L.A.Times Crossword Corner: June 2024

Theme: "Watching With the Sound Off"

The long entries in today's puzzle are slight variations on well known movie titles. A few letters are added to, dropped from, or changed in each title to create a "sounds like" phrase fitting the clue. So we're looking at movies, but the SOUND is slightly OFF.

22A. Movie about one who defies authority and gets absolutely no credit for it?: REBEL WITHOUT APPLAUSE.

Rebel Without A Cause was a 1955 movie starring James Dean, adapted from psychologist Robert M. Lindner's 1944 book, Rebel Without a Cause: The Hypnoanalysis of a Criminal Psychopath. Twenty-four year old Dean died in a car crash the same year the movie was released.

38A. Movie about life with a hockey dad?: GOAL MINDERS DAUGHTER.

Coal Miner's Daughter was a 1980 movie about the life of country singer Loretta Lynn, played by Sissy Spacek, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance.

55A. Movie about a major problem at a croquet tournament?: ABSENCE OF MALLETS.

Absence of Malice was a 1981 movie thriller starring Paul Newman and Sally Field. An innocent man has been maligned in the press. Can the reporter claim Absence of Malice as a defense to libel? Will they have to play croquet without MALLETS?

86A. Movie about playing baseball during a downpour?: SWINGIN IN THE RAIN.

Singin' in the Rain was a 1952 American musical starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. It depicts Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies." Modestly successful at the time, and now critically acclaimed as one of the greatest films ever made.

98A. Movie that captures the arc of conception through the delivery room?: FROM HERE TO MATERNITY.

From Here to Eternity was a 1953 war drama based on the 1951 novel of the same name by James Jones. It follows three United States Army soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, and Frank Sinatra, stationed in Hawaii in the months leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. It won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It even dealt with issues of MATERNITY.

118A. Movie exposing the truth behind a cloning experiment?: THE SCIENCE OF THE LAMBS.

The Silence of the Lambs was a 1991 horror film adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel of the same name. It stars Jodie Foster as an FBI trainee hunting a serial killer who skins his victims. She seeks advice from the imprisoned Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. Doesn't that sound great? It won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was the only horror film ever to win Best Picture. I would prefer a documentary about the SCIENCE of baby animals. The cloning of the lambs would be an interesting bit.

And now for the rest of our Sunday test:

Across:

1. Fleet: FAST.

5. Campaign bane: LEAK.

9. Crimean resort city: YALTA. I've heard of the Yalta Conference in 1945, but never realized that Yalta is a seaside resort.

14. High poker pair: ACES.

18. R&B's India.__: ARIE. India Arie Simpson (sometimes styled as india.arie) is an American singer and songwriter. I am not up to date with popular music! This rang a bell, but I needed perps.

19. Ski resort near Salt Lake City: ALTA.

20. "Inside the NBA" analyst Shaquille: ONEAL.

21. Nanny's nightmare: BRAT.

22. [Theme clue]

26. Mountain formation: MASSIF. "Massif" comes from the French for "massive," and refers to a large mountain mass, or a compact group of mountains forming a portion of a range. A massif results from movement of the earth's crust, and tends to be internally stable.

The Mont Blanc Massif straddles France, Italy, and Switzerland.

27. Yearly record: ANNAL.

28. Wind dir.: ESE. One of several possible directions for the wind! Once you have ES_, it has to be ESE.

29. "Can do": YEP.

31. Wish to take back: RUE.

33. Indigenous people of Canada: CREE.

Cree family, Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada, June 1895

35. Small scrap: TUSSLE. Oh, that kind of scrap. Scuffle. Dustup.

38. [Theme clue]

44. Puts in the overhead bin: STOWS. On Southwest Airlines, passengers vie for early boarding, not just because there are no assigned seats, but because early boarders find space to STOW their carry-on luggage overhead.

46. Section in a poetry anthology, perhaps: ODES.

47. Jenga loser: TOPPLER. In the game Jenga, players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. If you make the tower topple, you're the loser!

Jenga Toppler

48. Pick or file: TOOL.

49. Recipe direction: STIR.

50. Soap characteristic: SCENT.

52. Surrender: YIELD.

55. [Theme clue]

59. Mentally acute: KEEN.

60. Sandwich option: RYE TOAST.

61. Indigo dye: ANIL. Anil is a plant native to the American tropics, all the way south to Argentina. It is a source of blue dye, especially indigo blue.

