Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Steve Mossberg, is the most difficult Stumper in a long time. Thinking that my first thought about 1-A, four letters, “Exercise for young ones” had to be wrong, I skimmed my way down the puzzle and found a starting point at 53-A, five letters, “Nae sayers.” And crossing that answer, 26-D, nine letters, “Margin for error.” And crossing that answer, 44-A, six letters, “Certain tusker.” And after that I stumbled around, a word here, a word there, until I got them all.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, six letters, “Trim; a tree.” Seasonal; wonderfully clever.

5-A, four letters, “Bear at a baby shower.” It’s been a while.

5-D, twelve letters, “Placebo recipients.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen the answer in a puzzle.

19-D, twelve letters, “Woods works.” I was very pleased with myself when I finally got the answer.

21-A, six letters, “Good word across the sea.” Stumper-y.

22-A, three letters, “Hybrid auto mode.” Yay Prius.

23-A, seven letters, “Singers, to labels.” Ah, the language of the music business.

28-A, six letters, “Provide coverage for.” For the Prius? Are we speaking of insurance?

29-D, five letters, “‘Wonderfilled’ food.” This clue let me know that I miss out on a lot of advertising.

31-A, four letters, “It flattens over time.” Slightly maddening.

43-D, six letters, “His fable book (1923) was one of Elvis’ favorites.” I always like knowing that entertainers are readers.

50-A, eight letters, “Pasta topping.” My first thought was MARINARA. But everyone has their own idea of what counts as a topping.

My favorites in today’s puzzle: 9-D, seven letters, “Anyone can play this” and 10-D, nine letters, “One will play this.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.