My time: 20:02, five minutes faster than average.
Theme: "West-Southwest," a title which subtly nods to the fact that the W of several common phrases has been replaced with SW and clued accordingly. So, for example, "hogs, after being scrubbed clean?" is SPARKLING SWINE. "What a beekeeper receives at work?" is a SWARM RECEPTION.
The only one that doesn't begin with S is the lengthy middle themed answer, which also happens to erase the sound of the W in adding the S. That's FOR WANT OF A BETTER SWORD ("why the knight went shopping?"). It's clever enough, but it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb amid the other, more similar clues.
There was more new stuff in this puzzle than there has been in a while. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I have to LIE STILL and prepare for guided meditation.
I've vaguely heard of ONSTAR, but didn't know it's an online service found in GM cars.
"ODE To My Family" is a very easy blank to fill in, even if you have never heard the Cranberries.
POI has appeared an awful lot in the puzzle, but not (until today) as "dish cooked in an underground oven." The word for this oven is imu.
"What the Constitution Means To Me," a one-woman play by Heidi Schreck, won the 2019 OBIE. It was also nominated for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
I have never heard of CELIA Cruz, a Cuban singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during the 1950s as a singer of guarachas, earning the nickname "La Guarachera de Cuba". In the following decades, she became known internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" or "The Queen of Latin Music" due to her contributions to Latin music in the United States. One of her best-known songs is "Guantanamera."
A SAND REEF is a low ridge of sand that borders the shore, is built up by waves and currents, and in many places encloses a lagoon.
Paul DANO co-starred as the son in There Will Be Blood, but I didn't know his name.
I had no idea that people put ROSIN on ballet shoes. Dancers apply ROSIN dust to their shoes (and sometimes their feet) to keep from slipping on a slick floor.
Canadian figure skating champ Brian ORSER won the silver medals in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. But what would Brian Boitano do?
ANN Martin is the pen behind the hugely popular Baby-Sitters' Club books. Those things are a license to print money!
"Conclude (with)" is END OFF. That sounds weird to me.
NORITE is a mafic igneous rock, also known as gabbro. The name is derived from Norway.
"Farm-to-table program" is CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.
Several more French-themed clues again today. I bet non-Francophoes don't care a SOU for all this reliance on French.
"Sky fall?" is POWER DIVE. I wasn't aware that this was an actual term. It means an airplane's dive accelerated by engine power.
The APA, or American Psychological Association, is clearly a group that would publish a journal called "Emotion."
Endless parade of sports guys I have never heard of, part 5,821. RUDY Gobert, 7'1" French phenom who has a 7'9" wingspan and plays for the Utah Jazz. His nicknames include the Stifle Tower, The French Rejection, The Gobert Report, and Gobzilla.
Never heard of JOIE Lee, screenwriter sister of Spike. She also co-wrote and co-produced his film Crooklyn.
And SHA cha beef is a beef dish made with SHA cha (or shacha) sauce, a savory and a slightly spicy sauce, widely used in Fujian, Teochew, and Taiwanese cuisine.
The hell fastener T-STRAP appeared on January 30, 2019.
Small part actress LILI Taylor appeared on May 17, 2018.
SEA DOVE appeared in the puzzle, also clued as "little auk," on August 2.
Japanese audio brand AIWA appeared on May 21, 2018.
The rap song "Hate Me Now" is by NAS, because that's the only rapper that ever appears in the NYT puzzle, ever.
Choral composition MOTET appeared on August 7, 2017.
Clever clues: "Down at the bar?" is CHUG. "Bottom lines?" is X-AXES. "Holds on to one's 'Essence,' say?" is RENEWS. "Digital sounds?" is SNAPS. "Suite meet?" is TRYST. "De-bug?" is SWAT
Boo clue: "Upfront?" is SHORT U. That doesn't make sense, even if (as implied) you should read it as "up," [at the] front? "Up" still isn't a SHORT U. It has one. That makes a difference. UGH!
Whew, that was tiring! So much information. I'm totally swiped out ('tired of dating, maybe?').
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