No travel this week, but still a little rushed, so let’s hop into this week’s puzzle.

  • Title: The Doctor is In
  • Grid size: 15×15
  • Number of entries: 76
  • Difficulty: Medium Easy (my solve time: 6:47)

A fairly smooth solve that I squeezed in just under the wire after an unexpectedly busy week. I know it’s only Wednesday, but I’m definitely ready for the weekend. “The Doctor is In” is a literal description of the theme this week: the themers are common phrases with “DR” added to the beginning of the second word of the phrase to make it another phrase that is punnily clued: 

  • 18A: [Compliment to a curtain maker?]: GREAT DRAPES – While that might be what you say as a compliment, I bet a few great apes might have a different reaction.
  • 24A: [Manuscript writer who get an early start?]: MORNING DRAFTER – I wonder if a normally early riser would be so on the morning after a long night?
  • 39A: [Has a dental tool in hand?]: IS DRILL EQUIPPED – I’d hate to see a dentist that was ill equipped, so I guess this is better than the alternative.
  • 51A: [It leaves a stain, as grape juice or red wine?]: INDELIBLE DRINK – This one is almost clued straight, though I guess juice or wine stains are less permanent than indelible ink.
  • 60A: [Sagging lanes at Bowlerama?]: ALLEY DROOPS – A drooping alley would be pretty bad at the bowling lanes, but one would definitely not want to be doing alley oops with a bowling ball on a basketball court.

Even with the nearly literal directions in the title, it took me almost the whole puzzle to get the gimmick and it only helped me with two themers. I worked pretty much down the middle then up the E and W sides. No real stumpers nor any blind guesses, though there were several false starts and places where I needed a few more crosses than usual.

Canadian content

  • 23A: [Parliament’s upper house]: SEN – Pretty sure we’ve seen these constructor-friendly letters before – the Senate is the upper house of Parliament.
  • 29A: [Ont. region from Halton to Durham]: GTA – I had no idea where Halton or Durham were but I figured the Greater Toronto Area was a pretty high-odds guess.
  • 30D: [By way of, or a Canadian train name]: VIA – So I guess you can go via VIA, if you so choose.
  • 38D: [Successes for Lions and Elks]: TDS – While I knew the Detroit Lions would score touchdowns, and I have actually been to a BC Lions game, I was unaware that the Elks are the pride of Edmonton.
  • 50D: [Apr. returns recipient]: CRA – I had the C, so confidently put in CPA, thinking that in April Certified Public Accountants would be receiving returns to send to the IRS. However, it makes far more sense that the Canada Revenue Agency would be receiving them.
  • 60A: [Sagging lanes at Bowlerama?]: ALLEY DROOPS – I’m calling this Canadian for the clue – while there appear to be a few Bowleramas in the US, the most hits I got for them were in Canada.

Other stuff:

  • 1A: [Tide rival]: ABC – I confidently started with the oft-appearing laundry soap ERA, then when it was obvious that 1D was A CLAM changed it to ALL, until the crosses told me it was ABC, which apparently is popular in Turkey and India (and maybe Canada?).
  • 19D: [Major yawn-inducer]: DRAG – I initially thought but didn’t enter BORE, then got the G and entered SLOG (a term often used in describing Sunday New York Times puzzles by some Twitter user), and once I got the theme was able to get the right word.
  • I doubt the pairing of 25D and 26D was intentional, but they do kind of go together…
  • 47D: [Start an email over]: RETYPE – I kept wanting to put REDRAFT in here but obviously it wouldn’t fit.
  • 51A: [Leaves running in the driveway]: IDLES – This is a pet peeve of mine for the waste of fuel and pollution it causes. It is also an invitation for theft, and at least in my city, if your car gets stolen while idling the police will take your report then write you a fine.
  • 61D: [44-nation cont.]: EUR – I confidently put AFR in here as I swore I heard Africa had more nations than Europe, and 44 seemed like a pretty high number. Well, Africa has 54 nations so I was half right.

Quote of the week (and the season):

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow