Thursday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: October 4, 2018

My time: 9:39, quite good!

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Joon Pahk served up this fun and bubbly puzzle, which makes a pun off the part of some cocktails SODA MIXER (the clue reads "ingredient in some cocktails," and that's not quite right in my opinion; the mixer part is a description, not part of an ingredient).

Anyway, this indicates that the last word in five themed clues are anagrams (mixes) of SODA brands.  "It might pop out of a kid's mouth" is BUBBLE GUM (for Mug root beer).  JUDAS PRIEST is a mix of Sprite.  GAS PIPES mixes up Pepsi.  The pun clue "swinger's club" is BASEBALL BAT, for Tab.

I did not know MARC ECKO, designer whose brand features a rhinoceros logo.  Although I think I've leafed through his youth culture magazine, Complex.  Anyway, that's a mixer of Coke.

I couldn't quite come up with John NANCE Garner, US Vice President from 1933-41.  I initially hazarded the guess *VANCE.  More importantly, though, his nickname was "Cactus Jack."

Owner of a name that looks as though it cannot possibly be anything other than a typo, Dave STIEB is a MLB seven-time All-Star, who pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays.  He won the second-highest total of games by a pitcher in the 1980s.

The yacht race known as the America's Cup is the world's oldest international sporting trophy.  The eponymous trophy, also known as the Auld Mug, is named after the AMERICA, the yacht that won it in 1851.  The cup was originally known as the One Hundred Sovereign Cup.

NINA Dobrev is a Bulgarian-born actress who was in the TV shows "The Vampire Diaries" and "Degrassi: The Next Generation."

I remembered that a studio remade the movie ANNIE (in 2014), but I had forgotten the titular character's actor's name: Quvenzhané Wallis.  Whew!  That's a mouthful.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is found in LUKE 15.

"Evil, in Laval" is MAL.  Laval is the third largest city in Quebec.

BASIL is an herb that can come in sweet and holy varieties.  Sweet basil is perhaps the most popular and widely used culinary herb. It grows 12-18 inches tall and foliage color can range from green to purple. Holy basil is a so-called "sacred" herb in some Eastern cultures that self-proclaimed nutritionists often tout as a panacea.  Chefs might call it hot basil.

I'm ashamed to say I already forgot TIM Kaine, senator of Virginia.  I put *TED!

Did you know that a soccer striker is usually number NINE?  I had no idea.

The primitive wind instrument OCARINA came up on August 18.

Clever clues: "Going rates?" is TOLLS.  "Long nap?" is SHAG.   "Phone tapping targets?" is ICONS.  "High Sierra runner" is MAC.  "Server load?" is TRAY.

Whoo, that's a big GLUT of new material.  Time for my EXIT!