
6. Relishes: SAVORS.
12. Speck: DOT.
15. First word for some babies: MAMA. Universal. Mama. Papa is "Ba Ba" in Chinese.
19. Spare place: TRUNK.
20. Footnote notation: IBIDEM.
21. French article: UNE.
22. Grows old: AGES.
25. Sleep stage: REM. Feels amazing waking up to normal air. The weedy smell really drove me nuts.
26. New Rochelle school with an award-winning pipe band: IONA.
27. Nth, for one: ORDINAL.
31. Least risky: SAFEST.
33. "Fire away": ASK.
36. Dump: UNLOAD.
37. Big letters in home security: ADT. I finally had Simplisafe installed.
38. On top of everything: TOO.
41. Four score and ten: NINETY.
43. Fireplace piece: GRATE.
51. Faced: BRAVED.
52. Wedding dress option: SAREE. Pretty.
53. Chocolaty cereal brand: OREO O'S.
54. Like some conclusions: FOREGONE.
56. Withdrawing: IN RETREAT.
58. Colorful tee: TIE DYE.
60. Came out on top: WON. Who do you think will win the World Series 2023?
61. Hearth residue: ASH.
62. Welcomes: LETS IN. Windhover might visit me next year. Splynter also. Who else will come to Minnesota for a gathering if both of them come?
63. Hungers: YENS.
72. Deodorant brand: MENNEN.
73. Hosp. areas: ERS.
74. No-goodnik: CAD.
75. Chuck who broke the sound barrier: YEAGER.
76. Many a night owl: LATE RISER. Not me.
82. Gilbert and Sullivan work: OPERETTA.
84. Envelope: MAILER.
86. Skin care brand: NIVEA.
88. Tribal emblems: TOTEMS.
92. Singer/actress Kazan: LAINIE. She was in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".
94. Word in the names of two MLB teams: SOX.
95. Island chain?: LEI.
96. Dig: INSULT.
98. College major that may involve many museum trips: ART.
100. Bring in: IMPORT.
110. Facility: EASE.
111. Santa __ winds: ANA.
117. Adroit: ABLE.
118. Jump the __: GUN.
119. Costello partner: ABBOTT. "Hu's on first?"
121. Herd noises: MOOS.
122. Place with a trough: STY.
123. Dictate: DECREE.
124. Kaitlin of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia": OLSON.
Down:
2. __TV: reality show channel: TRU.
3. At the wrong time: OUT OF TURN.
4. Between, in French: ENTRE. Nous.
5. Loses control on the ice: SKIDS. So much snow last year.
6. Communicate with one's hands: SIGN.
7. "Fernando" singers: ABBA.
8. Country estate: VILLA.
9. "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown: ODA.
10. Primary color: RED.
11. Small duck: SMEW.
12. Two-time NBA Finals MVP Kevin: DURANT. I thought he's retired already. Nope.
13. Like cheap toilet paper: ONE-PLY.
14. Beat: TEMPO.
15. Downtown street: MAIN DRAG.
16. Eager: AGOG.
17. Drop-down list: MENU.
18. PDQ: ASAP.
24. Capone cohort: NITTI (Frank). Chicago mob.
29. Wishes undone: RUES.
30. "Ditto": I AGREE.
31. Enervates: SAPS.
32. 1950s politico Stevenson: ADLAI. Haven't seen this name for a while.
34. Haughty one: SNOOT.
35. Drug bust unit: KILO.
39. __ about: circa: ON OR.
40. Brute: OGRE.
42. Drink brand with a green leaf logo: NESTEA.
44. Declarer: AVOWER. Who uses this word?
45. Mortise inserts: TENONS.
46. Paradises: EDENS.
48. Poet __ Manley Hopkins: GERARD. Unfamiliar to me. English poet and Jesuit priest.
49. Down source: GEESE.
50. "Isn't __ bit like you and me?": Beatles lyric: HE A.
51. Actor Yul: BRYNNER.
54. Come clean, with "up": FESS.
55. Cartoon canine: ODIE.
57. Queens team: THE METS. Patti's team.
59. "__ only money": IT'S.
62. ICU worker: LPN.
63. Formal agreement: YES SIR.
64. Apply haphazardly: SLAP ON. And
65. Officially give: CEDE TO.
66. In apple-pie order: NEAT.
67. Swenson of "Benson": INGA.
68. U-turn from SSW: NNE.
69. Liechtenstein's language: GERMAN.
70. Coffee machine setting: GRIND.
71. "Sicko Mode" rapper Travis __: SCOTT. With Kylie Jenner for a while.
