Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor, composing as “Lester Ruff.” As with other LR puzzles, I didn’t find this one especially easy. But it was crunchy, flavorful, and full of fun. Toughest area: the upper left. But not especially tough.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-D, seven letters, “Montreal newspaper.” One of the clues that made the upper left difficult, at least for me. Quelle langue?

2-D, seven letters, “Public art.” GRAFITI? Another clue that made the upper left difficult.

13-A, six letters, “Most famous grandson of Josiah Wedgewood.” And one more. I had no idea.

17-A, eight letters, “News of interest.” Rather Stumper-y.

23-D, three letters, “Exclamation coined for Buck Rogers.” See? Full of fun.

30-A, six letters, “Combination plate?” More than more than a bit of a stretch.

36-A, eight letters, “Covered, as mysteries.” Tricky.

43-D, seven letters, “Union tune sung by Baez at Woodstock.” Remember the triple album?

54-D, four letters, “‘For ____’ (Contact dedication).” A vague memory, and it worked.

61-A, eight letters, “Film in which Dean Martin sings ‘My Rifle, My Pony, and Me.’” I don’t think Stan Newman expects anyone outside the Martin family to just know the answer. I take the clue as an amusing way to get the answer into the puzzle. Here’s the song, without a spoiler.

64-A, five letters, “Schopenhauer called him a ‘clumsy charlatan.’” Oof.

My favorite in this puzzle: 6-D, fifteen letters, “Idly.” Yep, just because.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.