Tuesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: June 26, 2018

My time: 4:43, just two seconds slower than the record!

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I never notice the time when I solve until I get to a slump.  If I had known how close I was, I would have moved a little faster maybe.  Anyway, this one is by Zhouqin Burnikel, who is ALTOGETHER too clever!  In this puzzle, AL is put TOGETHER with itself in five clued phrases: HALAL FOOD, IN LA-LA LAND, KUALA LUMPUR,  CENTRAL ALPS, and "autobiography of Nobel laureate Yousafzai" I AM MALALA.

Nilla wafers are made by Nabisco, so their "sister brand" is OREO.

Bantu is a large and loosely defined language group.  The most widely spoken language in the group is Swahili, but also includes Shona and Zulu, spoken by --- who else? --- ZULUS.

I've never heard of the pregame show "College GameDay," but ESPN was the obvious answer.

Look, I'm old.  I barely know who The Weeknd is, much less his real name, ABEL Makkonen Tesfaye.

I like the double He-Man references: SHE-RA and ADAM.

ASIANA is one of South Korea's major airlines, headquartered in Seoul.

Do I look like the kind of guy who know about jewelry retailers?  Never heard of Alex and ANI.  They seem to sell a lot of necklaces and bangles with symbols on them like elephants and pineapples.

Japanese watch and electronics company SEIKO appeared on May 31.  Here it is clued as "Citizen competitor."

"Gas in fuel" ETHANE last appeared on May 27.

This was a great Tuesday.  The theme was simple, but cleverly done, and showcased a lot of interesting fill.   Should I have paid more attention and broken my record?  'FRAID SO.  But I had a lot of fun doing it!