Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday Saturday Stumper is by “Anna Stiga,” or Stan Again, the puzzle’s editor Stanley Newman. Pretty, pretty, pretty easy, with the only difficulties coming from the grid itself, which breaks the puzzle into five nearly discrete sections. Must . . . navigate . . . narrow . . . straits. Phew, made it.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

1-D, eight letters, “KO, in the DJIA.” Something to do with some rarefied form of boxing? No. I got the answer but had no idea what this clue meant until I looked it up.

17-A, eight letters, “Calliope and kin.” Not circus folk.

19-A, three letters, “Transit terminal.” Not a HUB.

28-D, ten letters, “Element #117, named for a state.” Ahh, good old lifelong learning.

35-D, eight letters, “Personal digital device.” That’s amusing.

38-A, three letters, “She’s from Nevada.” Such clues are less surprising when you expect them, but I still like getting the point.

53-A, eight letters, “Newspaper in La Paz and Nueva York.” Takes me back to newsstands.

Two clue-and-answer pairs I’d quarrel with:

31-A, seven letters, “Easy to start using, as paper rolls.” Huh? My alternative clue: “Live and lost.”

37-A, seven letters, “Home of Heartland of America Pk.” Just ugly.

No spoilers: the answers are in the comments.