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Onetime stage name for Sean Combs / MON 2-22-16 / Fireplace smoke escapes through them / Presidential Palace in Paris / Fictional Plaza Hotel girl / Indian in many an old western
Monday, February 22, 2016
Constructor: Ed Sessa
Relative difficulty: Medium (i.e. normal Monday puzzle) (3:00)
THEME: DOWN-AND-DIRTY (22D: Done in a quick but effective manner ... or like the answers to the three starred clues?) — themers run Down and are (in various senses of the word) "Dirty":
Theme answers:
- CHIMNEY SWEEP (4D: *One as "lucky as lucky can be," in "Mary Poppins")
- SUCKER PUNCH (24D: *Sudden, unprovoked slug)
- X-RATED MOVIE (9D: *Showing at an adult film theater)
Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), currently known as Puff Daddy or Puffy, and formerly known as Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. Combs was born in Harlem and grew up in Mount Vernon, New York. He worked as a talent director at Uptown Records before founding Bad Boy Records in 1993. He released his debut album No Way Out in 1997, which has been certified seven times platinum and was followed by successful albums such as Forever (1999), The Saga Continues... (2001) and Press Play (2006). In 2009 Combs formed the musical group Diddy – Dirty Money and released the critically well-reviewed and commercially successful album Last Train to Paris (2010). (wikipedia)
• • •
Such a nice little theme, thus such a tragedy that the theme cluing has to go and step all over it. First, DOWN-AND-DIRTY isn't clued right. There seems to be some conflation with "quick-and-dirty." "DOWN-AND-DIRTY" conveys neither speed nor expediency. Look it up. No, don't bother. I did it for you:
adj. Informal
1. Intently and fiercely competitive, often unscrupulously so: a down-and-dirty political campaign.2. Bawdy; lewd.
Why not have an accurate clue? Take the time to be accurate? There is no reason to just be wildly wrong about what the term actually means. Also, why the non-lyrically-supported clue on CHIMNEY SWEEP. "Chim, chimney/ Chim, chimney / Chim, chim, cher-ee / A sweep is as lucky / As lucky can be." A "sweep." It's a "sweep." Not a "CHIMNEY SWEEP." If you are going to use the lyrics to clue the term, then the lyrics oughta bear you out. I know that "sweep" is short for CHIMNEY SWEEP and I don't care. Precision. Also, do "adult film theaters" still exist? Porn is ubiquitous, but are "adult film theaters" even semi-common establishments any more. That clue's not wrong, but definitely needs updating. All this cluing inaccuracy / laziness is galling when the theme is so nice. It's nice. Take the time. Do it right.
Fill is not good but not bad. Except ASKA, which is in fact bad (not that fond of NETFUL either). Astonishing that FLUES clue didn't cross-reference the CHIMNEY SWEEP clue. I mean, I'm not usually a big fan of the cross-referencing, but those two answers are crying out to each other. I am kind of hung up on CLV right now, imagining that (barring a complete teardown) I'd've gone with CLE. I asked Twitter what they best possible CL_ answer was, and sportswriter Diane Firstman shot back with CLA (Meredith), mostly as a joke, but I looked it up and holy $&%^ that is an actual (former) baseball player's actual (nick) name (CLA = short for "Claiborne," his middle name). Better yet, his real, non-nickname, his first name, is OLISE. If only he had been a major, or even minor star, we could've mined his name(s) for year(s). His early career was incredibly promising. Consider: "He did not surrender a run in 28 consecutive appearances, a span of 332⁄3 innings from July 18 through September 12 [2006]. That streak set a franchise record, eclipsing Randy Jones' 30-inning scoreless streak. The 332⁄3 scoreless innings also tied Orel Hershiser's mark in 1984 for the second-longest streak by a rookie since 1970. It now stands as the second-longest scoreless stretch by a rookie relief pitcher in the live-ball era (1920)" (wikipedia). Alas.
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49 comments:
VON P DIDDY POOH, EWE APPEAR DOWN AND DIRTY...MEH! SUCKER PUNCH AWAY LORD ALI. NOPE, WEE POSHER SHAMS PARADE HITMEN. RITE!
