Mid-Long Island community / SUN 6-12-16 / Hunger Games star in tabloids / Noted sexologist in her infancy / Controversial TV personality's magical sidekick / Resolve dispute in modern way / Frequent James Franco collaborator / Rock whose name sounds good? / 1961 Michelangelo Antonioni drama

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Constructor: Finn Vigeland

Relative difficulty: Easy


THEME: "Attending Physicians" — "DR." added to familiar phrases to create wacky phrases with "?" clues... (there's also an unnecessary revealer: THE DOCTOR IS IN (113A: Sign on Lucy's "Peanuts" booth ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme)

Theme answers:
  • DR. PEPPER SPRAY (23A: Result of shaking a soda too hard before opening?)
  • BABY DR. RUTH (34A: Noted sexologist, in her infancy?)
  • DR. WHO'S YOUR DADDY (48A: "The paternity results are in ... it's the protagonist of a long-running BBC sci-fi show!"?
  • DR. J. CREW (64A: 1970s-'80s Sixers star and friends?)
  • THE WIZARD OF DR. OZ (85A: Controversial TV personality's magical sidekick?) (I love that he's clued as "controversial," though even that is euphemistic)
  • DO DR. NO HARM  (98A: Hurt a Bond villain?) (I thought the phrase was "*First* do no harm...")
 ["I went to the PSYCHIC and the PSYCHIC said...."]

Word of the Day: SYOSSET (119A: Mid-Long Island community) —
Syosset /sˈɒst/ is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, United States, in the northeastern section of the Town of Oyster Bay, near the North Shore of Long Island. The population was 18,829 at the 2010 census. It is served by the Syosset railroad station, the Syosset Post Office, the Syosset Central School District, the Syosset Public Library, the Syosset Fire Department, and the Jericho Water District. // Syosset is located approximately 32 miles (51 km) east of Midtown Manhattan. Service is accessible to New York City by the LIRR and the Long Island Expressway by car. (wikipedia)
• • •

Hey, it's my friend Finn. I just saw him at the Indie 500 crossword tournament last week. He looks like this (or at least he did last week):


I didn't really dig this theme—not because simply adding "DR." to familiar phrases is too simple (simple can be wondrously effective), but because only one of the themers made me smile (specifically, "DR. WHO'S YOUR DADDY!") (which was also the first themer I got). After that, nothing really landed for me, and considering the rather limited number of famous DR.s, uncovering those themers was astonishingly easy. The grid as a whole, however, I quite enjoyed. It was very Finny in both its professionalism and its boyish cuteness. Thought the FRAT BROS HUGging IT OUT was kind cute (though I had the more common "FRAT BOYS" there at first), and both SUPER BOWL MVP and "OH BOO HOO!" were lovely. Same with "MAY I SEE?" (no, you may not). ISN'T HOME isn't good, but there's not much in the way of junk here, I must say. I wish the themers had been funnier, and I wish the puzzle had been 50% harder. But I can't say I didn't have a pretty good time.

 [Here I am reading a short story to my dogs. The story is "Slatland" by Rebecca Lee. They seemed to enjoy it. I know I did.]

Bullets:
  • 66D: "The Hunger Games" star, in tabloids (J-LAW) — for Jennifer Lawrence. Just saw this answer (for the first time, I think) this past week in one of Caleb Madison's Buzzfeed crosswords. 
  • 56D: Frequent James Franco collaborator (SETH ROGEN) — pretty easy, though I did make sure to leave that final vowel blank until the cross confirmed it (never sure if it's "A" or "E"). 
  • 48D: "You sure got me pegged!" ("DO I!") — I had "MOI?" and I swear it felt right. But then I was like "Who ... is MR. WHO?"
  • 63D: With 65-Down, technological escalations (ARMS / RACES) — the "technological" part really threw me. I was thinking of tech companies engaged in some kind of tech ... battle. With competing products and what not. But I guess nuclear bombs and other weapons are "technological" too.
  • 119A: Mid-Long Island community (SYOSSET) — a random conglomeration of letters, as far as I was concerned. This is where I finished the puzzle, and I just shrugged as I entered all of the letters from crosses. I kept expecting a recognizable place name to come into view. That did not happen.
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]

64 comments:

jae 12:31 AM  

Easy works for me. Same minor hiccups as Rex...ROGEN or ROGAN?, BOYS or BROS?...but I was more amused by the theme answers and an easy Sunday is not a bad thing...liked it.

