Wednesday's New York Times crossword puzzle solved: February 6, 2019

My time: 8:25.

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This was a muy tricky Wednesday by Queena Mewers (!) and Alex Eaton-Salners.  The answers to the "uniclues" (that is, those that share one number for both Across and Down answers) are written in both ENGLISH and ESPANOL.

Thus, one Across is SUN, while one Down is SOL.  Eight Across is MOTHER, while its Down counterpart is MADRE.  And so on.

Did you know World Smile Day is in OCT?  Now you do!  Save your smiling muscles until then.

I'm not familiar with DIP DYE as a hair-coloring technique.  Dip dye is a classic two-tone coloring technique, where the hair is dark at roots with light ends. It is quite a statement color, as there is no real blend between the two colors.

"Port up the lake from Cleveland, O."?  What the hell is that?  Cleveland, O??

Sholem ASCH was a Polish Jewish author who wrote in Yiddish.

"Facility at Quantico, VA" is OCS, which stands for the Officer Candidate School of the US Marines.

We also learn today that UPI was founded in 1958, at first blush an unremarkable date given that the Associated Press was founded in 1846, Agence France-Presse in 1835, and the BBC in 1922.  However, the original company UP was founded in 1907, but became UPI in 1958 after acquiring International News Service.

Playwright Clifford ODETS was an answer way back on September 5, 2017.  Then it was for the play "Golden Boy," and today it's for the play "Awake and Sing!"

New York subway letters IRT emerged on October 1, 2018.

Clever clues: "Help for a star witness?" is TELESCOPE.  "Alternative to a cup" is CONE.  "It might be left holding the bag" is TEAPOT.

There was actually not much new in this puzzle.  The time required to solve it came from the odd cluing numbering and the fact that on the app, the Spanish down answers were all clued as [see notepad], which puzzled me no end.  And now, I NEED A NAP.