5.01.2011

05.01 Sunday

S U N D A Y
May 1, 2011
Chris A. McGlothlin


[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]



Theme: "Unfinished B Movies" — B's are changed to P's in movie titles to create funny entries.

Theme Entries:
  • 23A: Film about an embarrassing fig leaf situation? (ADAM'S RIP).
  • 25A: Film about winning the chicken breeder's trophy? (SILVER PULLET).
  • 30A: Film about great cornbread? (THE LOVELY PONES).
  • 51A: Film about where to put Melba sauce? (ON THE PEACH).
  • 54A: Film about clashing egos? (PRIDE WARS).
  • 66A: Film about swabbing drudgery? (MARRIED TO THE MOP).
  • 85A: Film about Milo's pal Otis? (A PUG'S LIFE).
  • 87A: Film about a tick at a kennel club? (PEST IN SHOW).
  • 102A: Film set in a sty? (PIG MOMMA'S HOUSE).
  • 114A: Film about a celebrity golf tournament? (STARS AND PARS).
  • 116A: Film about V-chip users? (PORN FREE).
Hey, puzzle fans. It's Sunday, so this is Doug. I'm the middle of a very busy weekend. Saturday was the DASH puzzle extravaganza. I was a volunteer/helper/scorer for the Los Angeles segment. I got to wear a cool plastic crown and walk around Old Town Pasadena. And I spent a few hours hanging out with Jackie & Mack Robinson's heads. Seriously. They're awesome. And today is the super-stupendous Crosswords L.A. Tournament. I expect I'll see a few of you there. You know what I usually do on the weekends? Nothing. I might have to call in sick for work Monday after all this activity. Anyway, I don't have much time for today's write-up. Let's roll.

Today's puzzle is by Chris A. McGlothlin, and I believe it's his L.A. Times debut. He had a Sunday N.Y Times crossword published earlier this year. Nice work! I wonder if he only constructs Sunday puzzles. That's how you make the big bucks.

When I saw today's title, I figured we'd be dropping the final letters of movie titles that start with B. But it's more clever than that. It really is "Unfinished B's." When you're writing an uppercase B, you draw a vertical line and then two curved lines. If you only make one curved line (and leave it "unfinished"), you're left with a P. There ya go. And Mr. McGlothlin did a nice job of avoiding extraneous B's in the theme entries. For example, if he'd used THE BRADY PUNCH, there would have been one B that changed to a P and one that didn't. I appreciate the little details that make a theme more elegant. (Thanks to PuzzleGirl for the graphic.)

I thought ADAM'S RIP had the funniest clue. PIG MOMMA'S HOUSE & MARRIED TO THE MOP are great entries. PORN FREE was surprising.

Pullets:
  • 8A: Novel digits (ISBN). International Standard Book Number. You'll find it above the UPC on any book you buy.
  • 27A: Toast triangle topper (CAVIAR). I tried caviar once. Almost spit it back onto the cracker.
  • 60D: Carbon-14, e.g. (ISOTOPE). An Isotope is also an Albuquerque baseball player.
  • 40D: Friends, in slang (PEEPS). Love the clue.
  • 83D: "__ Easy": Guns N' Roses song (IT'S SO). Not a remake of the Linda Ronstadt hit.
If I have time, I'll add a bit more later. If not, you're on your own.

7 comments:

CoffeeLvr said...

I found this solve to be very easy, especially once I realized all the pun-altered movie titles were changed in the same way (B to P.) I would have finished even faster if I had remembered Buffy's main man sooner, although ANGEL did eventually seep into my consciousness. One big temporary error, that I found in order to finish the NW, in that I chose IpAd as the Apple product, instead of IMAC. I could not think of a judge character on "The Simpsons," so that stayed blank until the light went on with Miller LITES. Looking for that Simpson.

I found PEST IN SHOW, funniest, but that's just me.

mac said...

Fun puzzle, quick and easy.
Porn free! Pullets!

Can't believe I did TWO Sunday puzzles today.

Mokus said...

Thanks, Doug. Manny being an Isotope is too funny. Enjoyed the puzzle and theme. Working a Sunday puzzle while watching a baseball telecast (Cards@Braves)and sipping Bloody Marys complement each other nicely.

Mary in Bend, OR said...

I finished the puzzle and found it fun, but could someone please explain "ADAMS RIP" for me? (I know the movie ADAM'S RIB, but don't understand the pun. Sorry for my denseness.) Porn Free was the funniest entry.

mac said...

Adam's Rib was the movie, Adam's Rip sounds like one of those "costume malfunctions".

Dave in Bend, OR said...

I figured out the B for P replacement right away but could not make the connection that Doug was so kind to explain about the "unfinished" part.. Great cluing for Ali as it had me focused on the rhyme and not the fighter..Mary so good to see a fellow Bendite here!!! Nice to have some REAL spring weather here finally huh? The rip of course would be in Adam's fig leaf...

mppuzzler said...

Thanks for clarifying the 'unfinished B' description (and a great graphic). I got the B to P change easily, but was racking my brain to understand why.