Friday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: September 14, 2018

My time: 13:18.

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John Guzzetta designed this themeless Friday puzzle that boasts only 26 black squares and showcases some impressive fill, such as BEAVIS ("MTV toon teen"), HUNT AND PECK, IT'S A MIRACLE ("hallelujah!"), THAT'S GENIUS, IMAGINE THAT, and SWISS CHARD ("leafy vegetable related to a beet"), among others.

SWISS CHARD is also called silverbeet, crab beet, mangold, and bright lights.  Fun names!  Also, not from Switzerland.

"Differences between colors" isn't about shades or hues.  Instead Guzzetta gets all scientific on us and gives us the literal truth: WAVELENGTHS are what make color.

I thought Miss Piggy's accessory might be *WIG, but of course she has her own hair.  She's always brushing it!  The correct answer is BOA.

Although I've heard the name in connection with music, I had no idea that musician and producer DANGER MOUSE was in the group Gnarls Barkley.  Actually I thought Gnarls Barkley was the name of a solo act.  Also he's won six Grammys.

I've never heard of not-all-that notable novelist DELIA Ephron, sister of scriptwriter Nora.  Interesting tidbit about Nora: she knew who Deep Throat was from the beginning.

DAX Shepard has the kind of name crossword creators love.  He plays Crosby Braverman on "Parenthood."  Also he was in Idiocracy.

An oocyte is just an immature EGG cell.

I thought the 1974 Abba hit was *"MONEY MONEY," but that song is called "Money Money Money," and was released in 1976.  The real answer is "HONEY HONEY."

The mazurka is a lively Polish folk dance in TRIPLE TIME.

"Member of the 1920s Murders' Row" confused me until I got enough crossfill to see it was BABE RUTH and then I remembered that this is a bit of baseball hyperbole, and not a gangster syndicate like Murder Incorporated.

In more sports news, "grounds for a 15-yard penalty" is a LATE HIT.  I'm so clueless about sports I thought it might be a *LATE HUT.  You know, like when they snap the ball.

DEIRDRE of the Sorrows, in Irish legend, was foretold to cause wars with her beauty.  Hearing this, a king, Conchobar, fulfilled the prophecy by raising her in seclusion to be his bride, but then she fell in love with a warrior, and of course jealousy and spilled blood ensued.

Some Pontiacs are GTOS.  Classic Jaguars are XK-ES.

The term SHTETL was used on November 11, 2017, clued as "Yentl setting."  Today it's clued as the setting for Fiddler on the Roof.

The pull-up muscle LAT was defined on April 3 as being the muscle below the delt.

Clever clues: "Offensive line" is BARB, as in the verbal kind.  "School copier, maybe" is CHEATER.  "Future reporter" is SEER --- I kept reading it as someone studying to be a reporter.  "Change the locks?" is DYE.  "Distant stars?" is HAS-BEENS.  "Spit spot" is ROTISSERIE.

Great puzzle!  I don't really review the puzzles, but this would not be a PAN.  That's the TERSEST review ever.