Trombone Tom 12:52 AM  

Totally agree with @Rex on this one. Fairly easy, interesting theme, and some good answers like HUGITOUT and OHBOOHOO. I, too, left the last vowel in ROGEN blank and waited for the cross. Absolutely no clue about SYOSSET but, again, the crosses gave it up.

David 1:31 AM  

The Doctor Who answer is worth a chuckle, but also feels like an oversight---because the word "Doctor" is always spelled out, as the character's name. Having it abbreviated to "Dr. Who" feels like a mistake. It almost feels like they had to add an explanation within the clue because they realized this one wouldn't read correctly unless they telegraphed in big letters that you were supposed to treat it as about Doctor Who.

Also, given all the on-point criticism of tone-deaf cluing on this blog, I think it's only fair to say that 81-across seemed like a step in the right direction. Whether in an effort to improve handling of these things, or just by happenstance, "Kind of pick" seemed like a step in the right direction as far as AFRO cluing goes.

'mericans in Paris 3:54 AM  

We found this puzzle a bit harder than easy, entering unconnected words to which we knew the answer, until getting DR WHO'S YOUR DADDY. At that point, a lot of answers quickly fell into place.

However, we DNF because we erred on the answer to 64A, with DRJaREs. I had "sHelL" originally in answer to 67D ("Pattern for a forensic scientist"), and kept trying to fit "TeEnIdol ... "into 95A. Mrs. 'mericans later corrected that, and entered CHOIR in 79 across, but neither of us bothered to check what that did to 67D. Oh well.

We liked the theme answers OK (especially 48A), and appreciated the general lack of dreg in the fill. However, I couldn't help but notice all the plurals ending in the letter "S" (23 in total), some of them rather forced. Indeed, the letter S occupies 9.2% of the grid (as opposed to 1.8% for the letter "U").

And, OOHs là là, this puzzle must break some sort of record for double Os: OH BOO HOO!, the radio's playing BOORS today, with Pat BOONE SOON to cover a song by the GOOGOO Dolls.

Lewis 6:30 AM  

My only nit is that I don't think the reveal (THE_DOCTOR_IS_IN) is necessary, especially with the terrific puzzle title. But there were some appealing answers (WHORL, PRESSES_ON, FLORETS, MINORCA, AT_SIGNS) and the grid is clean. It seemed to fill in quickly while giving me the cerebral calisthenics I so greatly enjoy.

I admire that Finn found as many theme answers as he did, as I tried with no success to come up with more. All I got was a Bostoner saying DR_SPOCK-PLUG but couldn't come up with a worthy clue.

eveostay 6:54 AM  

Mr. Vigeland's using that same picture for his xwordinfo head shot...

pmdm 6:58 AM  

Doctor Who? was forced to take a hiatus for a number of years (why some call the BBC the Bumbling Broadcasting Company. When it revived itself, one of the classic phrases the first year was "Are you my mommy?" which is very close to "Who's your daddy?" Intentional?

Funny or not, I thought today's wordplay worked well. A nice puzzle.

Loren Muse Smith 7:00 AM  

Liked it. I agree that DR WHO'S YOUR DADDY is the real star, but my first themer was DR PEPPER SPRAY, and it certainly made me smile. It also made me go ahead and sniff out the others, including THE DOCTOR IS IN. (So even though I wanted FRAT boys, too, Rex, I got BROS no problem.)

I had a dnf because I put in "Syossat" instead of SYOSSET. Bad cross, that.

And I put in "boobs" before BOORS.

I've said before, for some reason I can't bring myself to play Starbucks' little size-name game. There's not one near me, but when I do go, I walk in, already intimidated, wait in line, and then quietly say I want a "small black coffee. " I always feel so one-dimensional in those places. But I can't get my mind around a half caf TALL 3 pump hazelnut soy cinnamon sprinkles latte.

Kinda fun to have J DATE crossing J CREW. And I bet @Lewis is all over the BOO BOO GOO GOO cross. Hah!