Enjoyable Monday. I FLUES through this one. If you ever go to Japan, don't miss KYOTO.
Cool. Three things that are DIRTY – something you clean, something you do, and something everyone else may watch but I certainly don't. ;-) So three takes on DIRTY: grimy, unfair, and smutty.
Having various kinds of "dirty, low down ramps this theme up for me.”Pig pen, inside bottom of my purse, teenager's room, faculty lounge refrigerator" – MEH.
So this was very easy – I've noticed that they've been adding asterisks to themers. Maybe it's just because I'm Miss Prisspot Accomplished Early Week Solver, but I think I would've liked this more with no asterisks and with 22D not clued as a reveal. The aha moment would've been a little slower and more enjoyable.
So, anyway, the first thing I did when I finished was look at all the downs to see what other dirty things we have. I agree, Rex - FLUES kinda reaches out and bops you on the nose. HIT MEN, SATIN… honestly, if you squint and really try and are just wasting time because you don't want to get ready for work, you can make an argument for any of the downs being dirty.
Liked KYOTO crossing TEMPLE.
Great idea of using down entries for a DOWN AND DIRTY theme.
Quick and dirty. This FLUE by with spark: MINDSET, SUCKERPUNCH, and UNITEDFRONT (which my teenage inner self wants to conflate with OUTAGE). Just right for a Monday theme, with a mini-theme of double EEs (6) and the down-and-silly name: FLUES VON SATIN.
Sometimes I can't believe the words that hide in my brain's hidden recesses. Today DRAM popped out with no effort; this is a word I never ever think about. Maybe I know everything and just don't realize it.
Easy Monday puzzle...but who cares? When I was in school - way back when- when the teacher took attendance she counted HEADS...not noses!!!
@Ed Sessa's puzzle was good, though I'm surprised that it ran on a Monday. @Rex's review was delightful, and I was glad to learn about CLA Meredith. The player whose rookie record he tied, OREL Hersheiser, has been a crossword standby for years. We mourn the loss, over this weekend, of Umberto ECO and Harper LEE.
For "Down and Dirty" Merriam-Webster has as a second meaning: "made or done hastily : not revised or polished (a down and dirty solution)."
In my experience, Merriam-Webster is far more accurate and complete than the online Free Dictionary.
It doesn't bother me a bit that the lyric contains only the word "sweep," with "chimney" being implicit. And I don't see why it matters how many adult film theaters are still around these days. But it bugs the hell out of me that the phrase "down and dirty" simply does not mean what the clue wants it to mean. It just doesn't.
I was traveling over the weekend and didn't have a chance to do either Saturday's or Sunday's puzzle. I thought about just skipping the Sunday one, as I generally haven't been enjoying the Sunday puzzles recently, but I see it's a Patrick Berry. Is it awesome as I would expect it to be?
You know what my issue is and it isn't DOWN AND DIRTY.
Played tough here. I didn't time myself, but I know I did a lot more thinking than I usually do on a Monday.
PPP Analysis
APACHE
ALI
ELOISE
DAWSON
MON(day)
KYOTO
NEV(ada)
URAL
TIBIA
ELYSEE
iTunes clue
POOH
HENSON
MAORIS
EL PASO
LAO
RAJ
VON
AMTRAK
P. DIDDY
INGE
UAW
22/76, 29%. Pushing it.
Today's write-up alone is worth the price of admission to this blog. Rex's deconstruction of the clues/answers/theme was perfect. I certainly would not have thought of the weakness of the clues...at first blush they seem okay. But now that the oversights have been pointed out, they can not be unseen. Well done.
One day before I die I will do a puzzle and remember the difference between Aral and Ural.
This is how I would clue ASKA:
"What did Delaware?"
"Idaho, Al-ASKA."
(Which is why I don't construct puzzles)
@Lobster11: Yesterday's (Sunday's) puzzle was pretty MEH.
Agree with @Rex on the annoyance of the revealer clue, but no issues with the rest.
Felt like there were a lot of fill-in-the-blank clues. Are there guidelines here? Is seven a lot? Are they more typical in early-week puzzles?
