I found the g-code problem at long last (about 6 hours of trial and error!) -- there were 6 stray entities so tiny I could not see them... I got rid of them by turning all the cut shapes on the R18 sheet into polylines (an automatic function in DataCAD) and then erasing all other entity types using Mask - whew!! Then re-export the DWG file (for the umpteenth time!) and import that into SU, redo all the outer and inner cuts and all the tabs (again!) and then it the g-code was clean and glitch-free.
Big relief. The PhlatPrinter 3 is now cutting the first copy of sheet R18, thankfully.
Edit: I glued on 4" today and I cut 6 more sheets of foam --
there are only FOUR sheets left to cut and 33" left to glue! Woohooo!