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Confused situations / MON 5-31-10 / It protects tympanic cavity / Perennial presidential candidate Ralph / Ordinary fellow
Monday, May 31, 2010
Constructor: Oliver Hill
Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium [amended ... 3:08 appears to be somewhat on the fast side after all. Hard to tell when the margins are so small]
THEME: DEEJAYS (25D: Record spinners ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 38-, 48- and 61-Across) — five theme answers are two-word phrases where first word starts with "D" and second word starts with "J"
Word of the Day: IMBROGLIOS (11D: Confused situations) —
n., pl., -glios.
- A difficult or intricate situation; an entanglement.
- A confused or complicated disagreement.
- A confused heap; a tangle.
[Italian, from Old Italian, from imbrogliare, to tangle, confuse : in-, in (from Latin; see in-2) + brogliare, to mix, stir (probably from Old French brooiller, brouiller; see broil2).]
• • •
Pretty basic theme, but one that is executed in a visually interesting way. Theme square coverage is pretty sparse, despite the presence of SIX theme answers (five + the revealer). Actually, the issue isn't sparseness, it's shortness — specifically, the shortness of the central three theme answers (8, 7, 8). The shortness of these answers leaves TONS of room left over in the middle of the grid, which is filled by the Massive extension of the NE and SW corners, both of which contain two 10-letter Downs. These Downs are as long as the two longest theme answers and longer than the other three, and take up almost as much real estate in total as the theme answers combined (not including the revealer). Normally, you don't see non-theme answers longer than theme answers and you certainly don't see an Army of said giants. Makes for an unusual grid shape, and much more interesting fill, solving-wise than you tend to see in a more typical Monday grid (where shorter fill predominates). So, long story short, it's unconventional and a bit ungainly, but I liked it anyway.Theme answers:
- 17A: Blue things that make some people turn red? (DIRTY JOKES) — this clue threw me, bec. normally you don't have "?" clues in theme answers unless they are ALL "?" clues (i.e. signifying wacky answers).
So I went looking for wackines and got none. Other theme clues are straight. Which does not make this clue GAY. Necessarily. - 25A: Nine-to-five gigs, often (DESK JOBS) — see also 18D: Ordinary fellow (JOE BLOW) and then titter when you realize that "BLOW" and "JOBS" are both in the grid.
- 38A: Womanizer (DON JUAN)
- 48A: Company with an industrial average (DOW JONES)
- 61A: Wrangler product (DENIM JEANS)
My wife thought the whole puzzle felt old-fashioned — "the whole thing seems like it was written in 1920." By an AGING person, perhaps (1A: Growing older). I think it was the phrase DENIM JEANS, which feels a bit like the phrase WORLD WIDE WEB, i.e. legit, but kind of dated.
We call DENIM JEANS "jeans" now. I see the phrase is still in use in various commercial contexts, but ... I can't really imagine "jeans" that are *not* denim. There appears to be some support for "corduroy jeans," though I'd call those "pants." Or "cords." OFT, O'ER, CADS, ERST, IN RE, and GAYER (5D: More festive) also aged up the feel of the fill a bit. GAYER appears to be (chiefly British, chiefly derogatory) slang for a gay person. Non-sexual GAY is, like DENIM JEANS, correct, but quaint. Did I tell you the story about my little sister happily traipsing around our apartment complex telling everyone she met that "my mom and Agatha (her doll) and I are gay!" She meant "happy." Adorable. There's a better story about my sister's hilarious big mouth, but it involves the word "vagina," so I'll just hold onto that one.Bullets:
- 35A: As one (EN BLOC) — interesting phrase. Wife hadn't heard it before. We mostly use EN MASSE, I think, but this phrase looks much cooler. GAYER, even.
- 35D: It protects the tympanic cavity (EAR DRUM) — Nice clue. I was writing in EAR DRUM before I ever looked at the clue (the magic of crosses), and it's a good thing, because, despite the tympani's being a familiar variety of "DRUM," I'm not sure I could have identified the location of the "tympanic cavity" before today.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
P.S. Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood, you 80-year-old badass.