75. Omani neighbor: YEMENI.
76. Carafe size: LITER.
77. Frazier opponent: ALI.
78. Canadian bank notes featuring civil rights activist Viola Desmond: TENS.
From Wikipedia: Desmond was a "Canadian civil and women's rights
activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she
challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia,
by refusing to leave a whites-only area of the Roseland Theatre. For
this, she was convicted of a minor tax violation for the one-cent tax
difference between the seat that she had paid for and the seat that she
used, which was more expensive ..."
79. Thus: ERGO.
80. Dark signs: EVIL OMENS.
81. Allude (to): REFER.
83. Pension beneficiaries: RETIREES. My faithful Springbrook
hiking friend Dan has just retired. He introduced Elk Creek to me, but we never hiked there together until last week. He's too fast for me. He runs a ton every day, rain or snow.
 |
| Dan the Engineer |
85. Bhutan locale: ASIA.
87. In a quarrel: AT IT.
89. Big name in banking: CITI.
90. Chopping down: AXING. Dan's been chopping trees. Behind his shack, there's a huge lake. He swam yesterday when it was like 40F. Crazy, but normal for him. He polar-jumped at
Antarctica last year.
92. Wheel securer: LUG NUT.
93. Hudson River capital: ALBANY.
97. Hose woes: SNAGS.
99. Architectural style: TUDOR.
101. Botch: MISDO.
102. Trainee: PUPIL.
103. Clothing line: SEAM.
104. Baja resort, familiarly: CABO.
105. Nobel Institute city: OSLO.
106. Elated: GLAD.
108. Solemn ceremony: RITE.
109. Poker stake: ANTE.
113. Simpsons grandfather: ABE.
114. Peacock network: NBC.
115. __ trip: EGO.
116. Get into: DON.
C.C.
32 comments:
I could have sworn the poet’s name was GERALD Manley Hopkins but I soon found out I was wrong about that. The title of the puzzle, as well as the first themed solve, gave me the very straightforward gimmick, which made solving the rest of the puzzle easier. Pretty typical Sunday level difficulty, which means not very difficult at all. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Oregon was 'orrid. IN RETREAT was very slow to appear with GERARD and GEESE (d-o had GOOSE) crossing SAREE (I've only seen it as SARI). Also tried IT A where HE A needed to go. Straightened things out and put this one to bed, but it seemed to take foevah. Thanx, Gary and C.C.
NITTI: Who could forget this NITTI scene from The Untouchables?
Got each of the movies (although I didn't know all of them) and each of the gerunds?, but messed up in the area that turned out to be SAREE, TURN, and GEESE. For "Down source" I had goose, and never thought of the "other" spelling of sari. I had GiRARD. I probably entered the i instead of the e because I once lived in a city named Girard. Oh well. Mox nix. Still a fun puzzle, and I'm happy whether I aced it or not.
Last Thursday we had GARY (Larson) as the answer to the "Far Side" clue.
A quote from constructor Gary Larson: "I am not "that" Gary Larson. I remember when I first started working as a comedian, I got a fortune cookie that read, "Your name will be famous in the future." I put that fortune in my wallet and saved it. A few years later, when my name got famous without me, I took it out and burned it."
Thanks, Gary. Thanks, C.C. Good to hear you weedy smell is gone.
Hi Y'all! Interesting puzzle, Gary, thanks. Your name is famous enough with me that I am glad to see it on a LAT puzzle. I don't watch movies because I can't stay awake so I had only seen BIG and knew of UP & SPEED but the others were unknown. A bunch of other unknowns like the poet. Doable with a few red-letter runs. I always try to fill everything without the red runs but seldom succeed. Took me 48:48 minutes today. Found it hard but amusing so I'm happy too.
Thanks, C.C., for another fine expo. I'm feeling relieved that your weedy neighbors are no longer polluting your home.
FIR, but erased smee for SMEW, eider for GEESE, brenner for BRYNNER, dig for DON, mennin for MENNEN (UNTIE!) and win for WON (watch the tense, dummy!) I've seen ADRIFT and BIG, and have heard of SPEED.
Today is:
NATIONAL GROUCH DAY (CSO to moi)
NATIONAL I LOVE LUCY DAY (still funny after all these years)
NATIONAL CHEESE CURD DAY (Packers fans celebrate)
NATIONAL SHAWARMA DAY (I’ll have mine with a side of belly dancing)
WHITE CANE SAFETY DAY (and don’t steal the pencils)
GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY (COVID gave me the healthy habit of excessive hand washing)
NATIONAL AESTHETICIAN DAY (if I walked in, I’m sure they would relocate to a secure, undisclosed location)
NATIONAL PREGNANCY AND INFANT LOSS REMEMBRANCE DAY (claim is that 1 in 4 pregnancies end tragically)
I switched from a local alarm company's system to Simplisafe a few years ago. I like it a lot. Never was tempted by ADT because of their high monitoring fee and multiyear contract requirement.
