By Freddie Cheng
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/09/19

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

09/09/19

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Monday, September 9, 2019

ACROSS
1 More certain
6 Gp. with moms, 
dads and 
educators
9 “Thereabouts” 
suffix
12 “Men” or “teeth,” 
grammatically
14 One of Ringo’s 
set
15 __ kwon do
16 Absurd, as a 
scheme
17 Autodialed 
annoyance, often 
at dinnertime
19 Prof’s aides
20 System of rules
22 Protection for 
political refugees
23 German I
25 Philosophies: 
Suff.
27 Picky details
28 Computer event 
with a “blue 
screen of death”
30 Penultimate 
Greek letter
31 Big Pharma 
watchdog: Abbr.
32 Suggest
34 Encroach (on)
38 Musical knack
39 Naughty
41 Black or Red 
waters
42 Downpour 
concern
44 Bills with Franklin 
on them
46 Good times
47 Japanese 
vegetable
49 Infatuated with, 
with “about”
50 “__ Land”: 2016 
Best Picture? Not!
52 Elite English 
boarding school
53 Deadly “2001” 
computer
54 “Brideshead 
Revisited” 
novelist Waugh
56 Laundry
58 Wall St. takeover
61 Exacts revenge
63 Punctuation that 
Brits call a full 
stop
65 Guggenheim 
display
66 Johns, to Brits
67 “__ can play!”: 
“It’s easy!”

68 Caustic chemical
69 Bowler’s target
70 Emails

DOWN
1 Barbecue rod
2 Arm bone
3 *Deadly “game” 
in “The Deer 
Hunter”
4 Big Band __
5 *Ones helping 
with the horses
6 Expert
7 Low-pitched 
brass 
instruments
8 Cookiedom’s 
Famous __
9 *Stallone 
nickname, with 
“the”
10 Henri’s “Hi”
11 Pilothouse 
wheels
13 Lion constellation
14 Severe 
reprimands, 
and a hint to 
the starts of 
the answers to 
starred clues
18 Singer Lauper
21 Slight market 
slide
24 St. Louis hrs.

26 Short skirt
28 Kitchen master
29 Iranian currency
31 *Trio after turtle 
doves
33 Paris pronoun
35 TV watchdog
36 “Wow!”
37 “No sweat”
40 Letter-shaped 
fastener
43 October 
gemstones
45 Italian hour

48 “We’re __ 
schedule here!”
50 Permitted by law
51 Bugs Bunny 
animator Tex
52 Ballade’s last 
stanza
55 Website with 
business reviews
57 Rejuvenation site
59 “__, James __”
60 Poems of praise
62 Many millennia
64 Deli bread

For years, Harvey Weinstein’s powerful 
career allowed him to domineer over 
Hollywood without repercussions, but in 
“Untouchable,” director Ursula Macfarlane 
(“One Deadly Weekend 
in 
America”) 
helps 
victims of his abuse 
speak 
their 
truths 
through 
interviews 
and archived material. 
With no introduction 
to the crimes Weinstein 
committed, 
the 
documentary 
dives 
immediately into Erika 
Rosenbaum’s story and 
her experience as a 
young actress who was 
assaulted by Weinstein after meeting him at in 
Hollywood.
From there, “Untouchable” jumps in 
between victims’ testimonials to try and 
capture the essence of Weinstein’s grotesque 
abuse of power during his time with Miramax, 
a film production company. In several different 
ways, the documentary makes clear that if 
Weinstein hadn’t had the ability to sweep his 
actions under the rug with such ease — which 
consisted of carefully detailed non-disclosure 
agreements (NDAs) and cash settlements — 
there would have been more than enough 
evidence to prove that he was the culprit of 
these crimes.
Zelda Perkins, Weinstein’s former assistant, 

provides several details on this matter and 
delves deeper into Weinstein’s temperament 
as well. She admits that she originally didn’t 
take his words and actions very seriously, 
and often warned others that “he will behave 
inappropriately” but reassuring them that if 
they dealt with him “robustly,” then it would be 
fine. That is, until another one of Weinstein’s 
assistants divulged the story of her assault at 

the hands of Weinstein. Perkins resigned, but 
Weinstein grew anxious, leaving around 18 
voicemails asking her to meet him. When she 
eventually signed an NDA, Weinstein’s team 
made sure to cover all bases, adding to the 
contract that if they went to court over the 
matter, Perkins was contractually obligated to 
try and keep Miramax in good standing.
Several NDAs were signed, but rumors 
started to spread throughout the industry. 
Many had heard and believed that actresses 
were having sex with Weinstein to get better 
roles, and had consequently turned a blind eye 
to the matter. At the time, and probably to this 
day, the film industry holds its demons away 
from the public eye. In Weinstein’s hayday, he 