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53 comments:
thought it was going to be a patriotic puzzle with the first clue containing both blue and red!! All in all a pretty easy puzzle.
You might want to wear a bib - those of you who will be eating those jooosey burgers today.
Have a great day everyone
You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?
Pants pant pants --DENIMJEANS were banned from my high school until my JR year. We always called them blue jeans and Bell Bottom Blues is a great song; most BABYBOOMERS would agree
Interesting Monday, odd grid as Rex noted with fill than spans a few x-word eras. I will avoid any drug reference like more Js than I've seen outside of a Grateful Dead concert.
*** (3 Stars) Quirky and fun.
Any Monday puzzle that works in the word IMBROGLIOS definitely has my attention! And there is quite an age spread in this one's content, isn't there? From "My Gal SAL," written in 1905, to MOS DEF.
Thinking of our servicemen and women today. "Wish you were here" was never truer.
Fun puzzle; perfect for a Monday.
One very minor observation: the eardrum is not usually described as "protecting" the tympanic cavity (= middle ear,more or less)... "Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear" {Wiki}.
DONJUAN, UNJAM, JOEBLOW, DIRTYJOKES, FREELOADER, BABYBOOMER and IMBROGLIOS ... lots to love in this puzzle plus there 8 "B's!"
Thank you, Oliver Hill for a most interesting Monday!
I hope everybody enjoys this day off and remembers those who we are honoring today.
Happy Birthday, Clint Eastwood!
Fast, fast Monday for me--I am old enough to get the dated clues and answers.
Thanks to ALL the veterans today as there are many in my own family--fortunately all came home.
Talking about birthdays: two days ago, May 29, was the birthday of JFK. I wish it would become better known, replacing the sad November date of his death in our memories...
The link to first BABYBOOMER President, Bill Clinton, is that Cinton was the third youngest (age 46) when elected president, after Teddy Roosevelt and JFK. Barack Obama may be the fourth, as he was 47 when elected -- someone else may know?
Lincoln may have been lanky, but not exactly SKINNY... Wonder who was the PUNIEST Pres.? As for the most like DON JUAN -- a toss-up. GAYER is for the future, most likely.
Love the word IMBROGLIOS! A fun puzzle, many thanks to Oliver Hill... and to all the veterans too.
∑;)
Twice or thrice had I loved thee,
Before I knew thy face or name;
So in a voice, so in a shapeless flame,
Angels affect us oft, and worshipped be.
Air and Angels
Maybe it's me, but "rascal" does not indicate a CAD to me. Perhaps because of the TV show, it seems too playful. Or maybe it is a female thing. Having met my share of CADS, I never think of them as "rascals" - far from it. Then, too, The Little Rascals always recalls for me Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat - Otay!
Loved the grid. Reminded me of the potholders we wove at camp.
The FIL and I are off to raise a flag. Have a wonderful Memorial Day, All.
It's Brooke's birthday today too! Her and Clint...that's an odd pairing...maybe not.
Very easy puzzle today, fast, no problems anywhere. Especially liked Dirty Jokes and Imbroglios, a word I use sometimes to the bewilderment of many.
As You Like It > Act III, scene V
PHEBE: Why, that were covetousness.
Silvius, the time was that I hated thee,
And yet it is not that I bear thee love;
But since that thou canst talk of love so well,
Thy company, which erst was irksome to me,
I will endure, and I'll employ thee too:
But do not look for further recompense
Than thine own gladness that thou art employ'd.
Hard to find fault, hard to find much noteworthy fill IMO. On the easy side for me, even for Monday.
Wrote in BLUE JEANS, erased it since it needed one more letter, thought of DENIM JEANS, thought that sounded so much less hip than I have come to expect in a NYT puzzle,and left it blank until crosses pretty much required it. Oh well.
Very fun puzzle. Love imbroglios, en bloc, and jab, which is a shot/injection in GB. For a moment I thought dejam was a theme answer as well, but I needed that un.
