My time: 14:30, less than two minutes slower than the record! I am on a roll this week!
Theme: "Toddler Talk." Several well-known phrases have an /r/ sound replaced with /w/ and then clued as it reads. For example, "domain for Jameson and Maker's Mark?" is WHISKEY BUSINESS. My favorite is "what a stoner actor smoked during rehearsal?" — WEED BETWEEN THE LINES. Although I'm also partial to "Puritan's goal in 17th century Salem?" — GET WITCH QUICK.
Fun theme! It's somewhat simple but quite amusing. Now, there's just A BIT of fill to go over:
Ed ASNER played slave ship pilot Captain Davies in "Roots." He wore a dark chin beard.
Permethrin cream is a topical solution for scabies, which is caused by the common LOUSE. It is sold under the brand name Elimite.
I just don't know anything about sports and don't care to. Apparently the Rose Bowl, in Pasadena CA, is an NCAA GAME. Okay then.
Tsar IVAN V was the older half-brother of Peter I, and co-reigned with him between 1682 and 1696. Apparently, however, Ivan's reign was solely titular because he had serious physical and mental issues.
I'm well aware that AD ASTRA means "to the stars," but I didn't know there was a 2019 science fiction film of that name. It stars Brad Pitt and Tommy Lee Jones and was very poorly reviewed.
LEON Bridges is a young soul singer from Texas, best known for his 2015 hit "Coming Home."
Spanish dagger and Adam's needle are varieties of YUCCA. Fun fact: Yuccan pollen is collected only by the yucca moth.
Robert Louis Stevenson supposedly said "WINE is bottled poetry," the old lush. However, I couldn't find a source.
Of the two KLEES referenced in the puzzle, Fish Magic was in the blog on July 11, 2018, while Ad Parnassum is his 1932 pointillist masterwork that sort of looks like a house or mountain. I've seen it many times but never knew the title.
I love that VANNA WHITE is in the fill, and I love how she's clued: "who holds the Guinness world record for Most Frequent Clapper."
ANNE Brontë wrote Agnes Grey, as noted on December 27, 2017.
The New York Giants were referred to as G-MEN on September 5, 2020.
Quaker abolitionist and suffragist Lucretia MOTT was last in the blog on August 26, 2020.
"First Asian player to be ranked #1 in singles" is Naomi OSAKA, who's been in the puzzle a few times now.
Paul ANKA is a very common crossword answer. He wrote the lyrics to "My Way," as noted on August 20, 2018.
ILIUM, the hip bone, has come up a few times before.
Clever clue: "Bank investment?" is LEVEE. "One creating draft after draft?" is BEER BREWER. "Slice of toast?" is HERE'S TO. "They're found around Scots" is KILTS. "Rock song?" is LULLABY.
In all, it was a smaller amount of clever, punny, or devious clues than typical for a Sunday this week. I did like some of the fill (THE F WORD, ON A HUNCH, HARD SELL), and the cute theme.
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