Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Stan Newman, constructing as Lester Ruff. A very satisfying Stumper, and even if less rough, it still took me half an hour. Starting point: 9-D, three letters, “Coleridge’s ‘Poor little foal of an oppressed race.’” For me, a giveaway. The toughest part of the puzzle: the upper left corner.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-A, eight letters, “Bowling center facility.” I’m amused by center — where I come from it was alley. And I’m amused by the answer, which I hadn’t thought of or heard, in any context, in a long time. It takes me back to my life as a part-time housewares-department employee during college.

2-D, five letters, “Middle of anything.” Weird but dictionarily accurate. And speaking of weird, I’ve decided to regard dictionarily as a word, even if the OED doesn’t.

4-D, four letters, “Schedule fillers.” ETAS? TBAS?

13-D, nine letters, “Brady-era image.” For me, a novel answer.

24-A, seven letters, “Goddess on the Medal of Honor.” Huh.

31-A, seven letters, “’What makes human progress possible,’ per FDR.” I like that, though reading The Power Broker makes me more disappointed in FDR than I would have expected.

33-D, nine letters, “In which krucvorto is ‘crossword.’” That word looks so unlikely — I thought it had to be what it turned out to be.

44-A, eight letters, “Pair of bumblers.” Silly.

47-A, seven letters, “They buy nasal dilators.” And sometimes even use them.

54-D, four letters, “What Meet the Beatles could be bought in.” Yes!

55-A, six letters, “Male name with two male name anagrams.” Just strange.

58-A, eight letters, “Poker variety named for its sinuous card shifting.” No idea yet what this means.

60-D, three letters, “Beverage or bus alternative.” I’m getting used to this kind of thing.

My favorite in this puzzle: 7-D, seven letters, “DMV, somewhat controversially.” It’s been years since I last entered a bowling center, but this clue is right up my alley.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.