was, essentially, untouchable.
Andrew Goldman, a reporter, recalls an 
instance where he caught Weinstein speaking 
indecently on his recorder. Weinstein grew 
quickly agitated, and tried to snatch the 
recorder out of his hand. Weinstein smashed 
Goldman over his head multiple times, and 
Goldman distinctly remembers seeing other 
reporters taking pictures of the incident. But 
none of them ever surfaced 
in the media. It goes to show 
how Weinstein and his team 
ultimately controlled what 
the public thought of him 
at the time, and despite the 
times he could have been 
exposed, 
maintained 
a 
relatively clean reputation 
for far too long.
In 
terms 
of 
the 
documentary 
itself, 
at 
times the theatrics were 
dramatic to a fault, and 
slightly distracting for the graveness of the 
story. The stories themselves were harrowing 
enough, the documentary could have done 
with a little less dramatic sound effects and 
B-roll. Nevertheless, this was a story that 
had to be told, and despite its medium, the 
world has taken a step toward justice with 
documentaries that seek to expose the truth. 
It’s absolutely unacceptable that Weinstein 
escaped accountability for so long, and still has 
not faced the full consequences of his actions. 
The only upside to his offenses is that we know 
now that no matter how long it takes, the truth 
will always come out, and we won’t stop until 
those truths are acknowledged and actions are 
taken.

‘Untouchable’ topples standards

TV REVIEW

‘Untouchable’

Hulu

Streaming Now

SOPHIA YOON
Daily Arts Writer

When 
it 
comes 
to 
performing, 
Christian French pays attention to 
the details. Upon entering the Blind 
Pig, a large crescent moon illuminated 
the stage. It was a centerpiece for his 
tour, named after his newly released 
EP, bright side of the moon. Ann Arbor 
was the first stop, and eager students 
packed up against the walls of The 
Blind Pig in anticipation of the opening 
performance. They repeatedly chanted 
the singer’s name in the moments 
leading up to his entrance and erupted 
into cheers as he ran on stage sporting 
a University of Michigan jersey given 
to him by a fan. French opened with 
his 2018 single, “superstars,” a love 
song about enjoying the glory of youth, 
a common theme in not just his music 
but also the tour as a whole. 
French kept the energy up at full 
throttle, jumping into one song after the 
next and constantly encouraging the 
crowd to sing along with their hands in 
the air. He had a presence that engaged 
with every part of the audience as he 
migrated to different parts of the stage 
and even performing at the very edge, 
as if he wanted to get as close to his fans 
as possible. This kind of genuine spirit 
could be felt palpably by the crowd. As 
I looked around, everyone appeared 
captivated by French, eagerly waiting 
to see what he would do next. 
French’s ability to connect so well 
with 
the 
college 
crowd 
probably 
stemmed from the fact that he recently 
was just a college student himself. 
The 22-year-old singer was a pre-med 
student at the University of Indiana 
before deciding to drop out to pursue 
a career in music. And he’s no stranger 
to Michigan: The singer performed at 
The Blind Pig a little less than a year 
ago and opened for Quinn XCII at the 
Fillmore in downtown Detroit this past 
Winter. 
After playing a handful of songs from 
his older projects, including “Fall For 
You,” the first song he ever recorded, 
as well as a tune off his new EP titled 
“head first,” French paused to explain 
the story behind “Sweet Home.” French 
wrote the song about his experience 
moving from Indiana to California, 
and how daunting and exciting the 
transition was. He offered another 
pause before performing the heaviest 
song of the night titled “Dying Alive.” 
Behind his keyboard, French explained 
how he suffered from anxiety and 
destroyed the romantic relationship he 
was in because of it. 
Before playing “Time of Our Lives,” 
one of his unreleased songs, he politely 
asked the crowd to put their phones 
away and simply live in the moment. 
After all, he pointed out, “We are 
literally the only ones that get to 
experience this.” The timing of this 
request couldn’t have been more perfect 

— “Time of Our Lives” is all about being 
present and enjoying every moment we 
have, and the crowd cheerfully swayed 
along to the music, seemingly content 
without their mobile distractions. 
French wrapped up the show with 
“bright side of the moon,” the album’s 
title track, which captures the album’s 
focus on seeking positivity even when 
the rest of the world seems to be 

tossing around negative thoughts. He 
then returned his University jersey 
to its rightful owner in the front row, 
which revealed the other University 
jersey he was wearing underneath with 
“French” printed on the back. He ended 
with his hit song “love ride” before 
running off stage.
But the crowd wasn’t done with him 
yet. Cheers for one more song pulsated 
throughout the venue, and French 
reappeared to perform one last and 
arguably his most popular song, “By 
Myself.” After the show, French offered 
a meet and greet with fans, just another 
example of how he wants to invest in his 
fan base and give them an experience 
they will always remember. As an artist 
still trying to make their way into the 
big leagues of music, Christian French 
has the tools he needs to reach new 
fan bases and build a successful music 
career. French delivered a seamless 
opener, and there’s no doubt he will 
continue to impress audiences as he 
takes on the rest of his fall tour. 