62. Paddle kin: OAR.

64. Assam export: TEA.

65. Fa follower: SOL. I'm familiar with Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, but didn't know these were from Solfège, a system of memorizing notes and sight reading music. In the movie, The Sound of Music, the notes were:

Doe, a deer, a female deer

Ray, a drop of golden sun

Me, a name I call myself

Far, a long, long way to run

Sew, a needle pulling thread

La, a note to follow Sew

Tea, a drink with jam and bread

That will bring us back to Do

66. Spanish seasoning: SAL. Salt.

68. Smallest Canadian prov.: PEI. Prince Edward Island is an island province off the east coast of Canada.

70. Periodic table suffix: IUM.

72. __ and cheese: MAC. I was searching for something fancier.

75. Recent prefix: NEO.

77. Ventimiglia of "Heroes": MILO.

Milo Ventimiglia, heartthrob of "This is Us"

79. Unexpected boons: GODSENDS.

84. Merriness: GLEE.

86. [Theme clue]

89. Bird skilled at mimicry: MYNAH. Usually spelled Myna.

I took this photo of a Myna on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2021.

91. On and on: NO END.

92. __ Field: Queens stadium: CITI.

93. Sicilian hiking destination: ETNA.

94. Pollen holders: STAMENS.

96. Townshend of The Who: PETE.

97. Shutterbug's setting: FSTOP.

98. [Theme clue]

103. Study again: REREAD.

104. Texter's "Gimme a reason": Y NOT.

105. Confession topic: SIN.

106. Fabric store meas.: YDS.

107. Feeling queasy: ILL.

110. Bank of America's virtual assistant: ERICA. DNK (Did Not Know). Relied on perps, and it makes sense, too, as it's the Bank of amERICA.

113. Capital of the Bahamas: NASSAU.

DH did not love our trip to Nassau in 2005. Too many kids going too many directions, too many close calls, and one rusty nail through my foot. I was pretty chill.

118. [Theme clue]

123. Light as can be: AIRY.

124. Aquafina rival: EVIAN. Bottled water.

125. [look on the back]: OVER.

126. Japanese beef city: KOBE. Heard of Kobe beef, but didn't know it was a city.

127. Dean's list figs.: GPAS.

128. Cold brew style: NITRO.

129. Closely guarded IDs: SSNS.

130. "Zounds!": EGAD.

Down:

1. Stable setting: FARM. Stable the noun, not the adjective.

2. Blueprint calculation: AREA.

3. Luke and Leia, e.g.: SIBS.

Luke and Leia of Star Wars are siblings, and twins!

4. Course pegs: TEES.

5. Permissible: LAWFUL.

6. "Knock Knock" filmmaker Roth: ELI. For those of you who loved The Silence of the Lambs, here's a "splatter film" (horror genre) director for you. DNK.

7. Flour ground in a chakki: ATTA. Atta is whole wheat, ground to flour in a chakki. DNK.

Indian woman grinding ATTA in a chakki.

8. Actress Madeline: KAHN.

9. "Name please?": YOU ARE. Hello ... and you are ...?

10. Buck's defense: ANTLER. A four footed buck. Not a dollar bill.

11. Grassy expanse: LEA. Meadow, pasture ...

12. Box sealer: TAPE.

13. Salzburg setting: ALPS.

14. Gp. of lawyers: ABA. Group of lawyers: American Bar Association. The answer is abbreviated, just like the clue.

15. Grand __: wine classification: CRU. Grand cru is literally "great vineyard" in French. Only applicable to selected vineyards in certain regions of France.

16. Life of affluence: EASY STREET. Are we there yet?

17. Anastasia of "Fifty Shades of Grey": STEELE. Couldn't read the book because it was so poorly written; no patience for watching a movie of same. Anastasia Steele is the main female character.

Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey

23. Ankara coins: LIRAS.

24. Like most software, once: ON CDS. First it came on floppy disks, then on CDs, and now via online download.

25. Subside: LET UP. Stop or become less intense.

30. Pricing word: PER.

32. Overdoes it on stage: EMOTES. Emote means to portray emotion, especially in acting. When did it become overacting? On stage, one makes broad gestures to be understood in the balconies, but in filmmaking, small gestures are easily captured. In a movie, emoting could be too much. But on stage? Overacting is also called "chewing the scenery."

34. Getty of "Golden Girls": ESTELLE.

Estelle Getty played Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls (1985–92)

36. Like eyesores: UGLY. Not sores on your eye, but things you find ugly. I guess they make your eyes feel sore.

37. Arab patriarch: SHEIK.

38. Chaser chosen by a head tap, in a kid's game: GOOSE.

I played Duck, Duck, Goose in elementary school.

39. Big-eyed babies: OWLETS.

40. "__ Guides": how-to series: IDIOTS.

