That was me, and I didn't have any trouble saving. I actually have two versions on EPROM carts now -- the original 1.0 release, and an interim script edit that still has a few text display bugs. Both of them save fine, but the ability to save begins after you get the sword, as has been established.
There's one problem, though, that does occur on the hardware and not in an emulator: the intro screen graphics are screwed up. I vaguely recall Seph saying that it's because he forgot to write something to (or erase something from) VBLANK. MathOnNapkins, do you have that problem on the copier? Do you remember what the issue was?