On Christian French’s
youthful enthusiasm

CONCERT REVIEW

KAITLYN FOX
Daily Arts Writer

French kept the 
energy up at full 
throttle, jumping into 
one song after the 
next and constantly 
encouraging the 
crowd to sing along 
with their hands in 
the air

The first show I saw on Friday 
was the worst show I saw on Friday. 
I don’t want to hate on Conan Gray, 
because he seems like a nice guy 
who loves his fans, and performing 
at Lollapalooza clearly meant a lot to 
him. However, his music is not very 
good: His particular angsty brand 
of synthpop is so unoriginal that it 
defies specific description, and he 
doesn’t even have that much of it. 
Gray was allotted an hour, and after 
performing every song he has ever 
released, he finished his set with 
fifteen minutes to spare. In the end, it 
was an uninspiring performance. 
Luckily, up next was Japanese 
Breakfast, the solo project of Michelle 
Zauner, an act who could hopefully 
right the wrongs of the previous set. 
Tito’s, the stage upon which Japanese 
Breakfast played, is the worst at the 
festival — there’s rarely sufficient 
space for the audience and those who 
aren’t far from the stage are forced to 
stand on concrete while baking in the 
afternoon sun. That said, the music 
of Japanese Breakfast could not 
have contrasted more sharply with 
the mood in this ill-favored setting. 
Japanese Breakfast put on perhaps 
the most relaxing set of the weekend, 
her groovy bedroom-pop the perfect 
antidote to the stultifying sea of 
concrete that engulfed me. Zauner’s 
voice is breathtaking live, soaring 
with clarity over reverb-laden guitar 
and fuzzy bass. Her guitarist is also 
quite talented, firing off a handful 
of roaring solos. Towards the end 
of the set, as a tribute to Chicago, 
she performed a touching cover of 
Wilco’s “Jesus, Etc.” It was an all-
around pleasant experience. 
Maggie Rogers may not make the 
most interesting pop music in the 

world (or have the keenest sense of 
melody), but it is impossible to dislike 
the artist herself. Rogers put her 
heart and soul into her performance, 
and it shone through. The crowd 
adored her; they were singing and 
dancing to every song, and even 
did their best to sing through the 
technical difficulties on “Alaska.” It 
was a delightful set, even if the songs 
themselves are not remarkable. 
Death Cab For Cutie put on an 
earnest and enjoyable performance, 
but their elegant music does not 
translate 
all 
that 
well 
to 
live 
shows. The desolation of “Title and 
Registration” and the creepy intensity 
of “I Will Possess Your Heart” seem 
not to carry through from their 
studio renditions. Strangely, the band 
only played one song from their most 
recent album, and the album they 
are ostensibly touring in support 
of, Thank You For Today. Granted, 
it wasn’t a very popular album, but 
neither was Kitsugi, which got more 

play time despite being four years old. 
Death Cab frontman Ben Gibbard 
claimed they originally were not 
going to play their most popular song, 
“I Will Follow You Into the Dark,” 
but changed their mind thanks to the 
request of “a prominent Chicagoan.” 
That Chicagoan, to the surprise of 
no one given his appearance earlier 
in the day at Calboy’s set, turned out 
to be none other than Chance the 
Rapper. He emerged from backstage 
to join the band in a performance of 
“Do You Remember,” a sentimental 
cut off of Chance’s new studio album, 
The Big Day, that features Gibbard 
on the hook. The performance was 
decent. They did not play a few of 
their live staples (“Transatlanticism,” 
“Grapevine 
Fires”) 
that 
were 
expected by many, likely due to time 
constraints.
There was no encore. While I 
enjoyed Death Cab For Cutie’s set in 
spite of some flaws, they were not the 
primary reason I was at that stage. I 
had come to secure a spot for the act 
that would follow them on the Bud 
Light stage: Tame Impala. 
Friday was an experience similar 
to 
Thursday: 
The 
earlier 
sets 
were mixed in quality, generally 
functioning better as background 
music than as something to really 
get into. The headliners and higher-
billed artists performing later tended 
to live up to expectations. Four days 
is perhaps a little too long for such an 
intense festival — Lollapalooza used 
to just be three days until 2015, when 
they switched to four for reasons 
unknown (money). The need to be 
as big as possible, while probably a 
clever business decision, has diluted 
each individual day’s lineup and 
contributed to a sort of festival 
fatigue. Four days is a long time, and 
people seemed to already be feeling 
the marathon catching up to them by 
the end of Friday. Perhaps it’s time 
for another change. 

We loved Lollapalooza so much
that this took a month to publish

FESTIVAL COVERAGE

JONAH MENDELSON
Daily Arts Writer

The headliners and higher-billed artists 
performing later tended to live up to 
expectations

Maggie Rogers may not make the most 
interesting pop music in the world (or 
have the keenest sense of melody), but it is 
impossible to dislike the artist herself

6A — Monday, September 9, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