There are times when I despise hugging non-family members and resent down to my toes someone who makes me hug. She comes in for the kill, smiling, I'm a hugger. Well, sister, I'm not. Why do you get to be boss of this exchange? At least I think that. I always hug back. Resentful. Mom used to make my sisters and me HUG IT OUT sometimes. I don't think any of us ever wanted to. (ACPT friends – this does not include any of you. At all.)

Let me tell you about FLORETS. You gotta start buying the Birds Eye frozen kind. I swear, that bag is full of nothing but FLORETS. They're beautiful. I throw a handful of frozen florets on top of my Tupperware thing of chicken and rice or whatever in the morning and by lunchtime, I just heat the whole thing up. Perfect. (If you like sad, joyless little lunches, that is. Still…)

I bet someone can come up with Dr. Fill possibilities. ( DR FILL, OUT! -Order to Matt's program to leave the room because it got caught cheating?)

Finn – nice one. I had fun getting all the themers.

chefbea 7:27 AM  

Fun fairly easy puzzle. Liked the theme. Have no idea what a whorl Is??? Didn't we have Boz earlier this week??

Lewis 7:30 AM  

@lms -- Not to mention BOORS over BOONE with a nearby SOON.

Davin Kuntze 7:49 AM  

An easy sunday with more than few nice clues and a mediocre theme that was completely ruined for me by the DOCTOR WHO misnomer. Even a casual fan (ok ok, I'm a bit of a major fan) knows he goes by the Doctor and the show is called Doctor Who and should never, ever be called Dr. Who. I actually had to put the puzzle down after that clue and take a few calming breaths.

Also, the reveal spells out DOCTOR while everywhere else it's DR.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gallifrey/comments/1a5l20/is_dr_who_okay_now/

redrube 8:02 AM  

why is no one commenting on 34 down of yesterdays puzzle. The Voltaire quote is wrong or it's a typo. It should say "The voice of a few intelligent people.....not "The vice of a few intelligent people......
was my copy of the paper the only one with the typo?? I don't think so

Anonymous 8:24 AM  

Chef Bea, a whorl is one of the curves in your fingerprints. Doesn't Rex live in NY? He should have heard of Syosset.

Aketi 8:29 AM  

Sigh, I thought I was so smart when I got SUPERBOWLADS right away. Aren't those more popular than the MVPs?

Then there was the little problem with the POCONOs. I ran through all the ski resorts we went t when our son was learning to board. Camelback was too long and Alpine and Shawnee were too short. I did not know that there was a MT POCONO.

I SORTA like seeing both the PSYCHIC and the WIZARD in the same puzzle without a Harry Potter or LOTR reference.

Then there's the conglomeration of (DR) WHOS YOUR DADDY on top of SEX and GENES crossed with JDATE and AMOr. Looking further afield, in UTERO and BABY(DR) RUTH werehovering above with GOOGOO down below (which could have been accompanied but GAGA instead of HAHA)

I am always a little taken ABACK when some people ASSUME that everyone responds positively to HUGging IT OUT. I won't DENY IT, i'm not much of a hugger. Unwanted hugs sometimes skeeve me out. I can handle air hugs from new acquaintances and real hugs from good friends. I could not handle one of my professors in grad school that thought we all needed hugs from her all the time and swooped her arms around us frequently without asking permission, I felt like a little kid getting my cheeks pinched by grandma. In the new vocabulary I'd say it felt like a microagression, but that might then trigger antiPC rants HAHA. In the old vocabulary, I just considered it rude that she didn't ask first.



Aketi 8:41 AM  

Forgot the FLORETS episode which led to a Facebook page devoted to Brian the Brocolli. When my son was in middle school he wanted to invite a girl to the prom. He asked my advice on a very expensive bracelet that he thought would be a nice gift for her. Since it was only middle school after all, I thought it was a bit much and suggested flowers. Sadly I wasn't paying enough attention to his friends' advice. His buddies thought it would be hilarious if he asked her to go to the prom with a Brocolli FLORET. Needless to say she did not accept his invite and Brian the Brocoli became notorious for how not to ask a girl to a prom.

G. harris 8:54 AM  

Whorls are what make up a fingerprint.

billocohoes 9:15 AM  

chefbea - WHORL is a circular type of fingerprint pattern (as opposed to loops, arches, tented arches, et. al.)

