Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper is by “Anna Stiga,” Newsday crossword editor Stan Newman, composing under a pen name he uses for easier Stumpers.

And if I may: though Will Shortz gets the glory, such as it is, Stan Newman oversees a puzzle that is pretty consistently pleasing, especially on Saturdays. What I most like about Newsday puzzles is the relative absence of the arch and corny. No stunts, no connect-the-circled-letters.

This puzzle was an easy one. I solved in a clockwise circle, starting at 11:00 or so, and found the greatest difficulty in the puzzle’s middle. But just mild difficulty.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

1-D, eight letters, “The Star Wars cantina?” Nice. And I don’t even know Star Wars.

6-D, three letters, “Boy, in Brooklynese.” Dat’s me.

9-A, six letters, “Prepares for a take-off.” Is it spelled TAXIES? No.

11-D, four letters, “Squash, for short.” I’d never think of spelling it this way, but that’s how it’s spelled.

15-A, eight letters, “Affecting.” A little highfalutin, this answer.

21-D, eight letters, “Five-sided cardboard box.” Oh — it does have five sides. Huh.

38-A, fifteen letters, “Moneymaking picture takers.” How many p s in papparazzi? Not enough.

46-D, six letters, “Underground comix pioneer.” And comix is spelled appropriately.

64-D, three letters, “‘Mighty swell’ Keats poem subject.” Neato!

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.