Monday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: August 27, 2018

My time: 4:16.

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Okay, confession time.  I haven't been on vacation.  I haven't had a particularly heavy schedule.  I actually couldn't finish a puzzle since last Wednesday.  I just found them... very, very hard.  Too difficult for me to finish.  I didn't even try Sunday's.

Today, Susan Gelfand gives us celebrity addition.  It's a theme that is immediately understandable.  I filled three out of the four without any hesitation, except, of course, the sports one.

"Actor Cameron + actor Fairbanks = actor" KIRK DOUGLAS, obviously.  STEVE MARTIN is made form comedians Carell and Short, while JAMES TAYLOR is a composite of his fellow singers Brown and Swift.

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of basketball player BILL Walton, who came to fame in the UCLA Bruins, then played for the Trail Blazers and the Clippers.  Nor have I heard of RUSSELL Westbrook, a seven-time All-Star who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.  So I had to rely on crossfill to get BILL RUSSELL, a ten-year veteran of the Celtics.

As for the fill, it took me way too long to get SHIM ("leveling wedge").

I know what a BOX KITE is, but "flying toy that's open-ended" is a good clue.

This puzzle has both LUNK and HUNK ("object of an ogler").

Have you heard of relative of a snowboard MONOSKI?  Me neither.  At least I'm not familiar with that nomenclature.

Cuban dance RUMBA was last seen way, waaaayyy back on August 14.

Clever clues: "Where a mole shouldn't be" is CIA.  "Frenzied way to go" is AMOK.

Good puzzle, fun and easy theme.  I'd RATE it a 7 out of ten.  Not the ACME of puzzle making, but nothing to JEER at either.