Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here with a puzzle whose gimmick was easy to PIN down.
Theme: PIN DROP
Veteran constructor Catherine Cetta quietly drops four types of PINS into today's grid. We will look at those clues first:
18 Across. Cautious person's motto: SAFETY FIRST. 
24 Across. Like many ignition switches: PUSH BUTTON. 
36 Across. Trios of goals: HAT TRICKS. A HAT TRICK is three successes of the same kind. The term is often used in hockey or soccer to refer to three goals in a game by one player. It was first used in 1869 in reference to cricket.
51 Across. Anklets worn with a poodle skirt: BOBBY SOCKS. 
Then the reveal:
57. "Come back to that later," and an apt title for this puzzle: PUT A PIN IN IT.
The first word of each of the themed answers is a type of PIN, as illustrated below.
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| l to r: SAFETY PIN, PUSH PIN, HAT PIN, and BOBBY PIN |
Works for me! Now let's explore the rest of the puzzle....
1. Took a chair: SAT.
4. Small tool in a knife block: PARER.
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| The three knives (l to r) are chef's, utility, and paring. |
14. Forensic series with the theme song "Who Are You": CSI.
Who Are You by The Who is featured in the opening credits for the TV show CSI.
15. Trumpet sound: BLARE.
16. Dress with a flared skirt: A-LINE.
17. One who might say, "I like ewe!": RAM.
20. Neck of the woods: AREA.
22. Indigenous Canadians: CREE.
23. OR professionals: RNS. Registered Nurses work in Operating Rooms.
28. Ghostly sound effect: MOAN.
16. Dress with a flared skirt: A-LINE.
17. One who might say, "I like ewe!": RAM.
22. Indigenous Canadians: CREE.
23. OR professionals: RNS. Registered Nurses work in Operating Rooms.
28. Ghostly sound effect: MOAN.
Cab Calloway ~ The Ghost of Smokey Joe ~ 1939
29. Guest's guest: PLUS ONE. If you are invited to an event and if your invitation says you can bring a date then you are the guest and your date is your guest -- also called your PLUS ONE. 
30. Food court pizzeria: SBARRO. Carmela and Gennaro Sbarro opened their first restaurant in Brooklyn in 1956. Today Sbarro has grown to 630 locations in 28 countries. That-sa lotta pizza!
32. Snappy agreement: YEP.
33. Heart of the matter: GIST. In a nutshell, GIST crossed over to common use from the legal world.
35. Positive: ASSET. An ASSET is in the positive column so I suppose one could say these words are connected.
39. Early anesthetic: ETHER. ETHER was replaced by other substances in the 1960s.
42. The Bulldogs of the Ivy League: YALE. I knew this one because the Friday before last MalMan told us that the mascot of YALE university is a bulldog named Handsome Dan. He posted this adorable pic.
43. Snatch: NAB.
46. Primitive shelter: LEAN-TO. I learned this word when I read the Laura Ingalls Wilder books as a girl. Pa built a LEAN-TO outside their cabin's door.
48. Tenon's partner: MORTISE. I bet our builders on the blog knew this one. Learning moment for me. Now I know what to call the pieces of my coffee table that come apart every time I move it to vacuum the area rug.
50. Science centers: LABS.
54. Here, in Paris: ICI. I used this comic for Catherine's August 19th puzzle.
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| Translation: You Are Here (ICI) and: Your shoelace is untied. |
55. Diabolical: EVIL.
56. Gnat or mosquito: PEST. To understand this 49 sec. scene from Lilo & Stitch (2002), you need to know that Pleakley is an alien Professor of Earth Studies who thinks that mosquitoes are an endangered species. This is his first encounter with an actual mosquito on Earth. His professional excitement soon turns to ... well, you'll see.
62. Headsail on a sloop: JIB.
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| You can read more about this sloop and see a larger diagram here. |
63. Flurry: SPATE. 
64. Rogue: KNAVE. Def: (noun) a tricky, deceitful fellow.
65. One of five principal resources in the game Catan: ORE. Last month the board game Catan was in the news because of the Buffalo Bills football team. link to ESPN article
66. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTรE. (1908-2004) She was an American businesswoman who entered the cosmetic field when she helped her uncle sell his beauty products. She has been quoted as saying, "I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."
