Strategy to Evan Birnholz’s March 12 crossword, “Director’s Minimize”

It’s Oscar night time, so it’s time to take a seat again and experience a film puzzle. Seven words include the names of Oscar-winning movie administrators which were cut up aside by way of a letter. The theme clues include parenthetical film titles which constitute movies for which those administrators gained the Academy Award for absolute best director.

• 24A: [Sternums (“Platoon”)] is BREASTBONES, containing Oliver STONE minimize by way of a B.
• 45A: [“Dead Man’s Party” band with a rhyming name (“Parasite”)] is OINGO BOINGO, with BONG Joon-Ho minimize by way of an I.
• 67A: [Attractive to viewers (“Brokeback Mountain”)] is TELEGENIC, with Ang LEE minimize by way of a G.
• 69A: [Brand that touts itself as “The King of Beers” (“The Sound of Music”)] is BUDWEISER, with Robert WISE minimize by way of an E.
• 83A: [Health clinic, e.g. (“It Happened One Night”)] is MEDICAL PRACTICE, with Frank CAPRA minimize by way of an L.
• 100A: [Texas Revolution figure for whom Texas’s largest city is named (“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”)] is SAM HOUSTON, with John HUSTON minimize by way of an O.
• 104A: [Bitter, public feud (“The Quiet Man”)] is WAR OF WORDS, with John Ford minimize by way of a W.

The revealer at 113A: [Oscar-winning film whose Oscar-winning director is spelled out by the letters cutting the circled Oscar-winning directors] is “THE HURT LOCKER.” That was once directed by way of Kathryn BIGELOW, whose identify cuts in the course of the different administrators’ names.

Amusing truth: Kathryn Bigelow’s identify additionally has the original belongings of being a heterogram — a notice the place each letter seems best as soon as each and every. I made use of that truth for a metapuzzle again in September 2016, even though again then I described her identify as an isogram. That’s additionally true, with the exception of an isogram refers to a notice the place each and every letter seems the similar choice of occasions, so a notice the place each letter seems two times (as in INTESTINES) counts as an isogram. A heterogram is one of those isogram, only one the place each and every letter seems best as soon as.

Every other solutions and clues:

• 59A: [Movie star, e.g., briefly] is CELEB. This wasn’t intended as an advantage movie-related resolution, however it ended up crossing the middle of the grid.
• 82A: [Man’s name found in “line drawings”] is NED, actually hiding in “line drawings.”
• 118A: [“Such a strange and meaningless word,” per the rock musician Davey Havok] is EMO. Rather the colourful quote about probably the most extra disputed phrases in track, no? Justin Sayles on the Ringer wrote a word list of emo-related phrases that I’ll almost certainly seek the advice of for a couple of EMO clues.
• 127A: [Subject of the Stargate Project, for which the CIA recruited alleged mind readers] is ESP. It’s a beautiful wild tale.
• 5D: [Drive while dreaming?] is AMBITION. “Force” way “power” and “dreaming” refers to aspirations, even though perhaps it’s an indication of untamed ambition for those who’re riding a automotive when you’re asleep.
• 35D / 60D: [With 60 Down, storied infiltrator of a thieves’ den] is ALI / BABA. Ultimate week we had this resolution as a one-word access, now we’ve it as two. It’s atypical that they ended up in the similar column within the grid.
• 43D / 40D: [With 40 Down, hard-boiled hors d’oeuvre] is DEVILED / EGG. I didn’t clue it this fashion, however a unmarried deviled egg performed a job in one among my favourite “Futurama” gags.
• 46D: [The Most ___ ___ (limited-edition cookie released in 2023)] is OREO. It’s been described as “an Oreo filled with Oreos.” Right here’s hoping we by no means run out of strange tactics to clue this notice.
• 59D / 72A: [With 72 Across, soft drinks sold since 1886] is COCA / COLAS. The 3rd of 3 cross-referenced solutions on this puzzle. I didn’t plan any of them. Once in a while the puzzle simply works out that manner.
• 88D is “SPARE ME” and proper subsequent to it at 89D is “COME NOW,” each clued as [“Oh, please”]. Expectantly the repetition offers you a greater response than the clues’ tone would counsel.

In any case, remember that subsequent week’s puzzle has a meta, even though I imagine it’ll be more straightforward than the only from Tremendous Bowl Sunday.