Didn't know "apple pie order" for NEAT. But I loved Benson and crushed on INGA.
I was thinking of C-Eh for the Canadian currency and the wine jug. Litre? LITER? How to abbreviate Loonys? Toonys? Goonys? Oh, TENS!
When I worked in Phoenix, one wag would refer to senior management as "hubcaps." They provide gloss and beauty, but don't have an actual function. He referred to us working stiffs as LUG NUTS. The folks who keep the wheels from falling off. (We were managers, a title of importance in the field. Kinda like military people in the Pentagon. In the field, a colonel is a big bird. In the Pentagon, a colonel carries the briefcase of an important person.)
FLN - Vid, the rest of the joke is "and save this." "What's this, doc?" "It's the reversal for the Viagra." "Looks like a rock." "It is - when you leave here, put it in your shoe. It'll make you limp."
Thanks to Gary for the fun Sunday challenge. I think it would have been easy had I been up on my show biz headlines, but I'm not. And thanks to CC for the fun review. I'm sorry to say that my DW's Alzheimer disease is such that she would be disruptive at a meet-up (and can't safely be left alone) so next year is out for me. Maybe in a few years as things progress.
FIR, but I had to really work at it. I'm not a movie buff, so most of the theme answers meant little to me. My first long answer, cutting blade, had me scratching my head, but I just soldiered on and got 'er done.
No Hollywood ending for me today with a DNF. I got stuck at the 'wedding dress' SAREE and GERARD. Never seen that spelling of SARI and never heard of him. It didn't help that I wanted GOOSE, not GEESE. Not being a movie fan, I only knew of BIG, SPEED, and UP. The rest of the
ING puzzle was Monday easy.
SCOTT, OLSON, & IONA were unknowns filled by perps.
As for Dan in Antarctic waters I wonder how long he stayed in the water. I prefer my Jacuzzi bathtub with warm water; I'm not into self-inflicted pain.
Good Morning:
This was a lovely Sunday solve, not terribly difficult but not fill-in-the blanks easy, either. I knew most of the movies but not all. It was fun figuring out the lead-in to each film, particularly the unknown titles and all titles being one word was an added feature. Hand up for Gerald before Gerard, Eider/Geese and Smee/Smew. Of course, Iona and Albany were gimmes. Unlike many Sunday grids, there were no obscure references and the three letter word count was pretty standard.
Thanks, Gary, for a pleasant and satisfying solve and thanks, CC, for the pro's perspective and insight. So happy to hear that you're breathing unpolluted air once again. May the peace and calm continue.
I watched the new release of The Burial last night on Amazon Prime, starring Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones. It's loosely based on true events involving a David and Goliath-type lawsuit centered on the funeral business practices in America. I enjoyed it but thought a few scenes were overly dramatic and unnecessarily boisterous. Tommy Lee Jones looked aged and haggard but was perfect for the role of the honorable but beleaguered plaintiff, and Jamie Foxx was outstanding in his portrayal of a brash, flamboyant, aggressive attorney.
Have a great day.
I wanted to briefly mention that I too went from “eider” to “goose” before I finally hit on “geese.” Very tricky!
BE@8:57, survival time in water <32 deg is under 15 minutes, the colder the lesser. Most people would lose consciousness before that and drown. I, too enjoy my hot tub spa.
As for the puzzle, a bit salty with some misdirection clues. I went for eider as the down source, then GooSE and finally GEESE as perps directed.
Always enjoy a Gary Larson puzzle and C.C.'s review was succinct but informative as normal.
Once bitten, twice shy.
Aloha
Musings
-We have not had a car with an actual trunk for decades
-They were not IN RETREAT
-Success in the 2023 regular season has very little relation as to who will win the World Series
-Chuck YEAGER did cash in on his fame
-Oklahoma Sooners are named for people who “Jumped The GUN”
-I wonder if Gary or Patti reached into their bag of obscure names for that OLSON
-In baseball, you are called “out” if caught batting “OUT OF TURN”
-ADLAI’s highwater point
-Lt. GERARD was the pursuer of Dr. Kimble in The Fugitive
-SNOOT: Arrogance is the common trait of the Kardashians
-Viola and Rosa stood up for justice
-We got a 10% insurance discount by using a camera that shows our driveway
Addendum
-Meeting and visiting with C.C. is worth any effort. She is delightful.