To me jeans now mean more of a style of pants, made in all different fabrics.
Odd how Ionia showed up today, after being mentioned, I think by Rex, yesterday.
Must be an AGING thing, I think most BABYBOOMERs would rate this easy for a Monday.
Learning moment was the WOD.
When I encounter Confused situations I call them WTF's.
IMBROGLIOS has panache. I like it.
Now I have to figure out how to use it today.
Then I got to 46D, DELETE, So I did.
Messed up my grid until I put it back in.
Funny to see DOW JONES and RUT on the same line.
The Mac Dashboard Dictionary defines jean as: heavy twilled cotton cloth, esp. denim. So DENIM JEANS is a redundancy.
Not much hope for IONIA ever being clued as "Homonym for an arrogant sports gloat," but it would be fun.
Nice pic of Brooke. Just read the Agassi book and had forgotten they were a couple for 3 years.
Nice structure with DEEJAYS / DON JUAN cross at the center, and symmetrical, in-the-language theme answers.
Liked IMBROGLIOS (which Mrs. Stan taught me to pronounce) and FREELOADER. Much prefer JOE BLOW to other Joes (like 'the plumber'). Didn't care for EN BLOC and UNJAM.
I agree with fikink that "rascals" is not a good "clue" for "cads." Although I hardly ever time myself I was curious about how fast I went through this one. I did it pen on paper and didn't really stop Five minutes...Makes me wonder about these three minute times. It's not that I don't believe them (I do), but I am wondering if (1) it goes faster on the computer; and (2) if I could cut my time by a minute or so if I really tried to rush it.
michael, for many people it goes faster on the computer (I can type faster than I write), but you have to get used to navigating the grid with arrows and such.
Forgive the off-topic: SAN FRANCISCO/BAY AREA people, I'm hosting a little crossworder get-together for lunch this Saturday in the city. Andrea, SanFranMan, and a few other constructor types will be there - if you'd like to join, email me (via profile).
Does anyone else remember dungarees? Haven't posted in a while. Annihilated by several Fridays and Saturdays so lost heart. Back on track. Enjoyed today. @fikink, true, rascals can be fun but not cads. "I'm a Loser" was just in the other day. It's Fleet Week here and there are sailors all over the place. Enjoy the rest of the holiday everyone.
@Sparky - Growing up, my parents used to use "dungarees" all the time! I never understood the difference, if there was one. My dad, especially, used to refer to "trousers" and "slacks!" Who the hell says that?? They're pants, dad!
Loved this - interesting Monday! Rex - thanks for the DJ-BJ chuckle!
EN BLOC is a perfectly common medical term--but would be surprised if it's used by anybody but surgeons, pathologists and oncologists ("en bloc" resection of something-or-other meaning removal of the something plus what's touching it)
My 90 year old mother in law says "dungarees" to mean jeans, still. From Hindi, I believe, tho she's of Italian origin. Fun word.
@fikink etal
Rascals can be CADS.
Rascals can be scamps.
But I don't think cads can be scamps.
@dk
re: yesterday and my "joke" about Monday.
What other day BUT Sunday has a 21x21 grid?
And I like my Honey Nut Cheerios with Red Stripe Beer.
Scotch really only works with my Two Scoops or Raisin Bran cereal. geez ...
The plural of IMBOGLIO is probably IMBROGLIi.
Did not know ENBLOC - sounds suspiciously French.
There were some mini-themes - the olde words that Rex noted, and the 9-5 gig (25 and 50 across). There was also a secret theme...
@Sparky - yes; I still wear 'em. And the last CW weekend killed me.
@Tinbeni - As would war babies.
@Artlover - As do we celebrate death days of saints.
@Pix - rather be missing icicles than ossicles. Indeed it's hot today. Hubster went to see the parade at high 2:00. I'll pass or I'll pass out.
Could have a whole freeloader theme - add sponger and schnorrer - we need at least one Yiddish word.
