NYT Crossword 09/15/17 (Fri.)

Cruciverbalist: Damon Gulczynski
Editor: Will Shortz

Solving time: 28:58

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

ADJURE - "Beseech"

Trivia I didn't know:

IMPEI - "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame designer"
DENCH - "'Philomena' co-star, 2013"
UNA - "'Por ___ Cabeza' (tango song)"
YAZOO - "Tributary of the Mississippi"
ARN - "Royal son of the comics"
NEUMANN - "Computer science pioneer John von_______"
LEV - "Tolstoy's first name, in Russia"
SWEDE - "Celsius, for one"
MAUNAKEA - "World's tallest mountain, base to peak"
PTBARNUM - "Who said 'Without promotion, something terrible happens ... nothing!'"
WYATT - "Peter Fonda's role in 'Easy Rider'"
SEARS - "Retail giant since 1886"

Junk Answers:

SHH - "Sound from a silencer"
AHAS - "Cries of enlightenment"
LEV - (See above)
DRT - "Richard Gere title role"
CRO - "___-Magnon"
STE - "Business card abbr."
IDEM - "Latin word in a footnote"
WAWA - "Basic beverage, in baby talk"
NUS - "Some college Greeks"

Clever clues:

ENDING - "It may be spoiled"
HARRY - "Dirty cop?"

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

ADJURE - (See above)