Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is another “Lester Ruff” (Stan Newman) puzzle that struck me as rather difficult. I hadda look up words. The southeast corner — grr.

I’ve chosen nine-letter answers to suggest this puzzle’s delights and non-delights:

2-A, “Quirky grocery guy.” I thought the answer had to be the name of a advertising or cartoon or sitcom character. MRWHIPPLE?

6-A, “Work hard” antonym. Nicely contemporary.

18-A, “Apricot or peach potations.” BRANDIES is a letter short. I’ve always thought of a different ingredient, so I didn’t expect this answer.

32-D, “Throws off.” I kept thinking of someone creating a false trail, then of someone (else) removing a heavy garment. But I finally got on track.

33-D, “Well-suited for vacationers.” I’m surprised to see that it’s a real word, and it rivals in popularity a similar word that I would have thought is much more common.

34-D, “City north of Berkeley on I-80.” I hadda look it up. It’s a city of 25,000+: is there any reason someone solving should be expected to know its name? Maybe there is.

35-D, “About 21 pints.” I hadda look it up.

60-A, “‘Show me!’” Nicely colloquial. IWANTPROOF is one letter over.

My favorite in this puzzle: 37-A, three letters, “The Meaning of Everything subject.” Thanks for that.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.