Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by the puzzle’s editor, Stan Newman, constructing as Lester Ruff. And this puzzle was, for me, less ruff. I started with 25-D, six letters, “Family Fun Month” — I know how to spell my months. It wasn’t long before I noticed a marked culinary emphasis: 15-A, five letters, “Stir-fry staple”; 16-A, three letters, “Sichuan staple”; 24-A, four letters, “German Vollkornbrote, e.g.”; 43-A, ten letters, “Cacciatore alternative.” The English muffin I had for breakfast couldn’t compete.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

6-D, nine letters, “Disney Christmas Day Parade host, 2001–2009.” I’m not sure anyone aside from the host and family should be expected to know the answer, but I’m amused rather than irked.

10-D, three letters, “Nicely named former Archbishop of Manila, Jaime ___.” I suspect that finding such a delightful clue took some work.

21-D, seven letters, “Adjective for the earliest talkies.” But not one you’d have seen in an advertisement.

29-A, thirteen letters, “Bond and Powers.” Beginning a stack of thirteen-letter answers. The last six letters are easy; the first seven, not so much.

32-A, thirteen letters, “Lower one’s voice?” Carefully phrased.

33-A, thirteen letters, “Amazon MGM subsidiary.” What doesn’t that guy own?

45-D, four letters, “Who first spoke of ‘the green-eyed monster’ (1604).” I first saw that phrase in a thesaurus back in high school, long before I read the source.

47-A, five letters, “Brownstone turned art museum.” I was trying to think of a name.

53-A, five letters, “Street of fame is one.” I’m not sure how I saw through this clue so quickly.

54-A, five letters, “Caterpillar product.” This clue had me hung up for some time. BALER? ROTOR? SOWER?

My favorite in this puzzle: 12-D, eight letters, “Carver of cartoondom.”

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.