Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Greg Johnson, is a fun, fast puzzle. 1-A, ten letters, “Slowdown en route”: that looks like a giveaway. 1-D, five letters, “Convention of dramatists”: can the answer be that obvious? 2-D, five letters, “Come loose”: this one too? 4-D, five letters, “UK’s best-selling female album artist of the century”: uh, yes, pretty obvious. Anyone who fears the Stumper should try today’s puzzle as an opportunity to build up the chops. Contra 63-A, it is.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

4-D, nine letters, “Boss doing training and fighting.” 33-A had me thinking in the wrong direction.

12-D, nine letters, “Many Greek-made planters.” Ah, so that’s what they are.

15-A, ten letters, “Prime-time fare of old.” How old?

16-A, four letters, “‘Rudolph . . .’ rhyme for ‘history.’” Why was it so hard for me to reverse-engineer the lyrics?

39-A, four letters, “It’s a swell thing.” That’s a swell clue.

51-D, five letters, “They’re often seen on greens.” BACONBITS won’t fit.

58-A, three letters, “It’s seen at the end of A Beautiful Mind.” Good ’n’ weird. I was thinking a Greek letter?

62-A, four letters, “Contraction lacking three letters.” WOULDNTVE wouldn’t’ve fit.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.