Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, is exceedingly difficult. But I got it, after at least an hour’s worth of staring. I started with 30-A, three letters, “Joey of fiction” and 31-D, four letters, “Publisher of Firestarter excerpts (1980)” and began to fill in the puzzle’s eastern edge. Toughest section: the southwest, where I was long in a 52-A, fifteen letters, “Precarious position.”

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

3-A, eight letters, “In high gear.” Groan.

5-D, ten letters, “Possible peppers partner.” But the answer need not begin with P.

8-D, four letters, “Resa alternative.” I thought this clue might be about wines I’ve never heard of. No.

14-D, five letters, “Slide stuff.” Very out of the way.

17-D, five letters, “Pit of the stomach.” Clever clueing.

19-A, seven letters, “Mideast word for ‘lighthouse.’” I guessed right and learned something.

21-D, seven letters, “With added zest.” An adverb won’t help.

23-A, thirteen letters, “Where Pulitzer’s Big Apple office was.” My first (wild) guess: MADISONSQUARE.

25-D, ten letters, “Pet kept for pest control.” I wanted BODEGACAT.

38-D, three letters, “Desserted?” Kinda awkward.

39-A, thirteen letters, “Tonic cocktails.” Eww.

47-D, four letters, “Big shock.” Talk about misdirection.

58-A, four letters, “Moviedom’s ‘Eighth Wonder.’” This answer helped a lot on the way to filling in the southwest.

My favorite clue in today’s puzzle: 1-A, four letters, “Receptionist’s pronoun.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.