My time: 6:44, not bad.
Theme: WORK PORTFOLIO, a "collection that demonstrates job skills." The themed Across answers all have financial terms at the end — gold, stock, option, and bond— and are clued as "investment for [specific job]?" So I'm not quite sure why it's a work portfolio and not, say, an investment portfolio. Anyway, the clues are puns related to various jobs, such as a restaurateur's MENU OPTION, a butcher's BEEF STOCK, and so on. Man, that's COMEDY GOLD ("investment for a humorist"). On to the fill!
I'm not sure I would clue ROMP as "blowout." But "word before curriculum or meltdown" is a smart clue for CORE.
"Big inits. in finance" is AIG, American International Group (oxymoronic name?), a finance and insurance company.
The Tar Heels is the name of the athletics teams of UNC. Go Heels! According to state lore, the term tar heel refers to a time when North Carolina produced turpentine for the naval industry. North Carolina was nicknamed the "Tar and Turpentine State" because of this industry. Workers who distilled turpentine from the sticky sap of trees to produce tar and pitch supposedly often went barefoot (while working with hot tar?) and would collect tar on their heels. It began as a pejorative, but now is a source of pride. Like "queer"!
There was A LOT OF old stuff in this puzzle that I didn't quite remember.
"Thirtysomething" actor Ken OLIN appeared way back in November 2018.
Independence AVE. showed up in its entirety in the January 12, 2018 grid. Apparently there's also a Constitution Ave. Oh, get over yourself, DC. Stinking morass of corruption and all that.
Quaker abolitionist and feminist Lucretia MOTT was featured on March 7, 2018.
"We Do Our Part" was noted as the slogan for the NRA (National Recovery Administration, not the evil one) way back in 2017.
Clever clue: "50 or more letters?" is AARP.
I enjoyed the puns in this puzzle but the theme as a whole didn't grab me. I also didn't think the fill was terrific, although there are a couple of good ones in there, like WEAK TEA and IT'S ALIVE. A decent puzzle, but nothing exceptionally surprising or interesting.
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