Thu., 4/23 Julian Lim

[magus]

THEME:   last word of phrase can modify DRAGON
   
GOOD ONES:     
Nice pen   PLUME ["La plume de ma tante…"]   
Spam holders  CANS [not computer debris]   
It's often bought at an island   GAS [islands at a gas station]   
   
BTW:   
IMAGINE DRAGONS is the key theme clue and would be good if I had heard of that group.   
   
Church attendees   LAY PEOPLE [I'd have added "mostly" since clerics also attend]   
   
Place that gave its name to a cat breed   SIAM [the way I see it the cat took the name from the place]   
   
Org and No appear in my newspaper as part of clues but they lack periods --- is this a new fad, and if so, I say it's not ok --- and that's my ans   
   
Some unique entries like EMAIL HOAX; WHALING ON; I AM LEGEND; LAY PEOPLE --- in addition to the theme entries.   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

The use of WHALE as a verb meaning "to lash, thrash or beat" dates to 1790 and the word may be related to WALE or WEAL but the origin is unclear. There is an essay about the term at:

http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/107293/whale-as-a-verb

The name of the IKEA furniture store chain often appears in crosswords but I did not understand today's clue, "Purveyors of many flat packs." I discovered that the term "flat pack" refers to Ikea's "Better Shelter" refugee shelters. One can be erected in four hours and will last for three years. Ikea recently started production of 10,000 shelters for a United Nations refugee agency.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/26/8287509/ikea-refugee-shelter-flatpack-photos-iraq-syria

Today's Daily News crossword included four theme answers which could also be volumes of an encyclopedia: BACKTOBASICS, MADETOMEASURE, NEXTTONOTHING AND RAGSTORICHES. Many young people have likely never seen an encyclopedia. Each encyclopedia had several volumes and each volume was identified by its first and last entry. There is an old joke about a teenager who bought a book, only to discover that it was not what he thought it would be. It was an encyclopedia volume titled "HOW to HUG."

[rbe]

Org. and No. did have periods in the Across Lite version of the puzzle.

[magus]

Thanks, rbe; odd that the paper omitted them.  But the history of orthography has been shaped by printers and newspaper editors, so maybe change is afoot.

[Thomps2525]

Dr Pepper, which is flavored mostly with cherry, vanilla and walnut---no prune juice, contrary to popular belief---has been spelled without a period since 1954. The company adopted a new logo that included an "r" which was a straight line and a dot. It looked somewhat like  |° and a period would make the "r" appear to be an "i" and a colon. The period was dropped from the name and it has never been restored. The Dr Pepper logos are shown at http://logos.wikia.com/wiki/Dr_Pepper