Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by David P. Williams, is sometimes “Crystal clear” (21-D, five letters), and sometimes “Perversely not no-raid” (3-D, six letters). Huh? Wut? It’s a mix of the straightforward, the legitimately tricky, and, for me, the trying too hard to be clever.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

5-D, four letters, “Engagement with a ring.” I thought BOUT. The answer fits, to my surprise, as a noun.

18-A, six letters, “Cubed salad ingredient.” Some people cube them?

23-A, four letters, “Chinese cabbage.” NAPA! NAPA!

40-A, eight letters, “Patio fixtures.” When did I last hear someone call them that? Never.

41-D, seven letters, “Writer’s bloc.” Trying too hard to be clever.

43-A, five letters, “What Poe’s ‘eccentric fools’ do.” I’m not sure that anyone should be expected to know. I think what we have here is an answer in search of a clue, with the constructor finding a citation to go with a word. My first thought was WRITE.

45-D, six letters, “Foundation for martial arts training.” Nice.

49-D, six letters, “Place for circle shows.” Never heard of them.

65-A, eight letters, “Hang on.” My first thought was MALINGER. But I prefer the puzzle’s answer.

My favorite in this puzzle: 37-D, eight letters, “Pollack as an imitator.” Weird and wonderful.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.