Wednesday, Feb 12th, 2025 ~ Hoang-Kim Vu

 STRANGE DAYS

1995 Movie starring Ralph Fiennes - the Wiki

I was attempting to find another movie/TV show with seconds, days, weeks or months in the title, and some obvious ones came to mind - e.g., 9-1/2 weeks, Gone in Sixty Seconds, but I wanted to keep with the "half of the theme answer" concept.  I liked Strange Days, saw it when it came out 30 years ago.  Mr. Vu is a prolific constructor with several LA Times puzzles alone.  Today we have no circles, 24 4LWs, and very few names, but I still got done in by one - see the red square in the solution at the bottom - all in a standard 15 x 15 grid.  The themers;

20. Olsen twins teen comedy set in the Big Apple: NEW YORK MINUTE - Meh.  I understand the reveal is "half" of the themer, but the inconsistency of two/three words makes this another 'how did it pass muster~?' crossword puzzle, IMHO.  Just sayin'.

35. Jackie Chan/Chris Tucker buddy cop film with two sequels: RUSH HOUR - I have sat through a couple of these movies; Jackie Chan is just amazing, did most of his own stunts; Chris Tucker is just annoying.

42. Amy Adams rom-com about a February 29 tradition: LEAP YEAR - I know nothing about this one, so here's the IMDb

58. Highlights of many bowl games, and an apt description of 20-, 35-, and 42-Across?: HALF-TIME SHOWS - Here is the Wiki on all the halftime performances at the Super Bowl; none of these artists made me want to sit through what was most likely a lip-sync show; I DO know that C.C. was probably most pleased 10 years ago when Bruno Mars was the headliner; and let us not forget the "wardrobe malfunction" 20 years ago . . . .half-time is a rhythmic feel with the beat on 2 and 4; if you want to be more confused, check this drummer's YouTube video.  Here's a song with the half-time feel at the end of the chorus;

The Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive

And Away We go~!

ACROSS:

1. Random __ of kindness: ACTS

5. Range for a yodeler: ALPS - not fooled by the mountain range vs. pitch range

9. Instrument in Hindi cinema: SITAR - I like the "sitar-style" solo in the song below - there's a less "sitar-ish" solo in the live performance on YouTube; the only reason I bring it up is that the show aired on my 2nd Birthday - 52 years and three days ago

Steely Dan - Do It Again

14. Engage in costumed gaming, slangily: LARP - Live-Action Role Playing - sort of like this....

My short-lived marriage started with a Medieval Wedding

15. The Big Easy, for short: NOLA - New Orleans, LouisianA - Caesar's Super Dome just hosted the LIX Super Bowl

16. Start with a clean slate?: ERASE

17. Omnia vincit __: AMOR - Love Conquers All - Latin

18. Morose: DOUR

19. Solemn recitations: OATHS

23. Wrath: IRE - AND - 10D. Apoplectic: IRATE - FLW: Lucina, I cashed in my "trial" IRA that I never actually funded - its net worth dropped since it was opened, and was a mere $696.  The one I have with the Pipe Organ company has a 5% match on, so that's rocking right now.  And I feel your pain - my mother's bank accounts are proving to be a nightmare to close because they, too, changed ownership right when she died, and NYS is now requiring I "prove" how I distributed the money - why~?  What if I said I built a deck with the money~?  Will they deny me this last account~?  

24. Apply crudely: DAUB

25. Some phone notifications: ALERTS

28. Common part of a lunch combo: SALAD - I usually get the SOUP

30. Inca Trail to Machu Picchu locale: PERU - I did not see the word "locale" when I was solving the puzzle, so I thought we were looking for the NAME of the trail|

South America - I could go for a tour of the place

  32. Cal. column: THUrsday

33. Grab a chair: SIT

38. Ice hockey gear: SKATES

41. Absolute gems: BEAUTS

44. Syst. in which "A" is a closed fist: ASL - American Sign Language

45. Ga. capital: ATLanta

46. Has a debt: OWES

48. Hard __ to break: HABIT - Also the title of this Chicago song

Smoking, drinking and sexual overtones; ah, the 80's

52. "Just suppose ... ": "WHAT IF..." - What if I went with "Ten Seconds to Love" for the blog title~?

55. Attention to detail: CARE

57. Single: ONE

61. Animal also called the zebra giraffe: OKAPI

63. Resting on: ATOP

64. Word said while pointing: THAT 👈

65. Concur: AGREE

66. Astronauts' org.: NASA

67. Additional: MORE

68. "Fun, Fun, Fun" car: T-BIRD - The Beach Boys are not normally my musical thing, but I listened and it's "Chuck Berry blues" - the link here - and anything guitar I can learn from is a good thing; I like the Ford Thunderbird - I had one just like the picture, ridiculously quick, but had to let it go because it had some bizarre Teves Swedish ABS system that failed, $1400 plus labor to replace 😟

1986 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe; I paid $1200 for it in 1998

69. Kill it on the runway, say: SLAY - I would not know - I have never attended a fashion show - oh wait - are we talking about a plane crash runway~?

