Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by Rafael Musa. It’s his second, and it’s a good one. I’d call it just plain hard rather than tricky. I scanned the clues and found three (easy) starting points: 16-A, seven letters, “Canadian contemporary of Alice Munro”; 26-D, five letters, “Spread awkwardly”; and 50-A, four letters, “Source of American arabica.” And then I began to fill in the blanks.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

5-D, five letters, “Supporting cast member.” Okay, this one’s tricky.

15-A, fifteen letters, “Merger precursor.” Nice.

20-A, four letters, “Live the wrong way.” I knew it had to be.

24-D, five letters, “Fair housing.” See 20-A.

27-D, ten letters, “Wedding wheel-out.” Is this clue the giveaway I think it is?

33-D, five letters, “Word from Latin for ‘sandy place.’” I did not know that.

34-A, six letters, “What might say GRANDMA WAS HERE.” My first thought: COOKIES?

51-A, four letters, “Hands or feet.” Hmm — I think this answer should be clued with singular nouns.

53-D, four letters, “Author inspired by Zora.” There’s an obvious answer, but it’s difficult to see right away how 54-A might mesh with it.

54-A, fifteen letters, “Evidence of a loving relationship.” I’m taking his word on this.

57-D, three letters, “Chambre d’______ (guest bedroom).” I guessed right.

60-A, eight letters, “Crescent shape.” Here’s what I mean by just plain hard.

61-A, six letters, “The first Eisenhower jackets.” I think I just learned about these jackets from the podcast Gear. But that didn’t give me the answer.

My favorite in this puzzle: 14-A, eight letters, “Yellow pages, historically.” Remember the Yellow Pages? Not them, or it.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.