Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Ben Zimmer, is a dilly, a doozy, a real humdinger. If those items in a series aren’t adequate, I’ll add that it’s also Something Else. I started the puzzle late last night, got about halfway, and went back to it this morning with fresh eyes. And rethinking one answer that I had wrong — 7-D, three letters, “Olympic flag bearer at the Vancouver opening ceremony” — made everything else fall into place, answer after answer.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

1-A, five letters, “Earliest leader of Thebes.” Why didn’t the right answer fit? Oh, because I’m doing the Saturday Stumper.

1-D, seven letters, “Pitching impediments.” Nice!

2-A, eight letters, “Somewhat stronger ‘Right on!’” I typed these words yesterday, instead of something even stronger.

5-D, five letters, “What a spot check takes care of.” A great repurposing of an everyday phrase.

8-D, ten letters, “Kind of soup as a starter?” Clever.

9-D, six letters, “Swift production of the 18th century.” Kinda obvious, but it pairs well with 21-D.

13-A, seven letters, “Flurry of phraseology.” I was sure the answer was PALAVER until I rethought 7-D.

13-D, seven letters, “Pedagogic payees.” I had no idea before getting 13-A. The word mystified me when I was in college. Why didn’t I think to look it up?

15-D, ten letters, “Utterly exhaust.” Hah!

21-D, eleven letters, “Swift production of the 21st century.” Kinda obvious, but it pairs well with 9-D.

31-D, eight letters, “Multiply.” I suspect that the clue was meant to Stumpify the answer, but I don’t think it’s a good fit.

24-A, nine letters, “Common late-spring mag recommendation.” I was thinking maybe a magazine for brides.

44-A, three letters, “‘I can be viewed without special formatting.’” I’m a fan.

45-A, four letters, “Off the _____ (top-of-mind, not surprisingly).” Recent slang, I think, though it sounds like something from a 1930s movie.

48-A, eight letters, “Pizzeria purchase.” A Coke and a slice don’t fit.

My favorite in this puzzle: 26-A, five letters, “Nickname of a mound or music great.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.