Lesson learned.
I have gotten so used to Mac software just doing an auto-save that when the app crashes, I lose very little. I guess that is not true for 2.4.4 Elements.
Lost an hour of work, which is particularly painful as I am blundering my way through how to achieve the look I want. Now having to do it all again, time to quit and come back to it.
Anyway, command-s is easy. Lesson learned, tap those keys while designing!
Blessings,
–Mark
PS. Of course, I sent in the crash log.