Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Lester Ruff — that is, Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, offering an easier puzzle. The puzzle would have been Les Ruff for me save for the west-central region, where I was, for some time, 34-A, fifteen letters, “Busted,” before realizing that I had the answer to 36-D, eight letters, “Knockout of an escort” wrong. When I hit the right word, four other answers fell into place and I was done.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

14-D, six letters, “Texas oil center.” This clue feels off now.

17-A, seven letters, “March march VIP.” Cleverly put. But as for the answer, thumbs down.

18-A, seven letters, “Copyright law concept.” And it’s a good thing.

21-D, three letters, “Holder of markers.” The clue makes the answer new, at least for me.

26-A, four letters, “Sticks on your feet.” Pleasantly defamiliarizing.

28-D, five letters, “What bulls wallow in.” Ahh, it’s good to get away from the hogs.

35-D, eight letters, “It’s more than a Strong Breeze.” I like knowing that there’s a Beaufort Scale, even if I don’t know the scale itself.

47-A, three letters, “Vowelless Scrabble play.” Huh.

62-A, seven letters, “How some prefer their shells.” Nice.

63-A, seven letters, “Publisher’s semi-strong selections.” But they’re not what they used to be.

My favorite clue in this puzzle: 24-D, four letters, “User of scanning devices.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

[Well, one spoiler: here is the Beaufort Scale.]