By far the worst thing about this puzzle is 11A. If there is a more annoying term then MEH, I'm not aware of it. Please retire it from the English language -- and thereby from crosswords -- ASAP.
No, NCA President, as CFXK points out the deconstruction was not quite perfect. But almost so. What irks me about these types of clues is that the constructor, the editors, and the test puzzle solvers as a team should catch these inaccuracies. But remember, the editor's rule is not that the clues have to be 100& correct. By that rule, the clues for this puzzle are all permissible. By that rule, I guess you can say the deconstruction was perfect. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead. Or even behind.
Regardless of the clues, I enjoyed solving the puzzle. Because Monday puzzles have to be so simple, it's probably real tough to avoid common crosswordese in the grid. Perhaps that's the reason Berry has never had a Monday puzzle published except when he was forced to come up with one for the puzzle contest many years ago.
Fastest Monday ever, by over a minute, so I classify this as "easy" rather than "medium".
I liked the puzzle (actually, I have yet to meet a NYT crossword that I don't like) but this blog and the comments are educating me about the difference between good puzzles and great puzzles.
Agree with the earlier commenter that I was fine with the theme until I came here to read the critique - once seen, I cannot unsee it! Precision is indeed crucial, in puzzles as well as life.
Still, I loved solving today's puzzle so my enjoyment remains intact.
@pmdm - "the editor's rule is not that the clues have to be 100% correct." I see variations on this plaint not infrequently, and I think it is inaccurate. I think the editor's rule is that the clue has to be 100% correct in some way. For example, 56A. There are lots of bones below the knee. Monday the answer is TIBIA. On Saturday the answer might be "talus." Both are 100% correct, in some way. As for Rex's deconstruction of today's clues, I get what he is saying but I think "inaccurate" is inaccurate. The most off themer clue is the reveal (I'd have gone with "effective enough") but I've definitely heard it used as clued, it is 100% accurate in some way.
@Sir Hillary - comme çi, comme ça.
This crossword has an actual error. You buy APPS in the App Store. You buy movies, music and TV shows in the iTunes Store. I'm surprised there aren't 10 comments about this -- this is a straight up mistake.
Slower than normal for me. Some non-Monday-esque traps were headS for NOSES (23A)(where on earth did that expression come from?), feb for MON (34A), stAt for ASAP (38A)(the cluing with "order" sent me down a medical path STAT), and emerge for APPEAR (46A).
I usually down fall for so many plausible mis-directs on the first pass through the grid, and certainly not on MONdays.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Store
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(iOS)
When I got CHIM to start the long answer at 4D, I was thinking: OMG, I'm not going to have to spell that unspellable song, am I? Fortunately, I didn't. Have to, that is. And 4D was the reason I liked this easy but delightful Monday so much. The constructor could have had the 3 theme answers all be of a kind. SUCKER PUNCH, combined with LOW BLOW and KNEE TO THE GROIN, for example. But he didn't. The literal nature of 4D came as such a witty surprise. I think that, for a Monday, this was unusually lively.
Saw some dictionary disputes for the theme clue among the comments, so I went to the only book which truly has the right to call itself a dictionary and will always be the... um... definitive (so to speak) source for all things linguistic: the OED (Yeah, yeah, the Urban Dictionary will do in a pinch for crossword clueing but should be used sparingly with your eyes squinted suspiciously).
Definitions for down and dirty include and ARE limited to:
A. (adj)In a devious or surreptitious manner.
B. (int) Poker. Used to accompany the dealing of a final face-down card in seven-card stud and related games.
C. (adv) 1(a) Unprincipled, devious, viciously competitive; employing ruthless or aggressive tactics.
1(b) Unrefined; frank or explicit with regard to subjects considered disturbing or unpleasant.
2 Raunchy, sexually provocative; (esp. of music) sensual
Neither speed nor efficiency make an appearance. It would have been an easy one to reclue correctly, because the definition doesn't interfere with the phrase's aptness as a theme, which was fine.
Other than that I liked it, and more importantly, as of yesterday, the puzzle is back to its strange psychic trick of reflecting odd things currently happening in my life (just bought a house from a man who was a professional pool cue maker [Sunday's clueing for lathe], then yesterday had argument with someone about the size of a dram... they were pretty sure it was a giant beer mug full). When the NYT crossword is psychic, the world feels sane and rational.