Lovely Sunday puzzle. Once I saw Gary Larson’s name, I knew I was in for a treat and he didn’t disappoint.
I too went from eider to goose to geese, changed smee, ( no such thing) to SMEW.
I discovered the poetry of GERARD Manley Hopkins in graduate school and was hooked. He is a masterful creator of nature imagery and mesmerizing rhythm which he called “sprung rhythm”.
Cool fall day today.
Question: Does anyone else who prints out the Sunday crossword on the Washington Post get scrambled, over-printed clues.?? I had ten today and the same for the last two weeks.
TC - I just print it from the LAT web site. You sometimes have to tolerate a 15 or 30 second ad, but most of the time no ads. Avoids problems occasionally reported here, such as wrong puzzle or misprinting.
A fun Sunday 🏃♀️ run. Fav clue was wedding dress option… thanks Gary and CC.
We also watched the Burial last night on Prime. What a surprisingly entertaining, intense, funny, and moving movie. Jamie Fox and Tommy Lee Jones were both cast perfectly for their roles…… kkFlorida
Took 18:48 today for me to get to the movies.
I didn't know today's actress (Lainie), the poet, or evidently a movie named, "Holes."
Fun puzzle.
Hola!
Just a quick note to say I finished this puzzle before church and that is a record for me on a Sunday. Thank you, Gary Larson.
Solar eclipses are sometimes perceived as EVIL OMENS.
I love Sandra Bullock and with my daughter and granddaughter have seen some of her films many times. "Miss Congeniality" is a favorite.
Hand up for GOOSE before GEESE and DAY before EGO trip. I also originally misspelled Yul's name as BRUNNER. TIE DYE saved me.
Have a great day, all!
LAINIE Kazan is great in MY Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Another vote for Burial. We loved it and despite occasionally being a bit over the top, it was touching and satisfying.
Along with many others, I am always happy to embark on a Gary Larson puzzle. Clever theme, intelligent fill, helpful perps for the unknown names - what’s not to like? I had to correct San for SOX and sarie for SAREE, but otherwise a slow and steady solve to FIR.
The Untouchables clip was amazing - I cringed again, just as I did the first time around!
It’s a good day all around when C.C.’s housing situation is back to normal. Now, back to working on swimming prowess!
TC@11:33.like Jinx, I print the CW from LA Times.
I really liked this puzzle, despite a one letter FIW (figured "no-goodniks" are BAD and rappers have weird names like "SBOTT?" DUH!). I did get all the films and the gerunds though.
Thanks C.C. for the excellent review. I'm glad you got a security system and I hope one day that we'll get out to Minnesota (I have a niece who is an MD at the Mayo Clinic).
Lots of fun stuff in this puzzle, but only have time for a few ...
60A WON. Alas the series winner won't be the O's, but there's always next year!
82A OPERETTA. Probably G&S's most famous is The Mikado. Here's Ko-Ko, the Lord High Executioner, singing about a "little" list he keeps should he ever be called upon to do his duty.
35D KILO. Favorite clue.
48D GERARD. My oldest grandson is a big fan of Hopkins.
85D ASIA. "BHUTAN locale"? Is this what they mean by "green paint"?
Cheers,
Bill
FLN from a late post ...
I had to comment on 59D TAR (full disclosure -- I've not seen it). The picture in the review is NOT Cate Blanchett, but rather Marin Alsop, Maestra Emerita of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Some controversy arose when the film came out as both the fictional Tar and the real Alsop are gay and some suggested that the latter might have been the model for the former. IIRC this was vehemently denied by the film producers and it generated a lot of news in Baltimore. This is the likely source of the clipping in the review and it was very hurtful to Alsop. The personalities of the two are complete opposites -- Tar is presented as pursuing an aggressive no holds barred climb to the top of the conductor ranks. On the other hand Alsop (a protege of Leonard Bernstein) spent years paying her dues in regional orchestras around the world and her appointment to the BSO was well-deserved (although controversial, for other reasons that I won't go into here). I saw her conduct many times and she was and still is at the top-ranks of major symphony orchestra conductors, male or female. She was also very active in community outreach in Baltimore, local philanthropic activities, and she even developed a program called OrchKids to encourage young people in the pursuit of musical careers.
A good movie. Similar business practises are occurring in the hospital and convalescent home industries today.
