My time: 14:09, not that great but still faster than average.
Theme: CHATTERBOX, meaning that in three phrases, letters spelling out a word for "talk" are crammed, rebus-style, into one box. The impressive crossword-building feat here is that in the Across clues, all three "talk" synonyms are spread across two words: TALKIN[G AB]OUT, WHADDA[YA K]NOW, and NIN[JA W]ARRIOR. On the Down crossings, they're parts of words, unrelated to any "talk" meaning: KA[YAK], [JAW]A, and BU[GAB]OO.
I had an especially hard time with this Thursday puzzle because (1) I found the clues to be vague; (2) there was a vast amount I didn't know; (3) it has weird entries like WHADDA[YA K]NOW and CACHINNATE (which is a word I do know but never expected to find it in a Thursday puzzle); and (4) even though I solved CHATTERBOX pretty quickly, I didn't start looking for rebus answers until some wasted time had passed, because I had wrongly "solved" the clue "discussing" as *TALKING OUT and thought the answers just had some form of "talk" in them. Ugh.
I have never heard of Halima Aden, but it was fairly easy to guess that in 2019 she was the first Sports Illustrated model to wear a HIJAB. She was also the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant.
Likewise, I don't know the song "Hail to the Hills of Westwood" but it seemed fairly clear that this was the school song of UCLA.
"Dubuque residents" is IOWANS. Now I know!
I've read Treasure Island but it still took me a long time to remember what the Admiral Benbow was in the book; it was the INN that Jim Hawkins' family runs peacefully until one day Billy Bones walks in...
I have heard of s SEABEE, but the clue "term for a naval builder that looks like an aquatic insect" just wasn't doing it for me. I kept wondering what naval builder looks like an aquatic insect, but I see now that it means the term looks like it could be an aquatic insect. I think that's confusing wording.
PEPSI has been in the puzzle before with the ad campaign, "Say PEPSI, please!" but this time it's the old-timey "Twice as much for a nickel!" Pepsi-Cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that's a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you / Nickel, nickel, nickel, nickel / Trickle, trickle, trickle, trickle. I think Bob Dylan wrote that.
I have not heard of the cohort born in the early 2010s as "Generation ALPHA."
Galileo was born in PISA, Italy, in 1564. Since he's famous for the falling objects experiment off the leaning tower, I really should have figured this out a lot sooner.
ATHENS, OHIO is indeed a US named for a European capital. Too bad I've never heard of ATHENS, OHIO. It's the county seat of Athens County and the home to Ohio University! That's swell.
Never heard of ARI Melber, NBC and MSNBC news show anchor.
I didn't know there was such a thing as a "Simple" IRA. This is a matching-funds retirement plan offered by an employer with fewer than 100 employees.
Also never heard of Fritz Land collaborator THEA von Harbou. A little more than just a collaborator, she was his wife from 1922-1933 ansd wrote the story and screenplay for Metropolis.
"Stat for a starter" is ERA, as seen September 3, 2018. In baseball, a starter is a starting pitcher.
Clever clue: "Entry-level workers?" is DOORMEN (again, the NYT puzzle reveals the bias it has toward Eastern urban clues). For "nest egg source" I put *IRA but, surprise, it's literal: HEN. "Not at all fancy" is tricky — it doesn't mean a antonym for ornate, it means an antonym for like. It's HATE. "Fold opposite" is I'M IN. "Share a side" isn't about co-diners, but about geographic areas or planes; it's ABUT.
This was a really tough Thursday! But FEAR NOT! We shall move on to Friday.
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