The Secret Theme - Before I breathed a sigh of relief with BABYBOOMER, I thought "BlowjObeEe."
So, thought I, you are a DIRTYJOKE of an old "lady." Until I see: CAD, DONJUAN, JOEBLOW, BIBS (she should have sported one), RUT ("I did not, with that woman!"). And it gives a new meaning to DESKJOB. There's also IDAHO, to which we can reply IDApimp. At least he wasn't a BABYBuggER, but he did get into quite an IMBROGLIO.
(The Elizabethans - Donne, Shakespeare - would call the overdone theme a "conceit.")
Fine Monday!
Is it true that "Gran Torino" is the only Eastwood film in which his character dies?
Fastest Monday ever for me. Just one trip across and one trip down (except for a couple squares in the SE). I liked the puzzle and thought it had some fun fill, esp. FREELOADER.
@ Rex- the proper name for the EAR DRUM is tympanic membrane.
As for the Rascal/CAD IMBROGLIO, let me just say that although the clue may not have been perfect, how many among you did not come up with the correct answer quickly enough?
Happy Memorial Day, everyone!
'Dungarees' (According to Wiktionary) is an anagram of 'ungreased' and a word of Hindi origin.
In Britain it seems to mean 'coveralls'. I use it to mean 'blue jeans' which probably means that I'm very, very old.
Fast and easy, only thing that slowed me was IMBROGLIOS, which I have seen but never said. Think I'll start saying it now, and get some funny looks.
I have known WAAAY too many 28D's.
Happy Memorial Day all.
@Archaeoprof ... you asked a great question. Clint Eastwood's character died in "The Beguiled" from mushroom poisoning, "Honky Tonk Man" from tuberculosis and would have died from lung cancer in "Gran Torino" if something else didn't happen.
I'm a huge fan of Mr. Eastwood. He does it all: directs, acts, composes, plays and sings. A true renaissance man.
In the Gulf of Mexico
A petroleum Imbroglio
@joho
AND he's tall! Normally when you see movie stars in person, they come up to your waist (eg Sean Penn in an elevator AND he was wearing boots!)
But Clint Eastwood is tall tall tall.
(AND a baby...my grandmother Maidie turns 98 today, tho she doesn't know it!)
I really liked this and was impressed to be able to cross all those J's, that is super hard to do.
My one question AND THIS IS NOT A GRIPE as I would not be able to do two stacks of ten if my life depended on it, but is THREEWEEKS enough of a phrase to be in a puzzle?
I mean, couldn't you come up with any question and have the answer be EIGHTCENTS (if you could find the right question) or "How tall is so-and-so?" (SEVENTWO)
If it is fair game (and I ask this as a constructor/solver) then YAY, that opens up three thousand possibilities for fill. But it surprised me a little
(That, and of course, six themes AND IMBROGLIOS in a Monday, plus those stacks of ten makes the Monday bar higher and higher and sometimes I feel beyond my reach now...but I guess my therapist would say to look at it as a challenge!)
SF'ers, DO come to Dan Feyer's on Saturday, it's the perfect way for Rexites to meet!!!!!! Plus it's the nicest neighborhood of the city and an incredibly generous thing for his folks to do!
@Sfingi
Do you think when Clinton solved the puzzle this morning DESKJOB made him think of Monica?
p.s. I don't know where @Sparky lives, having Fleet Week right now, but it made me chuckle because I just finished today's BEQ puzzle. Fleet Week would have fit right in!
∑;(
captcha - mangoes!
We spent the morning trasnplanting 8-foot pine trees. Stopped with four left to do, but it was too blazing hot, so we went to Sonic for green chile cheeseburgers. While the rest of the crew naps post meal, I did the puzzle (in AL again) and then came here. The helpful clock tells me I did it in 8:33, and I maintain (again) that I'd have been at least a minute -- maybe two -- faster on paper. Who knows...
