Today’s Saturday Stumper

Holy moly, as my daughter would say: I found today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, incredibly easy. How can that be? Dunno. I began with a hunch and filled in 2-D, five letters, “Literally, ‘lawful.’” And then I saw 17-A, five letters, “Bayer brand,” and the game was on. By the time I hit the puzzle’s center, four or five answers at a time were asking (quietly, politely) to be filled in. The one sticking point: 44-A, three letters, “JAL Mileage Bank accrual.” I had no idea what to put in for a first letter until I looked at 44-D, three letters, “Tear down,” and ran the alphabet.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, eight letters, “Moniker for a Marine.” Not sure where I’ve ever seen it, but I knew it.

8-D, eight letters, “Fellows’ pursuits.” Good luck, fellows.

14-D, eleven letters, “Common palate cleanser.” A novel answer.

23-D, eleven letters, “Yucca cousins.” I guessed right.

24-A, eight letters, “They may accompany winks.” Cute.

34-D, four letters, “Conclusion of brief music.” Seen it before, not fooled by it.

36-D, fifteen letters, “Hottest seasonal streamer.” Just fun.

51-D, five letters, “Hills and valleys, ____ and fields: Marlowe.” But “We cannot go to the country / for the country will bring us / no peace”: Williams.

60-A, four letters, “Relaxed-sounding deity.” Ha.

61-A, five letters, “Nickname like Zuzu.” No petals necessary.

64-A, four letters, “Japan is the #1 consumer and producer of them.” Oh, them.

My favorite in this puzzle: 37-D, eight letters, “Genuinely, these days.” An idiom I like, in speech and in writing. It appears four times in these pages.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.