Wednesday's New York Times puzzle solved: March 21, 2018

My time: 8:16.

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Laura Baunstein gives us some phrases turned into animal puns.  DUCKS OUT OF VIEW is "why the hunter couldn't shoot mallards."  FLIES IN THE FACE is "reason a cow swatted herself."  SEALS WITH A KISS is "circus animals enjoying some chocolate."  and YAKS ON THE PHONE is "whose conversation might be about shaggy hair and Himalayan peaks."

I swear every town in California must have been a crossword clue at one time or other.  LOS Gatos is part of Silicon Valley and the 33rd wealthiest city in the United States.

"Good old pal" SAL has appeared enough that it's in my brain now.

AT&T Park is a baseball stadium at 24 Willie Mays Plaza in San Francisco.  It's home to the SF GIANTS!

Did you know the setting of Hawaii FIVE-O is OAHU?  Me neither.

I don't think I've heard the term FIXIE for a single-gear bike.  It's short for fixed-gear bicycle.

"NL'er wearing blue and orange" is N.Y. MET.

I like the clue "not-so-intimidating sort of test" for TAKE-HOME.

Clever clue: "Where a person in charge is making the rounds?" is BAR.

Okay, so I have no idea why this took me so long.  I really didn't have trouble with a lot of stuff.  I guess I'm a slow poke NERD.