64. Rogue: KNAVE. Def: (noun) a tricky, deceitful fellow.
65. One of five principal resources in the game Catan: ORE. Last month the board game Catan was in the news because of the Buffalo Bills football team. link to ESPN article
66. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTรE. (1908-2004) She was an American businesswoman who entered the cosmetic field when she helped her uncle sell his beauty products. She has been quoted as saying, "I never dreamed about success. I worked for it."
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| There are many beautiful photos of her. |
67. Shooting sport: SKEET. Here is a 2:14 min. how-to video:
68. Iota: BIT.
Down:
68. Iota: BIT.
Down:
1. Feisty: SCRAPPY.
2. In most cases: AS A RULE. for the most part; generally
3. "Pencils down!": TIME'S UP. Think of a written exam.
4. "Finding Your Roots" airer: PBS. This is a TV show where Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. guides influential guests into their roots, uncovering deep secrets, hidden identities, and lost ancestors. Here is a list of the guests queued up for Season 10.
5. Brownie __ mode: A LA.
6. U.K. fliers: RAF. Royal Air Force
7. Standing up straight: ERECT.
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| He still isn't wearing socks. |
8. Back in fashion: RETRO. RETRO was first used as an adjective in 1972. I would have guessed it harkened back further than that.
9. Barista employer: CAFE. Barista was first used to mean "a person who makes and serves coffee to the public" in 1982. (I am not as surprised by that.) Barista is gender-neutral in English.
10. Boxer who said, "The will must be stronger than the skill": ALI. Muhammad ALI (1942-2016), among other things, was a boxer with a 3-letter name who gave the press rhyming quotes.
11. Self-reflection aids?: MIRRORS. Cute clue! "Diaries" also has seven letters.
13. "Better we skip it": LET'S NOT. ...and say we did.
19. Hankerings: YENS.
21. Satisfied sounds: AHS.
25. Four-time Bacall co-star: BOGART. Here is a timeline of their relationship from People Magazine.
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| Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall |
26. Meter, e.g.: UNIT. UNIT of measurement
27. Challenge: TEST. This clue works if they are both verbs ... or nouns.
28. __ transit: MASS. Mass transit is "the transportation of large numbers of people by means of buses, subway trains, etc., especially within urban areas".
31. Cookie-makers: BAKERS.
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| Everyone loves a cookie-maker! |
36. Small chicken tenders?: HENS. I did not understand this one. I know that a HEN is a female chicken but a HEN is full grown, not small. Maybe it means that chicken tenders used to be HENS??? I am sure one of you will be able to explain it to me.
37. Two-syllable foot: IAMB. An IAMB is "a metrical foot consisting of one short syllable followed by one long syllable or of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable."
38. Be sickly sweet: CLOY.
39. Earth's orbit around the sun, e.g.: ELLIPSE.
40. Where to leave leaves: TEA CUPS.
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| Some people leave the Disneyland TEA CUPS ride feeling quite dizzy. Hey, was that Santa?! |
41. Savanna woodlands, to a giraffe: HABITAT.
43. "Well done!": NICE JOB. Catherine's grid has 14 seven-letter answers (2 horizontal and 12 vertical). NICE JOB!!
44. "Maybe your iPhone can answer that": ASK SIRI. SIRI is the digital assistant on iThings.
47. Terse "Well, duh!": OBVI. OBVIously!
49. Outdo: TOP. This one made me think of Hahtoolah because she always outdoes herself with her blogs. They're TOPs!
52. Sty sounds: OINKS.
53. Lose a staring contest: BLINK.
Also, Blink-182 is an American rock band from southern California.
They formed in 1992. Here is their story of triumphs and tragedies over the years.
Reading that article explains this song, One More Time (2023).
#It'sNotTooLateToTellThePeopleAroundYouThatYouLoveThem
55. Pentathlon sword: EPEE. This 2 min. video gives a quick run down of the five events.
58. Had a bagel, say: ATE. What's your bagel order? I'll take a toasted pumpernickel, please.
59. Scot's denial: NAE.
60. "Eh, __ seen enough": I'VE. Well, just one more....
