My granddaughter knew this and collaborating with my wife presented me a Father's Day present with Heath Bars, shoestring potatoes, Cheez-its and assorted other goodies my doctors would love to ban.
Today's constructor is Ed Sessa M.D., a pediatrician who would take one look at this picture and shake his head in dismay.
Dr. Sessa practiced in upstate New York and is now retired and living on Sanibel Island in Florida. Ed said he made some puzzle for local publications and then decided to submit one to Will Shortz and the NYT and said he was very happy it was accepted with only a minor theme change. Shortly after that he was accepted by Rich Norris at the LA Times. If you want to know more about Ed's puzzling career, I highly recommend a 2007 Ed Sessa interview by C.C.
I just put down my shoestring potatoes and will now explore the rest of Dr. Sessa's prescriptions for us today.
Across:
1. Sleight of hand?: PALM - He has no card in his hand 41. "... or so it may __": SEEM.
5. Like pie?: AS EASY - Hey, fits in with the day we are celebrating!
11. Tennis stroke: LOB - an unbelievable return of a LOB shot
14. Name on the 1949 "Death of a Salesman" playbill: ELIA - There it is. Who was your favorite Willy Loman? Mine was/is Lee J. Cobb
15. Bug on the road?: BEETLE - VW
16. Common cause of conflict: EGO
17. "The Karate Kid," e.g.: CINDERELLA STORY - Here's the final scene where he defeats his bully opponent
20. Guide for surfers: SITE MAP - Like an outline for the content for a website
21. Gray shades: TAUPES
22. Be of service to: AID
23. Org. with traveling bans?: THE NBA - Can you spot the player in the white jersey protesting?
25. One hanging around a lifeguard tower: PADDLE BOARD - Here are some lifeguards using them
29. Studio once run by Howard Hughes: RKO - Hughes fought censors for years to get this movie starring his girlfriend and her assets
34. Some museum art: NUDES - Jane wasn't NUDE in this movie but wore a special bra designed by Howard for publicity shots
33. D.C. figures: REPS - They have to get reelected every two yrs so they start raising money five seconds after they are sworn in
36. 16th-century council site: TRENT - A 19-year Catholic effort to react to the Protestant Reformation
38. Unspecified degree: NTH.
39. Footnote abbr.: OP CIT - Stands for meaning OPus CITatum meaning "referring to previous works cited"
40. Nasal partitions: SEPTA - Also heart partitions
43. Unadulterated: PURE.
44. Slangy okay: YEP - Gary Cooper was indeed a man of few words
45. Ice cream named after a Canadian river: KLONDIKE BAR - A favorite for 96 years
48. Quite a lot: OCEANS - It's gonna take an OCEAN of calamine lotion
50. Address in a mess: SIR - A fun scene in a MESS Hall where Will Stockton doesn't differentiate between SIRS and Maam's
53. Swears: PLEDGES - Everyone at our school PLEDGES allegiance at the start of the day with varying degrees of enthusiasm
57. 2013 Hudson's Bay Company acquisition: SAKS FIFTH AVENUE - I perused their $195 ties online
60. "... exclaim, __ he drove out of sight": Moore: ERE - Clement Moore 's next line was originally "Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!"
61. Sign with an arrow: ONE WAY.
62. Start to giver or taker: CARE.
63. Befitting: APT
Down:
1. Atlas display: PECS - Charles Atlas's PECS were in full display in this ad that was a staple of comic books of my ute
2. Et __: ALII - Latin for "And others". Could it be an OCEAN of them?
3. Dust bunny component: LINT
4. Achieved some progress: MADE A DENT - I feel better when I have MADE A DENT in next week's blog
5. Rubber eraser, for one: ABRADER - A device that scrapes away or erodes by friction
6. Go slowly: SEEP - SEEPING lava hitting a soda can
7. Sargasso Sea spawner: EEL.
8. Pac. cousin: ATL - The old A & P grocery stores stood for ATLantic and Pacific
9. Christian in cinema: SLATER - A star whose life fell apart at a young age with alcohol, drugs and the law who is trying to put his life back together.
Arrested for having a gun in his luggage at JFK |
10. Ambiguous answer: YES AND NO
11. Little big cat: LEOPARD CUB - This little CUB has some big feet to grow into
12. Mythical monster: OGRE.
13. First and last word of a common four-word saw: BOYS - Slight change
18. Dr. Skoda on "Law & Order": EMIL - Played by wonderful J.K. Simmons
19. Bathing spot: TUB.
23. Popular online lists: TOP TENS - the Top Ten hits for every summer from 1958 to 2017
24. Discussed, with "over": HASHED.
25. Mark: PATSY - His claim
26. Come to terms: AGREE.
27. Daddy Warbucks, e.g.: DEEP POCKET - That's who gets sued
28. Former Mormon leader Ezra Taft __: BENSON - Was Ike's Secretary of Agriculture in both of his terms
30. Actress Knightley: KEIRA - Okay
31. Blender brand: OSTER - This is the very OSTERIZER that sat on our counter for years
35. "Nosebleed seats" section: UPPER DECK.
37. Supposes to be: TAKES FOR - As in TAKES FOR granted
42. Loses temporarily: MISLAYS - My MISL (mislain?)car fob got lost forever and cost $295 to replace
46. Bodega patron: LATINO - Marcelino ran the one in Seinfeld
47. European capital: KIEV - Any theater person would recognize the production with this character - Perchik: A radical student from Kiev and later Hodel's husband, Perchik leaves Anatevka to work for the revolution in Kiev.
49. Fortune 500 listings: Abbr.: COS - The Fortune 500 would be their top 500 COmpanieS
52. Complain: CARP - More likely a fish from the Platte River than when 51. Sailing: ASEA
53. Really good, in '90s slang: PHAT - These adjectives are so hip and then quickly so "last year"
54. Rodents do it: GNAW - It's also a feeling I have when I finish blogging a puzzle and think I made a big goof
55. Money in la banque: EURO - One place to spend those EUROS
56. Treated by the doctor: SEEN - After I was SEEN by my ENT in March, I had hearing aids and a CPAP machine that day. Yay me! Boo aging!
58. Four-wk. period, usually: FEB - Old joke - "How many months have 28 days?" Answer - "All of them"
59. Minimum for many games: TWO - or to Tango as Al Pacino shows in this wonderful scene from Scent Of A Woman
Wouldn't some Cheetos go well with commenting on Dr. Sessa's puzzle?
DA GRID