LAT Mon. 8/17 Alex Boisvert's KKK... Puzzle

[magus]

Alex managed to get 9 K's in this effort; and nine K's is good even for a baseball pitcher.  Dare I say that if he were a policeman he'd qualify for the K-9 unit?  Sorry.

I tried to find a way to get a tenth K and came up with the following options in the upper left corner:

S  K  I  M
M  I  N  I
I  N  T  L
T  O  O  K

KINO was the protagonist in Steinbeck's The Pearl.  (also a brand name of sandals)
SMIT is past tense of smite.

A  K  I  M
M  U  N  I
A  D  D  L
T  O  O  K

AKIM is the first name of old-time actor Tamiroff.

While these entries by themselves may be too tough for Monday, the ease of the surrounding entries should not hinder the novice from completing the puzzle.

I also tried in the lowest middle of the grid, but the entries are a bit tougher:

O  R  B  Y
M  U  G  O
S  M  U  T
K  A  N  E

RUMA is an archaeologically important area in Serbia. A more popular entry might be RULA Lenska, the actress.
MUGO pine is a popular landscaping shrub.