61. Vietnamese spring festival: TET. Tแบฟt, short for Tแบฟt Nguyรชn ฤรกn, is the annual Vietnamese New Year celebration. It's date changes each year because it begins on the second new moon after winter. In 2025, it will be on January 29.
58. Had a bagel, say: ATE. What's your bagel order? I'll take a toasted pumpernickel, please.
59. Scot's denial: NAE.
60. "Eh, __ seen enough": I'VE. Well, just one more....
61. Vietnamese spring festival: TET. Tแบฟt, short for Tแบฟt Nguyรชn ฤรกn, is the annual Vietnamese New Year celebration. It's date changes each year because it begins on the second new moon after winter. In 2025, it will be on January 29.
The grid: 
That's all from me. PINNY for your thoughts?
There were very few “head scratchers” in this puzzle. In fact, I would say it was another Monday “walk in the park.” FIR, so I’m happy.
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteMy only stumble was TEA bagS, but I quickly caught my balance. Had ETHER when my tonsils were yanked as a wee laddie. Nice one, Catherine. Enjoyed your expo, sumdaze. (Hens tend the chicks [small chickens].)
FIR without erasure.
ReplyDeleteSailors sometimes say "I like the cut of your JIB," similar to "I like your style."
I always thought MASS transit was how Catholics got to church on Sunday.
DNK that HAT TRICKS applied to anything but hockey.
In my meetings I usually had an easel with a flip chart labeled "Parking Lot." When something came up that wasn't part of the agenda or that was going to take a lot of time, I would move it to the parking lot and get on with the meeting. Usually those topics only required a couple of people, and were easily handled afterwards while allowing the meeting to end on time. DNK about the removable pins, but I used a variation of that knot to secure dock lines. (You can always spot someone who doesn't know how to tie it correctly - they substitute a bunch of wraps for an actual knot. The extra wraps don't make it more secure.)
Thanks to CC(2) for the fun puzzle. My favorite was "small chicken tenders" for HENS. And thanks to sumdaze for another fine review, especially the touching Bogie/Bacall story.
Took 5:28 for me to get done wrestling this one.
ReplyDeleteThink of "tender" as "one who tends".
In my opinion, ici and obvi are both ici.
I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with this site. Only three people had chimed in, and it was past. 9:00. But then SS chimed in, so perhaps people are just “sleeping late” today.
ReplyDeleteFIR. This was an extremely easy puzzle even for a Monday. My only nit was with obvi. That just seemed out of place in this puzzle, or any puzzle for that matter.
ReplyDeleteBut that aside, the theme was clever, the cluing straightforward, and overall, it was an enjoyable solve.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteCatherine gave us an easy-peasy offering this morning with a cute theme and clever reveal. I saw the Pin connection after filling in Bobby Socks, but the reveal was still a surprise. The grid was clean and junk free, although I could do without such silly expressions like Obvi. Nae, as always, brings dear Wilbur to mind. The best C/A, IMO, was Small chicken tenders?=Hens.
Thanks, Catherine, for starting the week off so pleasantly and thanks, sumdaze, for the fun and facts, especially the comics relating to Safety First, Ram, and Oinks. Your signature word-play talents add an extra layer of enjoyment to your reviews!
Have a great day.
Smooth CW this morning. I didn’t get the theme until the reveal, but had a nice surprise going back over the OBVI (groan) long answers.
ReplyDeleteEasy as this CW was, it still contained lots of clever and fun clues like PLUS ONE, HENS, MIRRORS.
Sumdaze, nice recap and loved that lab in the lab.
Catherine never disappoints, she has a knack for authoring the early week grids, a creative style reminiscent of the late Gail Grabowski. FIR in under 9 minutes, nice breezy solve to start the week, thanks Catherine!
ReplyDeletesumdaze ~ you never disappoint either with your Monday reviews, always an enjoyable read, thank you!
I noticed Lucina has been absent for over a week, I know she’s busy lots of times but don’t recall her saying she was taking a hiatus.
36Down, A hen tends to her small chickens. So, a hen is a "small chicken" tender.
ReplyDeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-My sub job today here at AHS involves just sitting around
-Frankie Avalon had a hit with Bobby Sox To Stockings in 1959
-PUSH BUTTON: I love not having to fish out keys for starting my car
-If you call for an Uber in Dubai, could you get someone with a CAMEL?