Unknown 9:26 AM  

Too Easy for a Sunday

kitshef 9:26 AM  

Well,that was fun. I liked all the themers, and hated only FRATBROS, which no one says.

SYOSSET/LANOTTE looks like a big-time Natick, deftly avoided by blind luck.

@David - always spelling out 'doctor' appears to be a modern thing. I can remember watching in the 70s and 'dr.' Was used all the time.

Teedmn 9:31 AM  

I did the puzzle with my new pencil, a gift from Syndiland's @Diana, LIW, WHO is in St. Paul to observe the MN crossword tournament which is later today. Wish me luck, I'm competing.

While @Diana and @rondo, also of Syndiland, and I wandered around downtown St. Paul, we came across this place
Kind of pick, appropriate for one of today's answers . I took a photo of their sign but I don't have a way of linking to the photo so a look at their website is the best I can do.

Otherwise, @LMS described my solve very well, right down to the same Natick spot DNF, though mine was SYOSSiT.

Ha, I literally just got the clue for POMPOM. I was trying to remember if I had ever learned about the Egyptians waving them when I finally considered a different kind of pyramid, d'oh!

Thanks, Finn Vigeland.

Unknown 9:33 AM  

I agree all around: agreeable and fun, not hard at all. I got DRPEPPERSPRAY right off, so the theme was revealed early and by the time I got to DRWHOSYOURDADDY it made me smile broadly. Good one, Finn.

Charles Flaster 9:57 AM  

Enjoyed it very much.
THE DOCTOR IS IN was a fitting climax.
Favorite clue was BALD.
I did not feel "bigwig" was appropriate in 3 Down.
Write overs-- GNEISS for GNEISe, DO I pour mOI, and GDAY for ahoY.
Did not know "suborn" so some learning took place.
Thanks FV.

ArtO 10:08 AM  

Probably my fastest Sunday ever although I don't usually time. Got DRPEPPERSPRAY and was off and running. Thought the cross of OHBOOHOO and GOOGOO would get a ding from OFL. Instead the former got some praise. Will wonders never cease.

Nik 10:12 AM  

Thank you for the Oh Pep! tune. I hadn't heard it or of the band before--new addition to my playlist.

Nancy 10:21 AM  

I never met a pun I didn't like, and I found this especially adorable. It WAS pretty easy, but not so easy that it was a bore. I got the theme at BABY DR. RUTH, though I was originally stymied because I had written MiLADY instead of MY LADY at 29D. I guess I was thinking Downton Abbey, rather than King Arthur's Round Table. Once I had that, though, I cruised. There was some delightful cluing -- DENT, TAROT and POMPOM come to mind, but there was more. And I learned some stuff: there's a JLAW person to go with the JLO person. Can they be found on JDATE?

I also found out that there's a HAHA reaction button on Facebook. This, Dear Reader, goes a great deal of the way in explaining why I'm not on Facebook.

An enjoyable puzzle that put me in a good mood.

chefbea 10:25 AM  

Thanks all who explained whorl

Nancy 10:36 AM  

No, @redrube (8:02)! "Voice" is what YOU might have said, were you Voltaire. As you are not. "Vice" is what Voltaire said. I thought that "vice" was so much more sardonic, more trenchant, more dripping in its sarcasm, that I was sure that's what Voltaire MUST have said -- being the great thinker and iconoclast that he was. "Voice" would turn the quote into a great, mealy-mouthed nothing. So I just looked it up. And "vice" it is. I think you should have looked it up yourself -- before accusing the NYT of misquoting.

Anonymous 10:54 AM  

@redrube: It's "vice." Look it up.

Nancy 11:00 AM  

@Lobster 11 (from yesterday, 2:42 p.m.) -- At @Mohair's suggestion, I went back and re-read your comment, which I had missed. He's right -- it's very funny.

Carola 11:02 AM  

I echo @Joey Wolf Dee, 9:33 AM.

@Loren - Me, neither, on those Starbucks' sizes. Instant hackle-raising. I took to ordering by number of ounces.

@redrube - Thanks for the Voltaire correction. My reaction yesterday was "Really?"

