Sunday December 2nd 2018, NY Times Crossword

Time: 41:04
Sunday Average: 49:18
Best Sunday: 21:55

A Sunday crossword seemed to be about all I could manage early this morning, so I tackled this one from bed. I can't really think of a way to categorize this theme, although it involves a fair number of homophones. Mostly, it strikes me as just some wacky wordplay and puzzles. OK, they were pretty fun even if I have mild objections to a couple.

• "13579 AZ:" ODDS AND ENDS
• "Large large skip skip:" TOO BIG TO IGNORE. Like, 2 things that mean big and 2 things that mean ignore. 
• "AT hot dog hot dog RA:" FRANK SINATRA. This one was particularly painful. 
• "Wound + dis:" ADD INSULT TO INJURY. Yup.
• "PP UU BB:" PARALLEL BARS. In the newspaper version, the word "pub" is written in two columns. 
• "Per spire:" BREAK A SWEAT
• "Yearn➗ do:" LONG OVERDUE

There was quite a lot that I didn't know in this puzzle, but as a runner whose ankles often hurt, I probably should have known the large ankle bone TALUS. 

I found the "Hash houses" clue for BEANERIES almost impossible because I'm not familiar with either of those terms in the context of cheap restaurants. I am a big fan of the Hash House Harriers, the drinking club with a running problem, or at least of the chapter in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I like running and drinking. I could live without all the singing, but you can't have everything. 

The southeast corner was chock full of complete and partial unknowns for me. Is EMDEN a well-known "German port in Lower Saxony?" I don't know the fictional detective Adam Dalgliesh nor his creator PD JAMES (and the double initial name makes it hard to guess, doesn't it?). The M crossing those two answers was the last to fall for me, as I was again reduced to running the alphabet. I vaguely remember EPODE as a type of poem, so I suppose it's time to go back to high school English class. Also, a SWARD for a "Grassy expanse" is a little rough, but nowhere near as rough as SLUE, which apparently is a less common spelling of "slew," in its less common meaning of "to turn (something, such as a telescope or a ship's spar) about a fixed point that is usually the axis." I'm going to call that a bit rough. I should try to remember GRU of "Despicable Me" or maybe I should just see the film so I can recall it better. Anyhow, that's how that corner brutalized me. Oh, and let's not forget "Norwegian P.M. Stoltenberg" for JENS. Fine, I'm ignorant. 

The last thing I'll complain about is really nitpicky, but why is "Home sick?" for OUT a "?" type clue? I know that homesick is more common, but saying that someone is home sick when they're out of work is perfectly normal, right? 

"All you can eat" is a rather square way to clue EDIBLES. 

I'll try to end on a more positive note. I loved seeing NOMAR Garciaparra and Greek and Trojan allies HERA and ARES, respectively. ERITREA, HABANEROS, and MAVENS are also lovely inclusions. 

Here's something fun that I learned from this puzzle. NANKEEN cloth is a kind of pale yellowish cloth, originally made in Nanjing, China. Never heard of it.