Today’s Saturday Stumper

I think that today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, is a tremendously difficult puzzle. 41-A, four letters: “One may be ultimately stumped.” Almost, almost.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

8-D, thirteen letters, “‘No offense’ phrase.” Spoken by the non-offender, or the non-offended?

9-D, three letters, “Course with dessert.” Oy.

17-A, eleven letters, “‘Seems believable.’” Nicely conversational.

18-D, thirteen letters, “Auteur’s work.” I don’t think this answer rings true.

20-A, ten letters, “Despotic descriptor.” A clever twist.

23-A, seven letters, “Delivery people?” This one helped a lot.

29-D, five letters, “Potato product from Poland.” As sold at Coney Island.

36-A, fifteen letters, “Generation gap in Taylor Swift videos.” The kids today and their music videos.

43-D, three letters, “Cheek or mouth.” Ha.

44-A, eight letters, “Advocates for different values.” Unexpected.

52-D, four letters, “Towel tip.” Well, it is a Stumper.

55-D, four letters, “Shortened fringe.” Well, it is a Stumper.

63-A, four letters, “Cellar dweller.” My first try was LAST.

My favorite in this puzzle: 25-A, eight letters, “Where to swim in the sea.” I thought, Could it be? Can’t be. It is. A delightfully wacky answer.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.