It just does.
@Max - you are SO right! I had the same thought about buying apps at the iTunes store. That's just WRONG.
This is the first time I've finished a Monday in under 8 minutes. As easy as the puzzle was I found it enjoyable and not at all annoying. The theme isn't corny and the reveal fits.
@Rex's criticism was equal parts entertaining and pointless. Sure "fast and dirty" fits the 22D clue better and it's the one I'd expect people to use. However if they said "down and dirty" in the same context the meaning would be just as clear.
As to that personal time record I'd like to point out that I solve with paper and pencil and I always use capital Es. My solving pattern is pretty haphazard. 1A just happened to be one of the few clues I had to skip over. 7A was obvious and I just followed the path of least resistance from then on. I don't mind having to skip 30A. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I recognized the name once I had the second letter. The other hesitation I recall was 23A. It's an odd choice of word but what really screwed it up was flipping the E and N of 4D. You can rack that one up to my poor spelling and the popular mispronounciations of that word. My favorite is "chim'ly. I don't how they came up with it but I always know what they're saying.
Congrats to ES for an excellent Monday.
I thought this was a fine Monday puzzle from Mr. Ed Sessa.
Clearly there is a prescriptivist - descriptivist spectrum, and we each fall at different points. I'm more on the prescriptivist side, yet I accepted the clue for DOWN AND DIRTY without question, and I have probably used it in that sense myself. As others have pointed out, it is in the dictionary!
For me, UNITED_FRONT is one of them Sports Bras that gives you a Uni-Boob.
I look for a high level of precision in a position paper; with a xwp, I'm much more open. Sessa me.
Good theme selections and placement carry the day, though there's nothing much DIRTier than an oil slick, eider.
@NCA_P, the Urals are the ones that go Up, but don't worry about it:pretty soon, the Aral Sea will have dried Up, too.
Bonus point: the SW ennead leads me to anticipate the RAD_ADD_KEY March, by a sort-of ancestor of mine
I thought Ed S cleaned up nicely.
I thought this was a perfect Monday
Hey All!
I think the revealer was on the NOSE, despite the clue. And I agree with Counting NOSES as a Wha..?
Lots of threes today, 23. Average-ish is 16-18-ish. Not much dreck, (looking at you, RRN). Fell for the feb-MON trap. Also, gRAM for DRAM before getting revealer.
Passed on HS gym? NO P.E.
Juice at the Golf hole? PAR ADE
Little rooster? HEN SON
Stayed on the couch? SAT IN
Fruit in the newsroom? AP PEAR
Hurt in the newsroom? AP ACHE
Afterthought in the newsroom? AP PS
I know, not the best Random Nonsense. Not too much to go with today...
POOH
Roomonster
DarrinV
@Leapy: Didn’t you mean to say something like (abbreviated version), “The Urals go Up and the Aral Sea will soon be Arid?” You’re usually sharper! :>)
We have six long answers (8% of the answers) containing 33% of the letters. They are also 11 and 12 letters long in a 15 x 15 grid, Then to also make it relatively easy without a lot of groaners (IMO always) seems impressive construction. I’ll have to see how my critique fares with those here who, I FREELY admit, are far more astute about such things.
As well, I don’t see any particularly funny/weird things hidden in the grid worth playing with. This means, according to my pet theory, it must be a good puzzle.
Off to read the blog to see if I’m right. If not? Who cares? I don’t…MEH.
(Reads @Rex & 24 comments)
Well, not exactly. @ NCA President 8:24 AM is right. Clues seemed good, now not so good.
Still liked it, keeping in mind I usually like any I can do without a DNF. Either it comes only out of my brain or it’s “officially” a DNF. That said, “almost completes” are more than satisfying enough…..more so as the week goes on.
Cheers
Good Grief, Rex. All the themes are DOWN as well as DIRTY. Forget the dictionary definition
@Ed Sessa, you made me laugh. I loved the joke of the reveal...and the three ways of being DIRTY and the various ways of being DOWN (crossword-wise, chimney-wise, low-blow-wise, and I'll leave out the X-RATED-wise). Such a fun puzzle.
