Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is Brad Wilber’s first Stumper since December 2023. I began with 43-D, six letters, “Georgia state wildflower,” which intersected with 51-A, four letters, “Loser.” Those two answers gave me most of the southeast corner. And then the puzzle became much more difficult.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-A, eight letters, “IPO in the dot-com vanguard.” A clue that’s been run before, and an answer that’s a real throwback.

3-D, six letters, “Boat-deck application.” Oh, yes, of course.

9-A, six letters, “CIA director under Ford.” Another throwback, and a sneaky one. But I don’t think the answer is accurate.

9-D, four letters, “Regular fellow.” Sneaky, and this answer is accurate.

14-D, seven letters, “Poetic form used by Chaucer.” Adding an unexpected rhyme to the proceedings.

24-D, eight letters, “Pitch at a high level.” Yeesh.

27-D, four letters, “Rival of Chris and Yvonne.” I know the names Evert and Goolagong, but I don’t know tennis well enough to know if this clue feels dated.

33-A, eleven letters, “Spotted housecat.” Wha?

36-A, thirteen letters, “Anti-establishment symbol.” Like 1-A, the answer feels a bit dated.

41-A, four letters, “Middle management protocol, for short.” Stumper-y.

55-A, six letters, “‘Ah-oooo-ga!’” So that’s how you spell ah-oooo-gaa. I didn’t know that I knew how to spell the answer.

My favorite in this puzzle: 17-A, eight letters, “‘Your library is your ______’: Erasmus.” He at least said something close, though he didn’t mean it as something wonderful.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.