My time: 7:27, one and half minutes faster than average.
Theme: HASHTAG, "symbol formed by four crossing in this puzzle," presuming that you wrote it in. These squares are read as = (equals) when going across and II (two I's) when going down.
For example, SEPARATE BUT = is crossed with actress Kirsten W[II]G. And = OPPORTUNITY is crossed with Nintendo W[II]S.
Ceteris paribus (ALL THINGS BEING =), this was a pretty challenging theme. I wish the HASHTAGs had appeared when the puzzle was filed in online. ALAS. AnyHOO, time to GET IN GEAR and review the fill. There was very little new to me; all trouble taken during SOLVING was due to the two-way rebus.
I thought "game-ending shout" might be *GOL!!! but it's GIN.
"Former monetary unit of Japan" is SEN. The one SEN coin was worth one-hundredth of a Japanese yen, and was minted from the late 19th century until the end of World War II. Like the other denominations of sen, these coins were eventually taken out of circulation at the end of 1953. I guess they don't make subunits of the yen any more?
I am pleased to see my preferred spelling of AnyHOO in the puzzle grid.
Crossword perennial ENYA has appeared as singer of the songs "Only You" and "May It Be." Today it's as the singer of the 1991 megahit "Shepherd Moons," a title that could only be one of hers. A shepherd moon is a small natural satellite that clears a gap in planetary-ring material or keeps particles within a ring contained.
It's amazing how many different emu facts you can learn doing the NYT puzzle. They are the only bird with calf muscles, they lay green eggs, they're mascot of Washington Mutual Insurance... the list goes on. Today we learn that a group of emus is a MOB.
Drugmaker ELI Lilly appeared on February 7, 2018.
Some devilishly clever cluing in this one, and a great deal of it. "Product that's available on tap?" is APP. "They might create divisions in the board" is SAWS. "Break up a plot?" is HOE. "Side of a square, say" is STREET. "White noise?" is LONG I. "Traveling between the poles?" is SK[II]NG. "Formal introduction?" is SEMI. "Fall setting" is EDEN. This one puzzled me: "What takes a toll?" is ONE A.M. I think that mean that it strikes one, or a, tone on a clock.
This was a fun puzzle! Really smart clues and a challenging theme. I always enjoy it when, once the theme is figured out, it helps to fill in the rest of the grid.
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