Loved the write-up and liked the puzzle, especially (of course) GAYER crossing DIRTY JOKE. My favorite gay bar back in my Houston days was DIRTY Sally's. Great patio place, very relaxed. Two pool tables and the DEE JAY's music was not so loud that one's EAR DRUMS needed extra protection. That said, protection was a good idea to have available if one went to DS while on the prowl.
I'm gonna go catch 40 winks now. Tomorrow I'm back on the road headed back to Las Cruces for about 36 hours, then headed north to Albuquerque for the Great Adventure Part Deaux. Monday is coming too quick, and it's only Monday!
Hugs to all!
Comeni! (E is at the door, and I am too lazy to get up off the couch.) jesser
Catching up on more imbroglios in the news just now: BP is trying a Top Hat next, having given up on the Top Kill. And the Israelis sank a ship in a humanitarian flotiilla headed for Gaza... Worser and worser.
∑;(
Great Monday puzzle. Those long answers were a nice surprise.
Dungarees, for me, are denim overalls.
That Brooke has some long legs.
Gayer looks wrong but I'm not sure gaier works either.
@ Doc John, I ask that question every time the nits are being picked to death. Did the clue give you the answer? If so then just move on and be happy.
The lake was WAY too crowded yesterday so we bailed and the cooler of beer was put to good use on the patio and the party continues today. Can't let that ice go to waste! Burgers and corn on the grill. Yum.
@andrea dj michaels ... you make me laugh! Once someone I was working with had just seen Al Pacino in a play in L.A. Evidently he entered the stage wearing a cape ...and she kept waiting for him to get up off his knees!
BTW, I also had the same exact reaction reaction to THREEWEEKS.
I guess I actually had a double reaction.
Decent Monday puzzle, though a holiday theme would have been nice. My first thought was that it was a bit of a thankless job to have the puzzle on Memorial Day, that the total readership of the Times would be way down. It seems like all the usual Rex crowd is here, but that wouldn't be a good measure of overall solvers. Or maybe it's just me, came home from Europe yesterday, out to the Parade this morning, then to birthday party for sister's mother-in-law's 98th birthday (said MIL still drives!)
@ArtLvr - Personal memory bank says James Madison was puniest Pres, or at least shortest -- and I live on Madison Street,
Re discussion of DENIMJEANS, I very recently read a long discussion of the origin of Jeans (ultimately something from Genoa) and Denim (from De Nimes?) and how they became linked. Can't think straight now, still jet-lagged . . .
But 16 A suggests we listen to John O'Keefe, 1747 - 1833:
AMO, amas,
I love a lass
As a cedar tall and slender!
Sweet cowslips' grace
Is her Nominative Case,
And she's of the Feminine Gender.
Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!
Harum, scarum Divo!
Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband,
Hic hac, horum Genetivo!
Can I decline
A Nymph divine?
Her voice as a flute is dulcis!
Her oculi bright!
Her manus white!
And soft, when I tacto, her pulse is!
Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!
Harum scarum Divo!
Tag rag , merry derry, periwig and hatband,
Hic hac, horum Genetivo!
O, how bella
Is my Puella!
I'll kiss sæculorum!
If I've luck, Sir!
She's my Uxor!
O, dies benedictorum!
Rorum, corum, sunt Divorum!
Harum scarum Divo!
Tag rag, merry derry, periwig and hatband,
Hic, hac, horum Genetivo!
@jesser - My brother in law, who is like the sister I never had was driving my car one day and asked me, which way? I replied, straight on, he turned to me as said, do you mean GAYly forward? Love that guy, he can always make me laugh.
Strange to see the rather obscure Beatles' song "IMA Loser" pop up two days in a row, as well as [Region of ancient Asia Minor] and OFT and ETAT. Why were these four clues/answers allowed to make the puzzle two days in a row?
Got stuck at the intersection of 34a and 31d. Never heard either Maya L_N or IL_E Nastase. Took a guess with a vowel and guessed right, thankfully. Other than that part and slight hesitation in the SW corner, this puzzle was easy even for me.
re: "Never heard either Maya L_N or IL_E Nastase"
Have you ever tried actually reading a copy of the New York Times? It's really a pretty good paper and you might like it.
