Monday's New York Times puzzle solved: April 23, 2018

My time: 4:51.

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Lynn Lempel made this puzzle, in which we "lead off" with phrases that have GO FIRST.  That is, they have synonyms of "go" contained in their first letters: SCRAMBLED EGGS, LEAVENED BREAD, SHOOT HOOPS.

I didn't notice the theme until I got to the capper, but after that it did help with one answer I'm not too familiar with: SCATTER RUG, another term for a throw rug.

It's not a very funny or engaging theme, but, you know, it's okay.

My time was slowed by some poor guesses on my part.  For "Nintendo game consoloe" I put *NES but it's WII.  For "cut and paste text, e.g." I foolishly put *COPY but of course it's EDIT.

Irene DUNNE was in Cimarron, and I saw her in The Awful Truth with Cary Grant, but I don't remember her.

I know Johnny MATHIS, but not his song "Chances Are."  He's not exactly a fixture on my turntable.

Steve MCQUEEN, not the action actor, directed 12 Years a Slave.

Bark beetles bore into different kinds of trees, but there are at least two species named after ELMS, the European elm bark beetle and the large elm bark beetle.

LAURA Linney is an actress who has been on "The Big C," "John Adams," Kinsey, and "Ozark," which latter I've seen some of.

Suffragist Carrie Chapman CATT last appeared November 3, 2017.

Two actresses, a singer, and a director make up pretty much the entire list of troublesome spots today.  I guess I'm not a Hollywood celebrity superfan.  EAU well.