NYT Crossword 09/16/17 (Sat.)

Cruciverbalists: Natan Last, Finn Vigeland and the J.A.S.A. Crossword Class
Editor: Will Smith

Solving time: DNF

Puzzle uniqueness: 0

Words I hadn't known until now: 

EMERGENC - "Fizzy vitamin supplement"(WTF?)
CHAYOTE - "Gourd also known as a vegetable pear"
MEEMAW - "Grandmother, in dialect" (WTF?)
GOL - "Cry at Real Madrid game"

Trivia I didn't know:

ELAL - "It holds the world record for most passengers on a commercial airliner (1,088)"
EMERGENC - (See above)
JESSICA - "Shylock's daughter in 'The Merchant of Venice'"
THEGAP - "Something to watch" (WTF?)
TARA - "Hill of ___, site of Ireland's Lia Fail)
RYAN - "'The O.C.' protagonist" (Really?)
ONES - "Kind of place for the summer?" (I don't get this at all)
CHAYOTE - (See above)
MEEMAW - (See above)
HELGA - "Andrew Wyeth's 'The _____ Pictures'"
GOL - (See above)
STAG - "Animal form of Harry Potter's Patronus"
PETERI - "Who's depicted in Russia's 'Bronze Horseman' statue"
SATAN - "He 'wept with all six eyes,' per Dante"
SIDCAESAR - "1950s personality who appeared in 'Grease'"

Junk Answers:

CIS - "Prefix with gender"
OKS - "Checks off on"
EER - "'The noblest hateful love that ___ I heard of": 'Troilus and Cressida'"
LDS - "Relig. affiliation of more than six million Americans"

Clever clues:

EASYSTREET - "Low-stress address?"
STARCH - "Pressing need"
COLT - "Young stud?"
MER - "Sea as in Cannes?"
SHEEP - "Blind followers"
CASTPARTY - "Celebration after a run?"
PRO - "One for the money?"

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

CHAYOTE - (See above)
MEEMAW - (See above)
RHEOSTAT - "Current regulator"