Hey @Max - Did you notice that the Wikipedia article on the iTunes Store you cited includes a whole section (6.3) about APP sales?
I made the same mistakes on my first run through as Anonymous 9:53 except for appear and was surprised that my time was faster than normal for a Monday. I guess those kinds of burps affect the elite solvers more. Liked it.
Correction: Apps are sold in the App Store, not the ITunes Store.
Lots of fun today - I thought the theme was cohesive and the revealer certainly seemed to fit the clue as I understand it. ELOISE was a WOE that filled itself in. I tried to make CHIMNEY a three-syllable word by adding an E between the M and N and I tried to answer 6D in the 10D spot but even with having to back pedal on those, this was an under 6 minute romp for me. I admired all the clean fill and noted the plethora of U's (plus a EWE) for M&A. I had time to wonder if MAORIS ever APPEAR in EL PASO, if an OUTAGE would cause an OUTrAGE, and why P DIDDY changes his name as often as most people change socks. LORD knows if there's an answer, but I thank Ed Sessa for the opportunity to ruminate (EWE again) on such questions.
I'm down with today's theme. Down and dirty.
@Leapy, Uni-Boob: priceless! Or rather, one for the price of two...
Here is your RAD_ADD_KEY March. Prosit!
Bullets:
* UAW. fave weeject. Has one of the puz's cute litter of 6 U's. Also has PB1 sound-aw-like immunity.
* ASKA. Easily remedied with a clue of {S. Alaska territory??}.
* CLV. Trickier clean-up task. The obvious CLU adjustment don't work good. M&A would probably go with CLE and a clue of: {Curvy Cleon??}.
* 34 of 76 have PB1 Usage Immunity. 30 have M&A Usage Immunity. Dangerously close to crossing of streams [Ghostbusters term].
* NETFUL. Seems ok. M&A thinks of this from a NET half fUll perspective.
* Great, dirty lil theme. Like @muse, would sweep away the asterisks and revealer clue. This theme just cries out for dirtier-than-moocow easiness.
* (CHIMNEY)SWEEP. Cool write-up rant, @009. Nothin screams out precision, like Mary Poppins lyrics.
* And for sloppy seconds, how'bout that XRATEDMOVIE clue? Actually, if there is still an adult theater somewheres, I guess it sorta works.
* fave moo-cow-eazy-e column: POOH EWE PARADE.
M&A
**gruntz**
I like any puzzle with the word "meh" as I was not familiar with it before I came to this blog. Rex loves that word. It's only the second time I've encountered it in a nyt crossword.
Chuck M I like your style. Chefbea I agree with you on nose. Also had thought before mindset, I am before opt, feb before mon. No dnf and under 10 mins. Probably easier than medium.
Counting NOSES?? Who the heck says that?? It's counting HEADS. Wtf. Everything else was pretty good tho. Agree with Rex on down and dirty. That was just wrong
For some reason, I had a PR today. I'm not fast and don't try to be, but was at 7:49 this morning.
Easy-medium for me. Loved the theme and the fill was actually fairly smooth. A fine Mon.! I guess I'm OK with loosey goosey definitions.
If want to get an app for my iPad I tap the App Store icon. In order to purchase/install the app I have to log into the iTunes Store.
Didn't notice the incorrect definition on the revealer, but now that I see it, yeah, that seems a clear mistake.
An enjoyable Monday puzzle. I really liked this one.
The theme answers were all interesting (CHIMNEY SWEEP, SUCKER PUNCH, X-RATED MOVIE, and DOWN AND DIRTY), and I like how (as LMS and ___ have noted) the themers use three senses of the word DIRTY.
The CHIMNEY SWEEP clue (One "as lucky as lucky can be," in "Mary Poppins") made me laugh. What child doesn't love labor?!
The two extra 11-letter answers, UNITED FRONT and POKING FUN AT, really livened up the grid.
@ArtOO: I don't think Rex was questioning the DOWNANDDIRTY revealer...he was questioning the clue FOR the revealer, "Done in a quick but effective manner...or like the answers to the three starred clues?"
