Tuesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: January 22, 2019

My time: 7:55 ---I had some trouble

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John E. Bennett and Jeff Chen, who clearly work only with people who have double letters in their names, created this puzzle that would ADVISE you to WATCH YOUR STEP.  The four corners of the puzzle each has a length of circled letters going down, diagonal and across, spelling the name of a poisonous snake.  Once the puzzle is filled in, these read king cobra, sidewinder, puff adder, and king cobra, from northwest corner clockwise.

A quick nod to MLK JR in first Across answer, and we're off!

I had a few wrong answers that tripped me up.  For "glider measurement" I put *WING TO WING*, then *WING TO HEAD (??), until finally settling on WINGSPREAD.  For "close calls" I confidently wrote *SHAVES but it's SCARES.  I like my answer better.   "Contents of a poker pot" is obviously CHIPS, but I put *KITTY and then *ANTES.  Sometimes stubbornness is the crossword solver's downfall.  And finally, for "damage, as a reputation," I put *MAR and it's TAR.

Here's a neologism that slowed me down quite a bit: TWIBE, a "certain close-knit social media group."  This word barely has its eyes open, it's so new.  I honestly thought the puzzle had made a mistake.

St. Petersburg, Florida, known to its buddies as ST. PETE, apparently holds the American record for the most consecutive days of sunshine, with 768.  Don't we all wish we lived there?

For "auto company since 1899" I put *FORD for a hot second, but it's FIAT.  Ford was founded in 1903.

ROSCOE Lee Browne is an actor and director whose name isn't known to me, but his face is familiar, and I know I have seen him on "Soap" as Saunders, the butler.

The DURA mater is a membrane that envelops the brain and spinal cord, underneath the skull.

Yankee legend Joe TORRE last appeared on October 9, 2018.

Clever clue: "Wall St. starter" is IPO.  "Ore, for one?" is TYPO.

And that's the FINAL answer I'll go over for Tuesday.