Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, started so well for me: 10-D, five letters, “_____ eterno (passionate pledge)” and 11-D, five letters, “‘Low’ language” got me the whole northeast. The southeast followed. Smooth sailing, thought I. But no. The temperature is already rising, and we want to walk before it rises too much, and thus I ended up looking up four words to finish, the most I’ve ever looked up in a Stumper. It’s funny how looking up just a single word makes it easier to look up another.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

2-D, nine letters, “Legalese for ‘all the more.’” I had to look it up, hereinafter referred to as “IHTLIU.”

14-A, six letters, “Checked out.” A decidely sneaky clue.

21-A, eleven letters, “Legendary flier.” Neither Dedalus nor Icarus helps out here.

25-D, four letters, “Carb source.” I didn’t think about the informality of carb soon enough. IHTLIU.

29-A, six letters, “Metaphorical goal.” See 14-A.

32-D, nine letters, “Where Elvis was before G.I. Blues.” Heh.

39-A, eight letters, “Group with celebrity bloggers.” In 2025, this notion feels dated.

44-D, six letters, “Bit of Thanksgiving decor.” Really? Well, no, not really, not on its own.

46-A, five letters, “Biscuit close kin.” Wanting the answer to be SCONE made the southwest corner of the puzzle difficult to work out. IHTLIU.

50-D, five letters, “Protection and support.” I tend to think of the answer too specifically, but I’m sure that’s okay with her. (Her? Who? She’s in the comments.)

56-A, ten letters, “Citrus sinensis.” Thank you for that.

61-A, three letters, “Umbrella for Outlook.” Outlook, gah! My university now makes us use it — no forwarding from an .edu account to another service. Outlook is the worst e-mail interface I know.

My favorite in this puzzle: 14-D, eleven letters, “Grandma Moses, for instance.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.