Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Steve Mossberg, has the arch (29-A, ten letters “Psychomotor learning experts”), the indirect (52-A, five letters, “Drops off”), the surprising (8-D, nine letters, Moby-Dick’s ‘lively sketches of whales’”), and the tricky (54-A, five letters, “Be stingy”). Something for everyone, and a really delightful puzzle.

I started with tamer clues — 33-D, four letters, “Musical note’s vertical line” and 41-A, three letters, “Sub-Saharan staple” — and then meandered with a mazy motion, a word here, a word there, doubting I’d get everything. The clue whose answer made me think I would: 13-A, four letters, “Type of batter bread,” which made many things fall into place.

Some more clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-D, four letters, “Galaxy clusters.” Tricky, but it didn’t fool me.

10-D, five letters, “Poet pal of Tolkein.” Good to see the name in a puzzle.

13-D, ten letters, “Peruvian brandy cocktail.” Wha? I don’t know how I know this.

26-D, ten letters, “Similar color to Flame Orange.” Yow! But the clue should really read “Color similar to Flame Orange.”

34-A, fifteen letters, “One averse to innovation.” Worth an outright guess, Could it be? Yes.

36-A, ten letters, “Rustic jam.” But the spelling might be a challenge.

42-D, five letters, “Thoroughfare bordering Yale U.” A thoroughfare, really? Okay, I suppose it is.

45-A, five letters, “Deconstruct.” Sort of.

46-D, five letters, “Slip away, in a way.” Of course, ERODE. Uh, no.

My favorite in this puzzle: 14-D, seven letters, “Starting point.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.