Friday's New York Times puzzle solved: May 11, 2018

My time: 8:59, breaking the new record by 25 seconds!  This has been quite a week for beating my times.  Tuesday, Thursday, and now today!

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Sam Ezersky and David Steinberg teamed up to construct this fun themeless.  Interesting fill this time around is IVORY SOAP (I'm old enough to remember "it floats"), TOP-TIER, SPIN A WEB ("try to catch someone, metaphorically"), GULF WAR, AEROBES, STIFFED ("left without leaving anything"), PTA MEETINGS, SMALL OJ, and GUMMY BEAR.

For "adds horsepower to" I had *REVS UP but it's SOUPS UP.

"Mariana Islands neighbor, for short" is IWO.  My geography blind spot strikes again.

I totally forgot that the Wright brothers were from DAYTON.

I had the glimmer of a maybe-memory that Shaquille O'Neal played at LSU, and it turned out to be right!  A sports fact!  In my brain!  Amazing.  Did you know he has a doctorate in education?

The Scandinavian monetary unit KRONA has been seen before, along with its 100th piece, the ORE, on December 13, 2017.

The spelling UEY ("quick turnaround?") appeared September 21, 2017.

Lots of amusing, oblique, and clever clues today: "Jolly 'Roger'?" is I HEAR YA.  "Digs in the snow" is IGLOO.  "What's far-sighted" is a SNIPER RIFLE.  "Things that help you go off the beaten path?" is MUD TIRES.  "Timely question?" is AM I LATE.  "Blue in the face?" is SAD-EYED.  "Pop stars?" is NOVAE.  "It's found between the shoulders" is ROADWAY.

I thought this puzzle was a SNAP!  I'M AWARE some people can do these much faster than I can, but I'm proud of myself anyway.