That first part could have been changed to: "Getting really serious about a job...etc."
I heard counting noses many times growing up. Must not be a city thing. I have also heard counting heads just about as often. Google search yields 800k+ hits on counting noses, so it is certainly a real thing. One dictionary claims the origin was "tell noses" hundreds of years ago and meant the same thing.
It's not Monday's fault.
@Z- Oh, snap! I use quick and dirty, personally, but wasn't phased by down and. More grievous is OFL's rendering of the lyric without representation of CHIMNEY's third syllable.
@MAbresch, in some traditions, chimneysweeps are considered a symbol of luck, as are ladybugs and 4-leafed clovers. In the here&now, the belief is likely that you make your own luck.
Counting noses seems to be a hit in preschool and kindergarten circles.
Totally fooled by the Presidents' Day clue: why of course, it's always celebrated in FEB! With XRATED FILMS! Quickly fixed, to be sure, but coming at it from the top and left as I did, it seemed a no-brainer. I guess I should have known: a "film" is "art," while a "movie" is what the people will pay to see. Then too, on closer inspection of the down clue, FILMS would have needed the plural "Showings." I just didn't notice it right AWAY.
I disagree that the fill was "not too bad." POINGFUNAT is lively enough--but it's still a partial. An 11-letter partial. ASKA EDT ACTI and smack in the middle of it all, the RRN. Not to mention PDIDDY? Really? Where do these guys get these ridiculous names?
I do agree that the revealer clue is somewhat off-base. Personally I've only used DOWNANDDIRTY in connection with dealing the river card; almost always dirty to me, thankyou. But I also understand the expression used to describe an aggressive win-by-any-means attitude.
The puzzle was FUN enough to do, with a cool theme. Easy-medium despite that FEB gaffe; overall C.
WHEN URAL ADD
WHEN ELOISE was MADEUP, she APPEARed to be thirty,
EWE wouldn’t believe how FREELY she got DOWNANDDIRTY.
LORD, we were POKINGFUNAT her XRATEDMOVIE,
WHEN during ACTI, the cops gave us all a TRIP RITE to juvey.
--- DAWSON VON HENSON
So the revealer clue wasn’t quite right. It might matter to me on a Friday. The themers all went DOWN and they’re all DIRTY. Don’t recall spending much time parsing the clue, if at all. Already knew the answer at that point.
REVENUE reminds me that I have yet to do my taxes. The Internal REVENUE Service is holding a wad of my cash that I will need if this is a year to buy a car on a road TRIP. It’s a fun way to see the country. I’ve done it +/- 15 times. Coast to coast and north to south.
No yeah babies as clued, but a missed opportunity to clue DAWSON as Sin City’s Rosario instead of Richard.
@D, LIW – yes, there is a similarity there in those buildings and they APPEAR to be of the same vintage. Didn’t find a connection between architects. Yet.
No write-overs, so it must have been easy enough. Kinda Mondayne.
Precision! Meh.
I liked this (medium,*for a Monday*) puzzle. Three themers that all were DOWN answers, and were indeed DIRTY in three different senses. Perhaps the revealer wasn't completely precise, depending on your dictionary or your understanding of that phrase, but I don't think anyone balked when actually answering that clue.
Q: What is the MINDSET when, after solving the puzzle, one goes back and muses about the precision of the clues? @Rex says that the guy is a SWEEP, but overlooks the fact that the word CHIMNEY appears in the lyrics. Actually, the word as sung is 'chimIney'. Precision, Rex.
A: Rex likes to bash Ed Sessa's puzzles, for whatever reason.
This was definitely a Monday that raised the bar a tad.
I see we're counting NOSES on the clue for D&D. My take - the dirty has two meanings. Low down. And quick. "It wasn't the cleanest job, but we got it done fast."
Also noticed, while solving, that those themers went in quickly.
I think INGE crossing ELYSEE could be a Natick for some on a Monday. But getable on the crosses.
Did also question buying the APPS at the iTunes place, but I don't have an iAnything, so figured, MEH, go with it.
Fun, quick, good start to the week.
Diana, Lady-in-Waiting for Crosswords
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