Name That Movie (Meta)

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Punta del ___, Uruguay

Across

1A
Punta del ___, Uruguay
5A
Look forward to
10A
Trojan War hero
14A
North Atlantic hazard
15A
Goes down
16A
Watercraft
17A
"Whose ___ was it?" (ironic comment made with the benefit of hindsight)
19A
European Space Astronomy Centre (abbr.)
20A
Roasted animals on the last page of nearly every Asterix book
21A
Way through the woods
23A
Steers clear of
25A
"Dr. Livingstone, ___?"
29A
Sixth-day creation
30A
Chases
33A
Torah holder
34A
Puts to work
36A
Gather what's been sown
37A
Ostrich on a long-running Australian TV show
39A
Corridor
41A
"___ with my little eye..."
43A
More suitable
46A
"It's good for what ____ you!"
48A
Book after Judges
52A
Word ignored by librarians, usually
53A
Great adventure
56A
These days (more or less)
57A
Hodgepodge
59A
"What ___" ("That's too bad")
61A
"Like a tea ___ in the sky" (a bat in a Lewis Carroll poem)
62A
___ mignon
64A
Blacken on a grill
66A
Things that don't fit well into round holes
71A
Participate at the polls
72A
Peter, in Spain
73A
Biden's title, slangily
74A
Part of a process
75A
Embellish
76A
If you're still ___ regarding the meta, there's a hint in 49 down

Down

1D
Recede, as the tide
2D
Oh, to be in Spain!
3D
Elected official in ancient Rome
4D
Goad into action
5D
Sci. that's looking up?
6D
Nintendo game consoles
7D
Word that comes between partners
8D
'50s White House nickname
9D
Expedited screening program, familiarly
10D
Assists in wrongdoing
11D
Violinist/conductor Bell, painter Reynolds, et al.
12D
High bond rating
13D
Andy Partridge's band
18D
Place for a padlock
22D
Fabled writer?
23D
Dallas school (abbr.)
24D
Owns
25D
"Love ___ Battlefield" (Pat Benatar song)
26D
Iris centers
27D
Diagnostic scan, for short
28D
Barely make, with "out"
31D
https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewforum.php?f=49, for example
32D
Races with a baton
35D
Feminine pronoun
38D
Leb. neighbour
40D
Pleasant scent
42D
Opposite of NNW
43D
Money machine
44D
Symbol for magnetic flux
45D
Where there's a will?
47D
Suffix meaning "somewhat"
49D
They bring things together (three things, to be exact!)
50D
Small measure of strong alcohol
51D
Major rd.
54D
Hydrotherapy venue
55D
New Haven university
58D
Person hired to hire and fire, informally
60D
Pig of children's TV
62D
Jamie ___ of "MAS*H"
63D
Fe
64D
Resumes
65D
H on a tap
67D
Math. equivalent of "ta-da!"
68D
Japanese vegetable that's an anagram of a musical pairing
69D
7th letter
70D
"SOS" R&B singer

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Laura M 🤓8:44 · 2024-07-09T06:59:58.574Z

Fun! Had to Google to confirm the O, I didn't know that!

Pair O Ducks 🤓4:08 · 2024-07-09T12:50:17.633Z
What was it? I'm not even sure what to google for -- seems like there's quite a lot of "Odyssey" retellings.
- Jaclyn 🤓7:59 · 2024-07-09T14:25:50.079Z
  I went with O Brother Where Art Thou.
- woozy 🤓10:53 · 2024-07-09T14:56:38.742Z
  O Brother Where art thou.
  
  FANTASTIC Movie. (got that one right away.)
- whimsy 9:17 · 2024-07-09T14:54:42.150Z
  Same here -- just went with what worked. After falling victim to the first important acrosses and stopping at that -- Should have known there'd be more! Fun synopses and puzzle, Ben!
- woozy 🤓10:53 · 2024-07-09T15:01:30.778Z
  I guess you could google "movie retelling of the odyssey" https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=movie+retelling+of+the+odyssey
  
  and.... wow.... I assumed it would be the very first hit. Apparently not.

boharr 2s · 2024-07-09T14:37:36.820Z

Google broke in the heat before I could find the O.

MatthewL 🤓6:13 · 2024-07-09T14:14:42.754Z

Fun. I presumed the "O" is O Brother, Where Art Thou, but that's just my take. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

benchen71 constructor · 2024-07-09T22:34:55.284Z
That's the one I was going for.

woozy 🤓10:53 · 2024-07-09T14:56:01.374Z

Ah, geez.

You get nagging things all over. And then it clicks.

It was easier to see some trios than others. Got the middle two right away but took awhile to see the first. And even then there was the "huh, that's multiple movies" moment. In the beginning I thought 7D was pertinant. Reading clockwise: "The man and ark now.... udo??????"

Very clever and fun.

benchen71 constructor · 2024-07-10T01:10:34.315Z
Did you notice that the trios were symmetrically located? ;-)
- woozy 🤓10:53 · 2024-07-10T14:45:07.838Z
  Once I recognized they were trios, in a line, yes. I spent a little time trying to find the "uniter" (7D?) and the three things they you united rather than trios for a second or two. Once I realized The Odyssey Now and Man pursues ark were two different trios I found the other two right away.

