Today’s Newsday Saturday

Today’s Newsday  Saturday crossword, by Stan Newman, is a tough puzzle. As I worked at it, I though, Wait a minute, this puzzle is supposed to be easier than a Saturday Stumper. But this puzzle was comparable to a Stumper in difficulty. Not a lot of trickiness, but an awful lot of indirection. 20-D, five letters, “Official endorsements”? 25-A, four letters, “Office initials”? I had no idea, until I did.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

9-D, five letters, “Soprano line opener.” Clever.

17-A, eight letters, “Flag-capturing game.” I am surprised to see that this game is still around — the answer feels dowdy to me. Quick, to the rec room!

22-A, three letters, “‘Inside‘ amenity.” I was thinking it must be something for A-listers. Silly me.

55-D, four letters, “In the bag, perhaps.” The clue redeems the answer.

61-D, three letters, “He’s old-fashioned, ultimately.” Shades of the Stumper!

And my three favorites:

8-D, fifteen letters, “Diner menu listing that can’t be ordered.” Maybe obvious to some, but new to me. And I like anything with a diner in it.

35-A, “Theft insurance of a sort.” The other fifteen-letter answer in the puzzle. A useful reminder for those who need one.

58-A, eight letters, “Naval enlistee.” I admit it: I had to do some rethinking to see the plainly obvious answer.

One clue-and-answer I have to take issue with: 44-D, six letters, “Stradivari, secondarily.” No, he was not.

January 31: Good news: the Stumper is not gone forever. See this post.