Bill @ 2:03 ~ While that clue may be simplistic and unimaginative, it's not green paint because it's a specific country in a specific part of the world.
Irish Miss @2:34 PM Thanks IM. Could you give me a better example and explanation. Just became acquainted with the term and still don't understand it ...
I liked this puzzle, CC’s write-up, and all your comments.
Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Gary and C.C.
I FIRed in good time, but online on Sunday ERGO no inkblots.
Hand up for thinking of Eider and Smee, but perps corrected me.
I avoided the Goose trap and had the plural GEESE.
I noted ERGO/EGO plus KILO/LITER, and TENS/NINETY/ONE-PLY.
I’ll take a CSO with TENS. Viola Desmond is our Canadian Rosa Parks, but was virtually unknown until recently.
Someone here (Rose? Tante Nique? YR?) recommended Maeve Binchy’ s The Lilac Bus. I just finished reading it and found i5 very enjoyable. Thanks for recommending.
Wishing you all a great day.
While I enjoyed Gary Larson's rephrasing of common phrases, today's puzzle wasn't a good fit for me because I was only familiar with three of the seven movie titles. Seeing the gerund pattern definitely helped. SCREENING PASSENGERS was my FAV, even though I had not heard of the movie. Other FAVs: Gov't security and Formal agreement. Thanks, GL!
Thanks to C.C. for her Sunday run-down. 71D. Do you keep up with the Kardashians?
TTP@6:05. Liked the GL name story. I have heard that is why the press uses serial killers' middle names. It would be unfortunate if your first & last name matched that of a serial killer. Adding the middle name helps people know it's not you.
Complex, but interesting, Sunday puzzle--many thanks, Gary.
And I always enjoy your commentaries, C.C.--thanks for this one too. I especially loved the picture of the SAREEs.
Big Easy said, "I'm not into self-inflicted pain."
Does that mean you are into pain inflected by others? Are you a masochist?
Thank You Gary Larson for a very interesting and involved Sunday puzzle. I enjoyed solving it though it took a long time, close to an hour, or more. Quite a slog. I am now very much aware of the two Gary Larsons... the cartoonist is of course, far more famous.
Thank You CC for your answers in your blog. The picture of the sarees was also nice, although not everybody would look so nice, while dressed in that costume. I was very surprised when that answer turned up ... and for a long time I wasn't sure if it might be the correct one.
Unlike say, a bridal veil ... a Saree is not a wedding specific / optional costume ... it is a regular dress, like a 'dress' ... you are either used to wearing it or not. Although in the last 20 years, a lengha-choli etc., alternate dresses are being selected for weddings.
CC, I'm so glad your neighbors and their behaviors are 'working out'. It is very disconcerting and conceivably scary when ones neighbors have such habits...
Ohio has Issue 2 on the polls, for this Nov., on whether marijuana should be legalized for recreationary purposes... We shall see. I've been told that its likely to pass.
Thank You Jinx of Norfolk, for the continued addition to my attempt at a joke, last night. I'll try to remember that addition !
RE: The Canadian Ten dollar note, ... its been a long time since I've seen any Can. money ... and now I'm totally out of the numismatic and bill collecting business, er, hobby..
My favorite Ten 'Anything' note, is the Ten Deutsche Mark note, West Germany, ( until 2001 ) because it has the portrait of Friedrich Gauss, one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists, and his gaussian graph and heliotrope, on the note...
Four pages of Wikipedia, ... List, just of all things, merely named after Gauss, in all areas of Math, Physics, Buildings, Awards etc.
Have a good week coming up, all you folks.
Continuing on the CrossWord, before I got side tracked ... I too, had 'eider' before Geese. I never considered 'goose' in the singular, well, because a goose would not provide much down anyway ...
The long answers were easy sussed out, despite my unfamiliarity with the movie names at the end.
About the element named after a planet, Plutonium or Neptunium would not fit.
As a trivia titbit, I remember reading in the Smithsonian (?) that most of all the higher atomic number elements ... other than those produced in the labs with the Lawrence Cyclotron, are not native to this earth, but are a result of a collision with some asteroid / comet with the Earth, in the past ... No wonder, they are so rare.
From Yesterday ...Lucina, I too, am familiar with the mythology or superstition that eclipses - of all kinds -- have an indication of being an evil Omen... And, I was just thinking yesterday, that if the eclipse had occurred on Friday, the 13th, ( the previous day ---) ... would it have been a double whammy ???
Or, would the evil omens, have nullified each other ??
I wonder if the horrific mid-east war is a result of that evil omen ??
I better end, its past midnight. So long.
Post a Comment