Problem solved. I updated the app via ‘check for updates’, now on 8.2.0+6554 and everything worked as expected when I created a new site.
Up and running with a new Wordpress site in about 30 seconds!
As a sidenote, after resolving that update issue, setup is much simpler and local site more responsive than my experience with DevKinsta, and seems to be less of a resource hog too.