Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper is by David P. Williams. Let’s see: 1-A, seven letters, “Changing places”? Easy. 3-D, six letters, “Goes for competitively”? Easy with the first letter now there. 19-A, three letters, “Start to squirm”? Also easy with the last letter now there. And then the puzzle got much more difficult. I drew some kind of line at 44-D, six letters, “More that lessens.” But I did finish the puzzle before drawing the line. (I goofed — explanation in the comments.)

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

6-D, five letters, “Zee-surrounded getaway.” Sometimes I understand a baffling clue as I type it out, but I just typed out this clue, and I still do not understand it. (Now I do.)

11-D, eight letters, “Small tie.” A new direction in menswear?

14-A, eight letters, “Industry leader.” Ick.

15-D, thirteen letters, “Disorderly.” The answer could have been clued in a more obscure way.

16-A, six letters, “Trip starter.” So many tricky clues in this puzzle.

21-D, three letters, “Informal extension.” My first thought was ISH.

33-A, six letters, “Job with net income.” I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that I got this answer from reading Lorine Niedecker’s poetry.

34-A, fifteen letters, “Little lightweights.” Just wow.

35-D, eight letters, “Recession indicator.” Oof.

45-D, six letters, “Noise maker.” See 16-A.

48-D, five letters, “He’s enthralled by Cartier.” JAYZ doesn’t fit.

My favorite in this puzzle: 26-D, seven letters, “Party regular.” Because I saw the fifth letter but couldn’t believe my first thought could be the answer, and then realized that it had to be the answer.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.