-I was in a group of 20 guys fishing in central Saskatchewan with CREE guides. I always wondered if they despised having to work with/for us or were grateful to get the work
-It took me a little bit to get the GIST of the “don’t run with scissors” cartoon as I had issues sussing out what the little character was.
-MORTISE and Tenon, NOT mortar and tendon
-TIME’S UP: Your final Jeopardy pen quits working then
-ELLIPTICAL orbit. The Earth is actually a little farther away from the Sun when those of us north of the equator have summer. It’s OBVI that the picture is nowhere near being to scale but it gives the idea.
-TET was a pyrrhic victory for America in 1968.
For a Monday, lots of Inkovers: let it be/LETSNOT, shanty/LEANTO, the curb(I am surrounded by autumn leaves)/TEACUP, best way/BEST BET
ReplyDeleteThe theme clues were OBVI but weren’t marked with the usual astrix? astricks? asterks? Uh stars!. ๐ Plus I thought “PUT A PIN IN IT” meant to finally totally or suddenly give up on a plan or idea (pop a balloon with a pin). Guess not ๐ค
Liked “small chicken tenders” but the ORE “Catan” clue coulda been more Monday simple
Humphrey BOGART as Philip Marlowe. “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”
Why wouldn’t mortar fit? Cuz it’s not mortar and pestle! The ankle is a MORTISE and tenon joint
Since it’s a common CW answer it will never ENSNARE me again and of that… IAMB certain.
Top o’ the week to all. ๐
Catherine Cetta constructed a very neat puzzle for us this morning. My last move was changing OBVs to OBVI to make sense of the big reveal. I mean, it's OBVs AS A RULE, right? I don't think I've encountered OBVI before, and was so rattled by it that I missed the meaning of the reveal and didn't get the GIST of it until sumdaze pointed out the PINS. NICE JOB, sumdaze!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help with HENS. Good one!
ReplyDeleteI can safely say I've never said "obvi" in my life but "ellipse", "teacups" and "habitat" was nice.
ReplyDeleteCatherine provided a smooth, well-constructed puzzle for us today. I have had occasion to use all four of the pins in the puzzle, including hat pins and bobby pins.Those two I used because I was a drama director, and I also ran graduation ceremonies. Bobby pins were a necessity to keep caps in place.
ReplyDeleteCatherine provided a gimmee for Canadian Eh, at 22 Across. But I'm wondering if the clue shouldn't have been something like, member of First Nations. Do the Cree identify themselves as Canadian?
I have not only never played Catan; I've never heard of it.
Yesterday I castigated the word "ush." Today I'm feeling the same about "obvi."
There is nothing wrong with "obvious" or "obviously."
I must run; Monday is my Duplicate Bridge day. Thanks again, Catherine, for your clever and fun challenge!
Actually, not exactly a gimmee (although it has been used often recently), but Inuit, Mรฉtis, Mohawk, Algonquin wouldn’t fit. I would not speak for an indigenous person, but my understanding is that many of them identify as Canadian, while others are part of their own sovereign nations and do not consider themselves part of one that has actively worked to assimilate their people.
DeleteHola! I am back from a ten day trip to Charlotte, NC, visiting my sister who lives there. Thank you, Yooper Phil, for asking about me. It was a wonderful vacation but I was disappointed that the leaves have not yet turned. I was hoping to see that.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks to Catherine Cetta for a lovely Monday puzzle, not SCRAPPY at all. When I was in Morocco I took a short CAMEL ride. Those CAMELS smell bad! I remember wearing BOBBY SOCKS and Oxford shoes as a teenager.
My favorite Lauren Bacall movie is "The MIRROR has two faces" and also stars Barbra Streisand.
I don't ask SIRI, I ask ALEXA.
There is a BLARE of wite-out in the SW corner where I started with NICEONE then changed to NICE JOB when JIB emerged. MASS to me has a very different meaning.
Although I had a wonderful time visiting my sister in NC, it's great to sleep in my own bed. The worst part of that trip was the three hour wait in Nashville. I hope never to repeat that!
And I hope you all have had a good week and continue to do so. It's lovely here right now, 72 degrees at 9:04 A.M. Later!