Bird Lives 4s · 2024-07-09T15:40:01.789Z

I like the metanism and got the genral idea right off the bat, But I needed Google/Wikipedia for the specfics -- all of them, even the one I've seen, including the answer..

ajk 🤓7:26 · 2024-07-09T16:10:50.989Z

Started to re-fill the .puz after solving the grid here and BERG SINKS BOAT jumped out. Got Raiders and Napoleon Dynamite instantly (despite not having seen the latter), but did need to google the Odyssey one (though once O Brother Where Art Thou popped up I figured that was it, even though the click was a little softer since the rest involve the actual plots). Very clever and fun, thanks. :)

Dave C 3s · 2024-07-09T14:57:09.397Z

I struggled with the O also, but when I found "O Brother, Where Art Thou", I figured it must be Tron. I also needed Google for Napolean Dynamite, but Titanic and Raiders were easy.

Darth 🤓8:16 · 2024-07-09T14:13:39.449Z

It's time to watch some classic movies. Thanks, Ben.

HeadinHome 🤓6:09 · 2024-07-09T20:06:19.716Z

First thought there would be more crossovers like MISHMASH and FARR, then thought it was a collection of famous lines (Dr Livingstone i presume?)… then VOTE PEDRO jumped right out at me.. still thinking quotes I found berg sinks boat and the other two soon followed. No google needed for any… O Brother is a family fave that we are quoting all the time! Sooo many memorable lines also , watch this yall:
https://youtu.be/g0wO783AqMw?si=Ae6gtx8xkHnOELIU

imontoo 2s · 2024-07-09T20:23:58.798Z

Fun! Thanks, Ben.

kurtalert 🤓5:44 · 2024-07-09T19:26:26.195Z

Argh. Flailed around for a while because I was putting Indiana Jones in the title, I didn't realize it was strictly titled Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I had figured that The Odyssey Now was actually 2001: A Space Odyssey. Especially with "Now" being clued as "These days (more or less)" - I figured that meant I had some leeway on 2001 being considered "now."

benchen71 constructor · 2024-07-10T01:14:51.142Z
The "more of less" in the clue for NOW was because "O, Brother Where Art Thou" is set in the 1930s. ;-)

DrTom 3s · 2024-07-09T19:22:39.009Z

Well I struggled for quite some time figuring that AND (word that comes between partners) "united" three things A AND B, so I had AJAX AND ACHILLES, HALL AND OATES, RUTH AND NAOMI, PEDRO and NAPOLEON to get AONN (funnily enough I thought, dang that sounds almost like TRON). THen, after reading some comments I did literally step back and saw BERG SINKS BOAT and of course jumped for TITANIC which naturally was wrong.

"Don't be so trigger happy Tom, look at the others", and when I saw VOTE PEDRO PRES I knew what I had to do. The man pursues ark was a tough choice because EVAN ALMIGHTY is also about a man pursuing the building of an ARK, but I went with RAIDERS because it was certainly a bigger movie. The THE ODYSSEY NOW was a puzzle because there are LOTS of Odyssey movies, but with a TR_N (what a coincidence) I knew it had to be an O, and there was a movie called The ODYSSEY and 52A told us we could ignore THE, so that was my TRON. I had no idea "O Brother Where Art Thou" (even though I have seen it) was loosely based on Homer's work.

Fun puzzle and mechanism Ben!!!

hoover 2s · 2024-07-10T00:11:03.100Z

I had TR_N and punted. I'm old enough to have seen the original on the big screen.

benchen71 constructor · 2024-07-10T01:15:10.445Z
Me too!

KayW 🤓4:57 · 2024-07-10T00:40:19.235Z

Fantastic concept and movie synopses! As it happens I saw all 4 themers plus the answer, so easy peasy for me. Thanks Ben!

Berto 1s · 2024-07-10T01:23:26.575Z

Was convinced it was going to begin with T and end in ND, with maybe ROTLA in the middle, but TROTLA—ND wasn’t feeling warm n fuzzy. Glad I simplified my thinking!

Qmark 3s · 2024-07-10T14:26:17.398Z

Loved it, thanks Ben! (luckily I knew that the Coens' "O Brother..." was based on the Odyssey) :)

Abide 🤓7:54 · 2024-07-11T01:44:45.376Z

Very nice (well except for ESAC

)

I had 5 minutes of “WTH” and then

BOOM with top and bottom movies. I’ve seen them except the answer.

benchen71 constructor · 2024-07-11T04:54:48.708Z
I think that crept in because I also made the puzzle a pangram, just for the challenge of it! ;-)

Sharkicicles 2s · 2024-07-11T15:33:35.558Z

Nudge needed but no google required. This was definitely one of those “whoa…” ones once I saw it. Thanks!

Ergcat 15:39 · 2024-07-12T00:49:55.070Z

Good one! I was overthinking as usual and needed the nudges! Thanks, Ben!

Carolyn 3s · 2024-07-13T19:13:11.116Z

Having never heard of one of the movies (or the answer movie) made it more difficult. Came back after two wrong answers and there it was. Duh! I guess I need to get out more! However, I did love O Brother...

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