My time: 11:36, eight minutes faster than average.
All right, let's get to the fill! I'm TURNT (excited)!
Lots of OTIS in the New York Times puzzle, mostly elevator impresario Elisha Otis, but today it's OTIS "Big Daddy" Williams, founder of the Temptations.
Oysters Rockefeller was in the puzzle on February 14, 2019, but today we are told that it originated in NOLA. Most sources agree it was created in the famous restaurant Antoine's.
I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but blank clues are the worst. "Dinner _____" had me putting *BELL. It's ROLL. Boring!
Callisto was a nymph, daughter of Lycaon, who became one of Artemis' handmaidens. Although Artemis took a hard line on remaining virginal, Zeus saw her and fell in love with her; to lure her, he turned into Artemis and eventually took advantage of her. Callisto bore a son, Arcas. After this, she was turned into a BEAR, either by Zeus while trying to hide his misdeeds, by Hera out of jealousy, or by Artemis out of anger that she broke her vow of chastity. She later became the constellation Ursa Major.
It's not hard to guess that TSETSE is the word that comes from the Tswana language.
"Marbled cut" is STRIP STEAK, which also known as sirloin or the Delmonico steak.
I love the clue "how beans or cheese are often served in Britain" for ON TOAST.
I'm not familiar with the R&B artist known as HER (not a very memorable name, maybe?), or stylized as H.E.R. (it stands for Having Everything Revealed). She had the 2017 hit "Best Part." Never heard it.
Apparently the 1979 film THE ROSE was Bette Midler's first starring role. Midler plays the Rose, a Janis Joplin-like rock singer.
L'AMOUR is a fragrance by Lalique. Okay then.
Male kangaroos are BOOMERS? Crikey, I never heard that. A female kangaroo is known as a 'flyer' or a 'doe' and a male kangaroo a 'buck' or a 'boomer' (hence the nickname of the Australian men's basketball team, the Boomers).
"River of Idaho" is TETON. It is a 64-mile-long tributary of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River in southeastern Idaho.
The Spinner's 1975 hit "SADIE" came up on October 26.
Clever clues: "Ones holing up in closets?' is MOTHS. "Hard and fast" is SET. "Jewelry stores?" is TREASURE TROVES. "Common material for a jacket" is ABOUT THE AUTHOR. "Passing concern" is WILL. "Does some lifting" is STEALS.
I liked this puzzle. I enjoyed some of the unusual fill like ELIZABETH WARREN (she persisted), ONE MAN ARMY (Bruce Lee), I'LL BITE, and BE LIKE THAT.
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