Monday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: September 24, 2018

My time: 4:37.

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Sunday's was a Could Not Finish for me.  Even though I love René Magritte and The Treachery of Images is one of my favorite paintings, it was still too difficult for me.  Points for a very thorough theme, though.

So today it was Michael Black's turn.  He must be a fan of syndicated daytime game shows, because he managed to fit JEOPARDY, ALEX TREBEK, WHEEL OF / FORTUNE, VANNA WHITE, and PAT SAJAK all into the puzzle.

Aside from this, I thought there was some unusually devious cluing for a Monday in today's grid.  For example, "just one year, for Venus and Serena Williams" is a very roundabout way of getting to AGE GAP.

I knew that Tatum O'Neal was in a movie called PAPER MOON, but I couldn't have told you she won an Oscar for it.  It was released in 1973.  She played Addie Loggins, a girl who may be a con man's daughter, won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and became the youngest winner ever at the age of 10.

The onetime Apple product IBOOK is not something that registered with me at the time.  It was discontinued in 2006 and replaced with the MacBook.

Geography has never been my strong suit.  The country "below" (south of) Hungary is SERBIA.  Slovakia is to the north!

SAWPIT is not a term in my common parlance. It's a ditch you dig, under the tree you saw, into which the planks fall, so... they don't run away?  I'm not sure.

I was a little confused by "banded gems."  It just means a layered look, as in ONYXES.

ELO is a crossword mainstay.  Today we learn they have a song called "Strange Magic."  They're not really my thing.

GAS station Citgo last showed up in the puzzle on January 15.

Golder VIJAY Singh last appeared on March 27.

The ARAL Sea, which I still sometimes think might be called the "Ural" sea until corrected, was last featured on October 12, 2017.

I did pretty well!  KAN you believe it?  Off I go, prouder and a bit WISER.