All of sudden I feel bad about my Al Pacino being short story. He's a great actor and his height has nothing to do with any of that. Anybody's height, short or tall, has nothing to do with anything!
Not sure I'd know Maya LIN if not for crosswords. No need to kick a guy in the nuts for ignorance. At least he had the balls to admit it. Nuts ... balls ... I'm out of metaphors. And I'm full of mint julep. 'Night folks.
rp
@Two Ponies, didn't mean to "nit" - just like words and pondering their precision. Sorry to be a wet blanket.
@ two ponies This blog is all about words. If you can't nitpick about words here, you can't do it anywhere.
Suppose someone says "I is mad." Is that ok? It's completely understandable.
Just to be clear -- I'm not a prescriptive grammarian and know that language changes.
Oops, sorry. Rex correct, me wrong. Won't happen again.
--Anonymous nutless flamer
@Anon - when someone asks, you should answer, not make cutting remarks. At some point in your life you didn't know everything.
Politeness is to do and say
The kindest thing in the kindest way.
So, Maya Lin is the architect for the Viet Nam War wailing wall which was hated at first but later proved to be touching, and Ilie Nastase is some kind of tennis guy. That's all I have to know. I have literally learned 90% of everything I know about sports here.
I'm 4'11" having lost an inch recently. I never have to worry about height - Hubster is 5'11" - but that's ok. He doesn't care for tall women and calls them "big"(though he did marry a much thinner one - me).
However, no one ever asks for "short" at the sperm bank.
@Joho - we don't ask for anyone's pity. What, Pacino, Madison?
@Andrea - Does Clinton do the NYTCW?
I sincerely hope he "took care of" Monica, as well as all the people who went to jail for him. Excuse me, that would be a payoff. I hated Ken Starr at the time, but he's shown another side - and his wife is a Skids grad. Meanwhile, we find out Clinton's politics turned out to be a bit shaky, but that's another story.
@2 Ponies - the spelling rule is ay, ey, oy, uy keep the y. (Is there an iy?)
Years ago, the Oneida Chapter DAR had a tea called "May Day, Gay Day." Poor dears.
Can't believe captcha is sunnyme. There's a ghost in the machine.
@Sfingi
Rent "Wordplay"! Clinton not only does the NYTCW (while simultaneously doing 23 other things) he co-wrote one!!!
And if your nom de blog is SF Ingi, come to Dan's party..
(I really should get some sleep.)
Not that anyone cares, but the following encapsulates what I remembered about jeans:
1. Akshay Kalbag
Dungaree, an thick cotton cloth dyed in indigo, was first sold in Mumbai near the Dongri Fort in the sixteenth century. This is the earliest-known precursor to jeans. The fabric used to make jeans was made in Chieri, Italy (a town near Turin) and sold through the harbour at Genoa. These all-purpose pants were bought by the Genoese navy for its sailors. The word jeans is believed to have been derived from Genoa (and called blue de Genoa, i.e. 'blue of Genoa') and the word denim (the raw material used to make jeans) is believed to have been derived from the city of Nimes, France and called de Nimes. Levi Strauss, a German dry goods merchant who lived in San Francisco, sold blue jeans to miners in California under the Levi's brand name in the 1850s.
Also never heard of Maya or Nastase, and I do read the NYT, but, thankfully, I am not compelled to memorize every proper name I read.
I guessed "I", luckily. Otherwise fast puzzle!
Thanks for coming to my defense, Rex and fellow commentators. Maya Lin does sound familiar when you mention the Vietnam memorial, but I wouldn't have been able to come up with it myself. As for the tennis player, no way. I am proficient at baseball and basketball, but big international sports like tennis and soccer and golf I don't have much background knowledge.
And I do read most of the paper Monday - Friday. I would be interested to know if the anonymous flamer could find the last time those two very specific names came up in the headlines.
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