Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper: another puzzle by “Lester Ruff” (Stan Newman, the puzzle’s editor) that for me was really ruff. I had to look up two answers to finish. One, 3-D, six letters, “Bowling pins, informally,” calls for what feels like an antique bit of slang. The other, 30-A, nine letters, “Certain Miniature/Miniature mix,” had me stumped about the first three letters. ARF.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

5-D, four letters, “Obligation evidence.” Just an odd little word.

6-D, five letters, “Women’s group.” A strange way to clue this answer.

8-D, fifteen letters, “Blow things up.” Pretty tricky.

11-D, six letters, “Subject-changing intro.” I hear it often.

13-D, eight letters, “Literally, ‘little cake.’” And now it seems obvious.

14-A, eight letters, “Pinterest recycling suggestions.” If you say so.

34-A, four letters, “What some fight like.” Somehow I could see it.

35-A, three letters, “Himalayan center.” I could see this one too.

36-D, seven letters, “Entertainment since radio days.” Yeah, but they weren’t called that then.

44-A, letters, nine letters, “First musical act with a permanent retail store (Carnaby Street, since 2020).” My first thought was ELTONJOHN. Or, rather, ELTONJOHN? A slightly underhanded way to clue the real answer.

45-D, six letters, “Unload on.” Sneaky.

62-A, eight letters, “Tony winner (1951) for Grace Kelly’s Oscar role (1954).” All I read while solving was “Tony winner (1951).” The rest of the clue was at the top of the next column of print. But I’m not sure the additional info helps: it all feels mighty out of the way. And the phrasing is odd: you don’t win an award for someone else’s role. Better: “Tony winner (1951) for role for which Grace Kelly later won an Oscar.”

My favorite in this puzzle: 36-A, fifteen letters, “Live wire?” Yes, still a thing in 2025.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.