Tenerife, Canary Islands, 1977 - most fatal airplane accident - Air Disasters

70. Ore deposit: LODE


DOWN:

1. "Jagged Little Pill" singer Morissette: ALANIS - this being her third album, it was a huge success, including the single "You Outta Know" - NSFW

2. Kodak innovation: CAMERA - I was today years old when I learned that Kodak is not Polaroid

3. Garden tool: TROWEL - for those 'heavy makeup days'

4. Agile: SPRY

5. "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" Oscar nominee Day: ANDRA - my last crossing, as one can see in the solution below - I had an "E" for the last letter, not knowing who Andra Day is - the WIki

6. "It's right above your head!": "LOOK UP~!" - I started "UP THERE", but it didn't fit

7. Expert at handling snakes?: PLUMBER - ah, yes, the plumber's snake

There's the drill type and the full-on power ones, as well

8. Dress in Hindi cinema: SARI

9. South Korean capital: SEOUL

11. Curly fry alternative: TATER TOT

12. Some barbecue remains: ASH

13. Low-__: RES - we had "Hi _" on Monday

21. Quirky thing: ODDITY

22. Queasy feeling: NAUSEA - Quirky & Queasy - but no Q in the fill . . . .

And now there is~! Star Trek: TNG

26. Ergo: THUS

27. __ La Table: cookware retailer: SUR - I have never shopped here

29. "Now!" letters: ASAP - here we go; NOW means STAT, not "as soon as possible"

31. Massage: RUB

34. Begin a round of golf: TEE OFF - also the polite way to say one is "irate"

36. Figures (out): HASHES - I tried SUSSES - that's 50% correct

37. Polynesian dance: HULA

38. MacFarlane of "Family Guy": SETH - I happen to like his creations, not just Family Guy and American Dad~!, but his Star Trek homage "The Orville" was a great show, too

39. Desert that covers much of Botswana: KALAHARI 

40. Adage: SAW

42. Murphy's __: LAW - rhyming sequential answers

43. Solo performance: RECITAL

47. Appetizer before a curry, maybe: SAMOSA - filled via perps; a recipe here

49. "Cry me a river!": "BOO-HOO~!"

50. To the middle: INWARD

51. Proctor's charge: TESTEE - 😝 a test taker

53. Dwindle (down): TAPER

54. "OK, that was untrue": "I LIED."

56. Settle a debt: REPAY 

59. Basks in the sun: TANS - does an iguana "tan"~?

60. Webpage medium: HTML - filled via perps; HyperText Markup Language

61. Muesli morsel: OAT

62. Old CIA foe: KGB - The new Russian intelligence agencies are here

Splynter

Wednesday, Feb 5th, 2025 ~ Paul Coulter

FINAL: ELEVEN  -  ZIP

Now that's a hockey game "blow out" - sorry, CanadianEh!  Paul Coulter returns, having several LA Times puzzles under his belt - the last one was here back on a Monday in January 2024.  Four 10- & 11-letter themers, no reveal, all definitions of the word/phrase 'blowout'.   We have two bonus 9- and 10-letter fills* in the Down today, too - usually frowned upon when two of the themers are the same length.  Too many names, IMHO, a balance of 21 TLW & 22 4LWs, and no circles, since they were in yesterday's puzzle, two weeks in a row.  The theme answers;

17. Group that might enjoy a blowout: WINNING TEAM - there's a line about Brooklyn in Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" @1:35

30. Host who might throw a blowout: PARTY GIVER

Bobbi Flekman, the hostess with the mostess

48. Wheel that might experience a blowout: RADIAL TIRE - happened to me in my 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan doing 72mph on I-395 trying to make the Cross Sound Ferry in the summer of 2023 - I limped off the highway into a parking lot, determined not to miss the boat, and installed the spare in 13 minutes - and that's an accomplishment because the spare is on a chain you crank inside the van from the floor center to drop the donut beneath the vehicle  😜

And if it's rusted from non-use . . . .f$%^#@&~!

63. Professional who might provide a blowout: HAIR-STYLIST  - Everything you wanted to know about a HAIR blowout - here

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Cry like a baby: BAWL - crossing BOWL

5. First game of a doubleheader: OPENER -  I am sure C.C. can't wait

11. Appear onstage: ACT

14. Sandwich cookie: OREO - two weeks in a row for me

15. Not tricked by: WISE TO - quit cracking wise - I am reading the first book of the Robert Crais detective series - a great read, and there's 19 more in the series - a new one in 2025

16. "The Queen's Gambit" actress Anya Taylor-__: JOY - name #1, more here

at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards

19. Band's sound booster: AMP - I'm told this is an acceptable "non-abbr" here at the corner

20. Sooner or __: LATER

21. Melancholy: SAD - four syllables :: one syllable

22. Shake hands (on): AGREE

24. Lingering amount: TRACE

26. All alternative: NONE - briefly thought we were looking for a laundry detergent, as in TIDE

28. Spanish "those": ESOS - Español #1

35. Auden's "Musée __ Beaux Arts": DES - filled via perps, the Wiki

36. Video game archaeologist Croft: LARA - name #2 - there was the movie, too, but I am not an Angelina Jolie fan - shocking, but true

37. Place: LOCALE

38. Davis of "Stuart Little": GEENA - name #3 - the IMDb

40. [Not my error]: SIC

42. Some nesting figures: DOLLS - e.g., Russian Matryoshka

Incredible Artwork - sold at 61D. here

  43. "On it, Captain!": "AYE - AYE~!" - Picard~! Picard~!