JD 11:30 AM  

Sorta fun. Like a huge Monday.

RooMonster 11:33 AM  

Hey All !
Actually got the revealer first, and I think DR PEPPER SPRAY next. Fave was DR WHOS YOUR DADDY, just the way it's clued and its double meaning. Although, DR J CREW is pretty funny.

Had a pretty good size DNF, LANOTTE a woe, RHYTHM was never gonna enter the ole brain, as had sTA for MTA, totally forgetting about MTA. And SYOSSis. In the W center, IBM cleverly disguised, ended up with DOh for DO I (bad clue on DOI, IMO) and BRInE/hnM. (Even though I didn't know those initials!) Also had MAY I SAY in E center, making my NENE a NyNE! Ouch.

Overall enjoyable SunPuz. Nice themers, dreck-lite fill. Good one, Finn.

GNEISS
RooMonster
DarrinV

Rex Parker 12:06 PM  

Nik—

Thanks for paying attention. Glad you liked it.

rp

Lobster11 12:31 PM  

Thanks, @Nancy and @Mohair. I enjoyed writing that one!

Anoa Bob 1:08 PM  

Very enjoyable big-grid workout with a nice balance between themers (not too many) and sparkling fill. Yeah, given the title, the reveal was SORTA anticlimactic.

Sometimes I like to spice it up a bit when someone is complaining about something of little consequence and I say OH BOO F#*^ING HOO. Has to be with the right crowd, though.

Agreed, the base phrase is "FIRST DO NO HARM (Primum No Nocere), but that would give the resulting DR NO themer a way higher letter count than its symmetrical partner BABY DR RUTH. So does that make it a DOC (Deletion Of Convenience)?

And is it ironic that a major medical journal (BMJ) just recently published data that showed the third leading cause of death in the USA is medical mistakes? (Constructors N.B.: That would be IATROGENIC deaths.)

Laura 1:35 PM  

SYOSSET may be a NATICK to some, but if you're in the NYC metro area, it's one of those suburbs that your work colleagues commute to/from on the LIRR (I got it with just SY-). Rex's part of upstate New York, the region known as the "Southern Tier," may as well be another state entirely.

Mama Karma 2:17 PM  

Seems I only comment here when I'm confused. Can someone please explain 21D, myob? No problem getting it, just don't understand it. Otherwise enjoyed this puzzle. Theme fell at Dr Pepper spray. My first college boyfriend was from Syosset, amazing that it still popped into my mind, complete with correct spelling, so easily after (gulp) almost 50 years!

Mama Karma 2:20 PM  

Never mind! My son, who was out hiking in our somewhat less relentless heat this morning in Phoenix, just informed me what MYOB stands for, and now I feel pretty stupid - easy answer goes along with the rest of this easy puzzle!

Anonymous 2:22 PM  

In re yesterday Alouettes song, I think it is sung where as you sing it you playfully pretend to pull a plume or tickle a tot's body part corresponding to the birdie.but I may be mistaken it may just be a sadistic ditty.

old timer 2:29 PM  

I'm with 'mericans on this one. Did not put in the J after DR. Though I remember DR J.

I thought the theme was clever. THE DOCTOR IS IN is a good revealer because it tells you that DR has been INserted into a phrase that can stand on its own, i.e., without the DR. And if I had thought about that a little more, I would have figured out my one miss, for J.CREW is, or was, a prominent mail-order clothing outfit.

SYOSSET did not leap off the grid for me but I have heard of it. RHYTHM made the smile when I got it at last. My last entry: COAL. The Grinch's stocking stuffer.

Unknown 2:42 PM  

this was easy but fun and had lots of cool words and clues. i really liked it!

Masked and Anonymous 2:59 PM  

Primo Dr. Who's Who puz. But, SYSOSSET/LANOTTE was a real oucher.

Top things goin thru the dogs' minds, while @idieWHA009 reads em "Slatland" …

1. Bacon … mm-mm.
2. This is far superior to the loud barkin the ballcap dude did, when he was workin that NYTPuz.
3. Thank goodness … I thought he'd said "Cat Land", at first.
4. Steak scraps … mm-mm.
5. That book looks like a real good chew …
6. Ahhhh … nap time.
7. We still gotta say it: that chair would look better, over there in the corner.
8. Belly rubs. mm-mm.