Catherine led me on one of Subgenius' walks in the park this morning. Fun! And a nice write-up, as usual, from sumdaze. I tried, but couldn't master either Skeet or Trap. I shoot right-handed, but have a left master eye, which makes shotgunning a challenge.
ReplyDeleteLast weekend we were in the Bay Area with my brother and his wife for a memorial for our mother. My brother's son came all the way from New York.
ReplyDeleteThe next day we took MASS TRANSIT to SFMOMA.
At SFMOMA we experienced the Polka Dot MIRROR Room by famed artist Yayoi Kusama - Infinite Love
WEES re OBVI. Only know SBARRO from puzzles. Fun theme. FIR.
I usually do the CW pen-on-paper. Couldn't get it to print this morning, even using my many work-arounds. Grr! Finally resorted to doing it online. Most thought it was an easy-peasey Monday, I thought it had a little bite to it, although since I did it online I didn't have the paper to take notes, so I can't say where I had to work a bit harder. One of the fills "ASKSIRI" is a bit of a joke, as I find Siri to be pretty unhelpful. Usually. Thanx for the fun CW, CC2.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanx too for the terrific write-up, Sumdaze. Your furniture that falls apart is easily fixed: drop a few drops of Elmer's Glue onto the very bottom of the mortise and push the tenon in. Let it set for a few hours. Do not try putting the glue on the tenon and pushing it in, it will form an airlock, not allowing it to get pushed in. And make a mess in the process.
Thanks, unclefred! I think I have some wood glue so I'll try applying it the way you explained.
DeleteDelightful Monday puzzle, Catherine, many thanks for the pleasure. And your commentary and pictures are also always helpful and fun, thanks for those too, Sumdaze.
ReplyDeleteAS A RULE, "SAFETY FIRST" is always our opening command any time we let guests play games in our play AREA. We then PUSH THE BUTTON and start the game, and our guests start running, each one with their PLUS ONE. Some of the runners use HAT TRICKS to distract each other, but when they're done, we always say "NICE JOB." Then we pass around some TEA CUPS and some snacks we bought from local BAKERS. And we also pass out some BOBBY SOCKS as a prize to the winners of the game. A pleasant morning for every one.
Have a delightful one too, everybody.
Our own C.C. has the byline today in USA Today.
ReplyDeleteMarvellous Monday. Thanks for the fun, Catherine and sumdaze.
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time, and required the reveal to see the PIN theme.
One inkblot to change That’s It to TIME’S UP. (It’s been a long time since I wrote a test!)
Another inkblot to change BEST Buy to BET.
I learned MORTISE doing CWs, but haven’t seen it for a long time. EPEE was back today.
I always have trouble remembering SBARRO (and the spelling).
Wishing you all a great day.
I got the GIST if the puzzle after SAFETY and HAT.
ReplyDeleteBOGART- The song "Key Largo" has a line with "Bogie & Bacall"
OBVIously, IMHO, OBVI belongs to the trash heap with a few others. Stick a fork in that fill.
We replaced our JIB with a Genoa on our roller furl. Bigger sail worked better in light winds. We would reef it in faster winds.
In the WSJ, there's and article about ESTEE'S family is having a little drama about deciding who will run the company.
When DW goes to ASK SIR about something, it doesn't know it half the time. I tell her to go to Chrome and hit the microphone. Google always has the answer.
Genoas are JIBs, but not all JIBs are Genoas. Simplistically, if the clew hits the mast when you tack, it's a Genoa.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed solving this puzzle.
ReplyDeleteWords I especially liked include MORTISE, SPATE, KNAVE, SCRAPPY, ELLIPSE, and HABITAT. Good fill.
"Words" I especially disliked include PARER and OBVI.
I noticed YENS and HENS.
Good reading you all.
And smaller headsails are commonly called "working JIBS."
ReplyDeleteI remember in the 60's, the word "RETRO" was used for the rockets that slowed down the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules to de-orbit them. They were called Retro Rockets.
ReplyDeleteI am traveling and have not had much time to stop by but I could not let the Science Lab go un-noted. Thanks, sumdaze!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a boning knife could be called a boner.
ReplyDeleteJayce, a boning knife could be called a boner but I'm not sure people would understand it as such.
ReplyDelete