Friday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: November 9, 2018

My time: 10:57, not bad!

--

Robyn Weintraub is the author of this themeless.  It features some impressive and unusual fill, like RETROGRADE, WAITLISTED, WHO GOES THERE, TOURIST TRAP, FUNNEL CAKES, and GLASS CEILING.

Fascinating fact of the week: SEAN'S Bar is Ireland's (Europe's?) oldest pub, as in one thousand years old.  Located in Althone, a town on the Shannon in the very heart of the country, it was once known as Luain's Inn.  Also, Boy George owned it briefly in 1987.

In other alcoholic news, Old Speckled Hen is apparently a brand of ALE, an English premium bitter now owned by the Greene King Brewery.

ELKS, as in the Benevolent Protective Order, has been an answer before, but today we learn that six US presidents have been among their number, including FDR, Truman, JFK, and Ford.

Apparently Interstate 77 runs SSE from Ohio to South Carolina.  That's nice.

"_____ friends" is a terrible, lazy clue for AMONG.

J.J.'s sister on "Good Times" was named THELMA Evans.  Played by intriguingly-named Bern Nadette Stanis, this character was a "daddy's girl" with lots of boyfriends, who eventually married a football player.

"Largest carrier in Japan" ANA arose on June 23.

Clever clues: "High-occupancy vehicles?" is CLOWN CARS.  "Some high-rise constructions" is TREEHOUSES.  "Touchy sort?" is MIDAS.  "Something found near the tongue?" is LACE.  "Ones who find it difficult to go out?" is INSOMNIACS.  "Stop lying" is RISE.

I enjoyed this puzzle!  There was WIT and SENSE aplenty to be found in the clues.  A good solid Friday that happened to fit my knowledge base.  And now, I must AMSCRAY.