45. Gym cushions: MATS

47. Gymnast Suni: LEE - name #4 - becoming the common clue for this answer

50. Landlord's income: RENT

51. "Puppy Love" singer Paul: ANKA - name #5

52. "Bad, Bad" Brown of song: LEROY - name #6

54. Head of cabbage?: HARD C - "C"abbage - I know some Cornerites don't much care for these kinds of ( meta ) clues, but I am OK with them

57. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI - name #6

59. Pond buildup: ALGAE

62. Many moons __: AGO - many moons ago, there were no names in a crossword

66. Mojito liquor: RUM

67. Discounted: ON SALE

68. "Battle Cry" novelist Leon: URIS - name #7

69. Atlas page: MAP - AND - 60D. Atlas section: ASIA

70. Far from fresh: ROTTEN

71. Theater production: PLAY

DOWN:

1. Many a New Year's Day football game: BOWL - The Buffalo Bills are out, so I am rooting for the Philadelphia Eagles, but I am not watching the Super Bowl for the second year in a row - I even canceled my live stream TV service to prove it.

2. "Tosca" solo: ARIA - three-vowel crossword staple

3. Became shabby: WENT TO SEED* - from whence we get the phrase - another link here

4. Reclusive sorts: LONERS - HERMITS didn't fit

5. Private: OWN - as in, "it's my _ collection"

6. Pork-based dog treats: PIGS EARS - sorry, Irish Miss, but I am still waiting on my new house mate - but I do have another lead on where to look for a rescue Schnauzer~!

7. "¿Cómo __ usted?": ESTA - Español #2

8. "You __ bother!": NEEDN'T - I am tiring of these kinds of fill-in clues

9. In-flight info, for short: ETA

10. Mercury and Saturn: ROMAN GODS* - name(s) #8, waited to see if we were looking for auto manufacturers

11. Letting in light, as a door: AJAR - This was in yesterday's grid, too - and Meh.  I have a diamond window in my front door, and three "lites" in my sunroom door - they let in light, but they're not ajar- especially when it's -5° outside . . . .

12. "The best is yet to __": COME

13. Use a keyboard: TYPE

18. 401(k) kin: IRA - I have an IRA that changed banks literally five times since I opened it, and every time it does, I have to jump though hoops to verify it - so I figured it's time to be done with the nonsense....

23. Insurance company with a spokeslizard: GEICO - my choice for car insurance

25. Tax pro: CPA - Certified Public Accountant - busy season is upon them - I just got my W-2

27. Olive in the comics: OYL - name #9

28. "The Dance Class" painter Degas: EDGAR - name #10

Oil, 1874, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

29. "Bye now": "SEE YA~!"

31. "Spider-Man" trilogy director: RAIMI - name #11, but we had him some time last week

32. Stereotypical Southern California teen of the 1980s: VALLEY GIRL* - Like I totally was going to insert Frank Zappa's "Valley Girl" clip, but I could not take a full five minutes of the dialect

33. Daytime talk show that ended in 2022: ELLEN - name #12, never watched

34. Button clicked by a password forgetter: RESET - ...part of the IRA fiasco was having to RESET my password with each acquiring bank, so I decided to cash out last week, penalties be damned

36. Secure a ship: LAY ANCHOR*

39. Water nymph: NAIAD - I knew this, but could not recall how to spell it; is there a "Y" in there~?

41. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" singer Belinda: CARLISLE - Ha~! Same here - is there a "Y" in there~?  She is the lead vocalist for the Go-Go's, too - and name #13

44. Antlered animal: ELK - I pondered RAM, but those are more like "horns"

46. Casual top: TEE - T-shirt

49. Disciple of Lao-tzu: TAOIST - name(ish) #14 - Taoism per Nat Geo

50. Prepare to store, as a sleeping bag: ROLL UP

"Sandwiches~!"

53. Beam: RAY

54. Damage: HARM

55. Lago contents: AGUA - Español #3

56. Frolic: ROMP

58. Pesky kid: BRAT

61. Retail site with art and collectibles: ETSY

64. "So that's __?": "A NO~?" - I tried ALL - still don't like this type of fill-in clue

65. Low card in a royal flush: TEN

There's nothing LOW about being a "TEN"

Splynter