Today’s Saturday Stumper

I found today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, more congenial than some recent Stumpers. Very doable, with ample misdirection and trickiness, but very little far-fetchedness. And yes, I think it’s far-fetched to think of far-fetchedness as a word. Also, I think that its hyphen will at some point become unnecessary.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-D, five letters, “Bag label.” Yes, I guessed IDTAG first, just as I think I was supposed to.

4-D, fourteen letters, “Tank.” The second answer I filled in, with help from 16-A, five letters, “Some rust removers.”

10-D, nine letters, “Right thing.” A wonderful clue.

12-D, four letters, “Plodding pair.” Yes, I guessed FEET first.

14-A, nine letters, “Organic cooler.” Nice misdirection.

14-D, five letters, “Organic cooler.” Eh, maybe not so nice.

15-D, fourteen letters, “’79 film with the line ‘Pardon my boa!’” The other fourteen-letter answer in this puzzle.

17-A, nine letters, “Couple’s game phrase.” Kinda weird.

39-D, seven letters, “Palate cleanser.” Far-fetched but also pretty much inaccurate.

42-A, seven letters, “Chlorides in a bag.” Timely.

49-D, five letters, “National Blocking Association focus.” I thought must be , couldn’t be , must be .

61-A, three letters, “Munch kin land, briefly.” Yes, far-fetchedness is a word.

My favorite in this puzzle: 22-A, eight letters, “Peak performance establishment.” Though I’d never want to be there.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.