Cool write-up, with the bullets. And thanx, Mr. Vigeland.

Masked & Anonym007Us



**gruntz**

Mohair Sam 3:03 PM  

I am absolutely convinced that Finn Vigeland built his entire puzzle around the clue for DRHWOSYOURDADDY. And why not? The other puns were OK, although I really enjoyed the hippocracy in DODRNOHARM.

My big sister lived in Bayville for years, had to drive thru nearby SYOSSET to get there off the Long Island Expressway. Listen up Manhattanite Shortz - SYOSSET is about as mid-Long Island as 14th Street is Mid-Town Manhattan. Patchogue is mid-Long Island, thank you - maybe Brookhaven.

We got hung up for a little while because we were looking for some high tech thingy for "Technological escalations" instead of the simple ARMS RACES. Learned today that Jennifer Lawrence is JLAW - if you haven't seen her first indy flick "Winter's Bone" you're in for a treat. Talk about strong female characters. Better yet, read the book.

Fun Sunday.

Peter Strauss 6:15 PM  

Enjoyable, even with a DNF because of not getting J Crew.
That was, after the fact, a forehead slapper.
I keep seeing references to Naticks.
Not sure, but if that's in reference to a place nobody's heard of,
it's a city close to Framingham, MA, and about 30 miles, give/take, from where I grew up. And it bears no resemblance, AFAIK, to Syosset.

Nice puzzle, not terribly taxing, and a good Sunday workout.

Thanks, Finn.

Anonymous 6:20 PM  

Rex: Please include a photo of your dogs each Sunday. They elevated the humdrum experience of solving this uninspired puzzle. Let's hope that next week's in worthy of them.

Janice Rossi 6:44 PM  

It took me longer than it should have to get 3 Down. I got the "superbowl" part right away. And MVP seemed as if it would fit... but I was thrown by the use of abbreviation. The clue, Sports bigwig every February, to me did not indicate that the answer was going to include an abbreviation. If it were, I felt it would say, Feb not February. Or is the use of the colloquial "bigwig" enough to allow mvp to be part of the answer? I am a longtime fan of Mr. Finn Vigeland and his puzzles!

kitshef 11:05 PM  

@Peter Strauss - If you click on the FAQ at the top of Rex's Blog page, you'll get an explanation why Natick is used as a shorthand for an unfairly-crossed, obscure location.

Hartley70 11:19 PM  

I wonder if Rex was inspired to read to his pooches after seeing the heart-warming article and photo in the NYT this week showing a shelter volunteer reading to an abused pit bull. This is apparently a beneficial therapy for severely traumatized dogs. It elicited a big awwww from me! It certainly makes Rex look all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

@Aketi I loved the broccoli FLORET story. Any girl worth a dance with your son would have said yes.

In most instances, I'm on the side of the non-HUGgers. When I moved to NY for college, I was appalled at the amount of hugging surrounding me and felt the urge to shrink as I saw one coming my way. I think it began as a NY thing that spread across the nation. I'm never offended if one abstains, but I've learned to go with the flow. You have to pick your battles.

@Teedman, great fun you got to hang with @Diana and your new Syndieland friend. I wonder if living in the past has allowed them to age slower than the rest of us. That is probably a question better saved for The Doctor. Doctor who?

I thought the puzzle was a lot of fun today. I did it after 9pm and I appreciate that it gave me some chuckles without over-taxing my brain. It was light and frothy without being too simple. Great job, Finn!

Betseeee 1:11 AM  

First time commenting and I am far from an expert solver, but after Mohair Sam's comment I had to weigh in on SYOSSET. I grew up very close to there, in a town that had a shopping center that was then called the Mid-Island Plaza, so I would call the clue legit. Patchogue is pretty far east to me. I could buy into calling it mid-Suffolk couny, but not mid-LI. Maybe geographically it's closer, but spiritually it's not.

Izzie 3:27 PM  

Winters in Boca Raton provide an education in LI geography. Remembered gneiss from Rock Sci, but didn't know how to pronounce it. Liked 71 D "chip material."

Joe Bleaux 1:27 PM  

Way too late, I'm guessing, but "Loopy little films" = GIFS? Huh? Doctor, doctor, help me please!

