Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, is an easy one, much easier that last week’s “Lester Ruff” (less rough) puzzle. I began with 15-D, fourteen letters, “‘Great big, thick, hot, juicy’ 1971 debut,” thinking my guess had to be right. I didn’t even count letters. And lo: 15-A, four letters, “Place for cast offs?” confirmed it.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, fourteen letters, “Besties’ milestone.” How would one date it?

8-D, eight letters, “Category for Dracula.” A surprising way to think of it.

11-D, three letters, “‘All we demanded __ right to twinkle’: Marilyn Monroe (with 10 Down).” Not in Bartlett’s, but the quotation seems to be genuine.

17-A, nine letters, “Make whole.” Appropriately Stumper-y.

20-D, three letters, “Elevated opening.” A clever way to redeem a bit of crosswordese.

22-A, seven letters, “Mustachioed modern mythmaker.” His name was in the air (our fambly’s air) last week.

23-A, seven letters, “Grist for a mill.” A great clue.

Two clue-and-answer pairs that I find awfully strained:

42-A, four letters, “What a thesaurus ain’t.” Yes, it’s clever. And I suppose the ain’t signals an informal answer. But still.

59-A, three letters, “Private reception.” Private transmission, maybe?

My favorite in this puzzle: 33-A, fifteen letters, “Cambridge unit selling through Amazon.” Just because it’s so surprising to see.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.