NYT Crossword 06/28/17 (Wednesday)

Cruciverbalist: David Kwong
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness:

Trick puzzle, this time a quote running through the puzzle. I absolutely hate those. Here is the punny quote: "How I wish Natalie Portman dated Jacques Cousteau so I could call them Portmanteau."

Words I hadn't known until now:

DUOMO - "Cathedral of Florence"

Trivia I didn't know:

ALDO - "Gucci of fashion"

ALAIN - "De Botton who wrote 'The Architecture of Happiness'"

DEWAR - "_____ flask (thermos)"
IVAN - "Nobelist Pavlov"

Junk Answers:

ASTI - "Piedmont wine center"
LYS - "River of France and Belgium"
ARP - "Dadaist Jean"
SSN - "Target of ID theft: Abbr."
GPA - "Bluto's was 0.0 in 'Animal House'"
UNE - "Article in Le Monde"
MTGS - "Boardroom events: Abbr."
IQS - "Mensa members' assets"
SCHED - "Amtrak posting: Abbr."

Clever clues: 0

Obscure (i.e., really reaching) words:

Duomo - (See above)