Z 6:37 AM  

@rondo - My condolences. It sounds like your cousin John was a man worth knowing.

spacecraft 12:15 PM  

88-across. I'm with OFL, who I'm surprised to learn never heard of SYOSSET. I was expecting the insertion of DR--or maybe MD or even an assortment of abbreviated doctorates--into familiar phrases turned wacky. But it was just...some very short-named DRs. Also agree that DRWHOSYOURDADDY is the crowning achievement of the piece; but it wasn't enough to take me out of MEH territory.

A great memory: in the only NBA game I ever personally attended, DRJ beat the (hated, for me) Celtics at the buzzer. Never went to another game: how could it get any better?

DOD JLAW is properly positioned: she could be my "centerpiece" any time. Hand up for the FRATBoyS. Some pretty cool fill, but the weakish theme costs. Par.

Burma Shave 12:24 PM  

DRWHOSYOURDADDY

INHASTE JANET sent me SEXTS
when I asked,”MAYISEE thy skin?”
So that WHORL be down in PREOP next
and you can ASSUME THEDOCTORISIN.

--- BRICE LEE BOONE


DODRNOHARM

Her GENRE is of JDATE, and in UTERO,
and of OILS, and things GROSS and uncouth.
YASIR, don’t DENYIT’s a TREAT to hear her show
-it’s MYLADY- that yeah BABYDRRUTH.

--- MAYOR LEANN GRAHAM

rondo 12:52 PM  

Easy and mildly amusing, actually chuckled about a few themers. Of course better than a rebus.

Thanks @Z, you’d have found John interesting.

Frequent yeah babies EVA and LEANN make another desperate and musical appearance. For the gals of a certain age I guess Mr. GERE might be (or have been) your kind of yeah baby?

Had no DOUBTS about this puz, except SYOSSET by crosses. It’s really GNEISS so I’m going outdoors.

AnonymousPVX 2:14 PM  

A nice easy Father's Day puzzle, perfect timing.

Not throwing stones but I grew up around New Haven, CT ( best pizza anywhere ) and even I have heard of Syosset.

GIFs are those little clips that repeat over and over.

Diana,LIW 3:49 PM  

Another Sunday, another paper soaked by being left in the sprinkler's path. Still waiting for replacement.

But - the puz was dry

Had it 99% done, but was done in by the islands and Harry's mom's maiden name. Really? Guess it would mean something to a fan.

Enjoyed the theme better than Rex. Yeah, and Macy's is having a sale.

Shall take advantage of lack of paper to go to the gym early. Then will take Mr. Waiting out for pre-game burgers for Father's Day, which, BTW, was started in Spokane. Mr. W is a great kitty dad - all the cool cats say so.

Diana, Lady-in-Waiting...

Anonymous 6:41 PM  

Dr. Pepper and Pepper Spray......... work
Dr. Who and (Who(s) your Daddy) ......... work
Baby Dr. and Dr. Ruth........... work

Dr. J works, but I have no idea what a J Crew is. Google tells me its some kind of clothing store, with limited high-line mall locations (none close to me - that I go to). ok....... I'm old.

I don't know what a Dr. Oz is (google tells me its TV show), but I still fail to see what The Wizard of Dr. means

Same for Do Dr. and Dr. No Harm.

The first 3 tied together as two phrases; the last two were just inserts that made no sense to me.

Diana,LIW 10:10 PM  

7:10 p.m. Still no paper. ASSUME its not coming. I'm PSYCHINC.

Left unhappy message with circ. dept.

Diana, not waiting any more today

Diana,LIW 10:52 PM  

To the place...I was born...

Cleveland Rocks!

Not since I was 13

Diana, not waiting now

BobL 7:36 PM  

As someone who grew up in Syosset, it was a mild thrill to realize it was an answer in the NYT Sunday puzzle! I agree that cluing it as MID-Long Island was off the mark, though.

A number of notable people grew up in Syosset, including producer/writer/director Judd Apatow, author Meg Wolitzer, actress Natalie Portman, and singer Alicia Keyes.

Phillip Blackerby 4:35 PM  

I agree. The clue should have indicated that the answer would include an abbreviation. Editing error, Mr. Shortz!

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