Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by “Anna Stiga,” or Stan Again, the puzzle’s editor, Stan Newman. It’s a good one, not overly difficulty, but with stumbling blocks and misleading road signs here and there that make for a satisfying puzzle. It’s fairly easy going in the northwest: 1-A, ten letters, “What Astaire (at 78) fell off, breaking his wrist” is a giveaway if you’re an Astaire fan. Things get more difficult down south.

Some clue-and-answer pairs I especially liked:

2-D, five letters, “Penny on Big Bang Theory.” I will reveal a gap in my TV knowledge: the only reason I knew this answer is that 2-D appeared in last week’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Who was that optometrist? I watched the credits and found out. Oh, her!

36-D, four letters, “      Zirconia (pop legend impersonator).” Who? What?! I have filled another gap in my pop-culture knowledge.

44-D, six letters, “Triple-1 Down sequence.” The clue for 1-D, five letters: “Type of tone.” The sequence is gettable from crosses, but it’s fun to just know it.

45-A, seven letters, “Japanese pen name.” Yes!

51-A, three letters, “Blazin’ Blueberry beverage brand.” I haven’t thought of it since the childhood days of certain persons.

58-A, four letters, “Sermon conclusion.” This clue had me hung up for a while.

61-A, ten letters, “American pen name.” See 45-A.

My favorite clue in the puzzle: 29-D, nine letters, “‘The Raven’ conclusion.” It’s Stumpery.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.