Thursday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: Janary 24, 2019

My time: 11:02.

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Stu "Doc" Ockman has us taking a good long look at this puzzle, which I identified very quickly as a rebus  (Unfortunately, solving on the phone is not conducive to quickly filling out rebus squares.)  Double O's are placed in a single square, giving these squares the appearance of G[OO]-G[OO] EYES, apparently, or at least to Ockman. He really loves this puzzle!

New word alert: REGINAL, meaning made or relating to a queen.

The Verdi opera AIDA has come up a lot, but I don't think I've noted before that the title character is buried alive!  In an Egyptian tomb with her love, not in a dirt pit.

Did you know a BASS[OO]N opens Stravinksy's "Rite of Spring?"  Me neither.

The Indian word DESI means indigenous, as in a native animal, but is also used to mean a South Asian living abroad.

Never heard of EVA Air, a Taiwanese airline.  It stands for Evergreen Airways.  As of January 2018, EVA Air is the 15th safest airline in the world, with no hull losses, accidents, or fatalities since its establishment.

MOUSSAKA showed up as a clue on August 9, 2017, when I looked it up.

Iona College and its Fightin' GAELS have come up before.

Clever clue: "One stuck abroad?" is V[OO]D[OO] DOLL.  "Raiders' org." is ATF, as seen on May 27, 2018.  "It can make an impression in correspondence" is SEAL.  "On the blue side, for short" is DEM.  "Clay, after conversion" is ALI, which seems obvious in retrospect, but I was stuck on the effect of a kiln on clay.  "Call to reserve?" is LET, if you pronounce it with a long E and a /s/.  "Ones pumped up for a race?" is TIRES.

That's it for me!  I didn't exactly do this IN A FLASH, but as I said, rebuses are always a pleasant surprise, but they go slowly.  I don't want to be CRITICAL; this was a fun puzzle.