DNK there was a Complete Idiot's Guide

to Crossword Puzzles & Word Games

41. Foam dart maker: NERF.

42. Fully cooked: DONE.

43. Likely will, with "is": APT TO.

44. Pentagram shape: STAR.

45. Country Music Hall of Famer Keith: TOBY. Toby Keith passed away in February 2024. I liked his songs "I Wanna Talk About Me" (2001) and "Beer for My Horses" (2002), a duet with Willie Nelson. I was going to share the lyrics of the latter with you, but it seems to be pro-lynching. At the time, I only understood:

We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces,

singing: whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.

49. Climbs, as a rock wall: SCALES.

One of our daughters does this.

Because life isn't hard enough already.

50. __ Diego: SAN.

51. Pre-tied tie: CLIP ON.

53. Big name in denim: LEE.

54. Crime lab material: DNA.

56. Start of p.m.: NOON. "Post" fit, but did not work with the perpendicular entries (perps).

57. Slander: MALIGN.

58. Greeted: SAID HI.

63. Scheme: RUSE.

67. Request from a whistleblower: AMNESTY. Someone who "blows the whistle" by exposing government or corporate wrongdoing might request amnesty, or freedom from prosecution.

69. Light: IGNITE.

71. Least noticeable: MEREST.

72. Studio whose logo says "Ars gratia artis": MGM. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

73. Gymnast Raisman: ALY. Wikipedia says: "Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is an American retired artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 "Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective team competitions." Did Not Remember! All perps.

Aly Raisman

74. Removing books from a library, say: CENSORSHIP.

76. Pet tag info: OWNER.

78. To-go cup top: LID.

80. Grown-up pups: OTTERS.

81. Well put together: NATTY. Dapper, dashing, sharp, slick, or stylish.

82. Natural history museum display, for short: DINO. My father was a paleontologist interested in reptiles of the Permian Period, but some of his students became DINOsaur hunters, looking at the later Cretaceous Period.

Dinosaur skeletons at the Natural History Museum,

Los Angeles County

83. Pic: SNAP.

85. Wonderland cake directive: EAT ME. From "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll.

87. Skye of "La Brea": IONE. Ione Skye Lee is a British-American actress and the daughter of singer Donovan. She's in a TV series called "La Brea." All news to me. Needed perps.

88. Rap great born Tracy Marrow: ICE T. Didn't know his real name. Took a Wild Ass Guess (WAG) that this was he.

90. "Funny!": HAHA.

95. Frontline doctor: MEDIC.

Medics on M*A*S*H (TV Series 1972–1983)

96. Barbecue spot: PATIO.

97. End-of-semester hurdle: FINAL.

98. Sizzle: FRY.

99. Marker for some sale items: RED TAG.

100. Smallish garage: ONE CAR.

101. First Latina EGOT winner: MORENO. EGOT stands for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. It's rare for anyone to win all four of these awards. Rita Moreno won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1962 for "West Side Story"; a Grammy for a cast recording of the PBS children’s television show, "The Electric Company," in 1972; a Tony as Best Featured Actress in a Play for a Broadway show called "The Ritz" in 1975; and the 1977 Emmy for Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music for her single appearance on "The Muppet Show." Good for her! DNK.

102. West Coast gridders: NINERS.  The San Francisco 49ers, a football team. The lines on the field look like a gridiron, or cooking grate.

108. Security claim: LIEN.

109. Big name in denim: LEVI.  Levi Strauss & Co. patented rivets on work pants in 1873, touching off 150 years of blue jeans as the most popular way to dress your lower half.

111. Budget execs: CFOS.  Chief Financial Officers.

112. Off-rd. rides: ATVS. All-Terrain Vehicles are designed for use off the road.

114. For old times' __: SAKE.

115. Brown sky cause: SMOG.

116. Swedish supergroup: ABBA. Responsible for "Dancing Queen," "Fernando," and "Take a Chance on Me." My dad used to call this genre "bubblegum pop." I didn't realize ABBA had actual bubblegum wrappers.

117. Like many textbooks: USED. A textbook is less expensive if purchased used, but publishers make it hard for students by issuing new editions with new page numbers. It's tough to follow the professor's reading list without the latest version of the book.

119. New __: cap brand: ERA. New Era makes caps with visors sporting team logos. Who knew? Perps.

120. Pt. of GPS: SYS. Part of Global Positioning System? An abbreviated clue requires an abbreviated answer.

121. Picker's problem?: NIT. Cute. I'm a nit picker.

122. 1-Down layer: HEN. A farm "layer" is a female chicken, or hen, that lays eggs.

The completed grid: