My time: 6:11, better than average, even though I found this to be pretty difficult for a Tuesday.
Theme: PSY / CHO, the movie, directed by ALFRED HITCHCOCK, starring ANTHONY / PERKINS as NORMAL BATES, who said "A BOY'S BEST FRIEND / IS HIS MOTHER." It sounds a lot creepier when he says it.
I started badly right out the gate when I had no idea where Busch Gardens is. It's in TAMPA. It's an animal theme park, with a Bier Fest, and a Howl-O-Scream event.
Crossing this was "skier's aid," and I had a hard time getting to T-BAR, which last appeared in 2017.
The second cross for TAMPA was "Duchess of _____ (Goya subject)," which is ALBA, also was last seen in the puzzle in 2017.
"Birthstone for many Libras" is OPAL. I don't I'll ever know these stones, mostly because it's a bunch of crap.
Third clue, still no solves: "react in astonishment." I tried *GAPE, *GAWK, and then GASP.
Crossing this was "Trigonometry's law of ____," for which I had no idea what to put. It's the Law of SINES, which helps find triangle side lengths when given the angles.
There's pretty much an infinite number of clues you can use to lead to ARIA. This time it's a Stravinksy ARIA called "Fair lady, gracious gentlemen," sung by Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress.
"Fraternity letter" is such a crap clue. It could be any number of Greek letters. Why not clue TAU as the lepton or the math constant?
I did not know that NITRIC acid is called aqua fortis. Used to dissolve silver and etch brass, the "strong water" was made of saltpeter and sand in the Middle Agles.
IONA College in New Rochelle, NY has come up very often. Go Gaels!
The Camaro IROC-Z came up on June 12, 2018, but I still didn't put it in properly today. I tried *IROD.
I liked this puzzle; I'm a sucker for themes that show up in multiple answers. Cram all the references that you can in the grid, I say. Well, TOOTLEs.
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