Thursday, March 13, 2025, Catherine Cetta

     The Sounds of Music 

Today our constructor Catherine Cetta presents us with a reveal that tells us all we need to know about her clever, elegant, musical theme ...

56. "By the way ...," and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters: ON A SIDE NOTE.  That is, the circles each contain a NOTE of the musical scale in descending order along on the left then right SIDE of the grid -- represented by the syllables TI, DO, SOL, LA, MI, FA, DO, and RE.   This system has been around since the 11th Century and is called Solfège -- the use of mnemonics in teaching the sounds in a musical scale. 

Here's the grid ...
 

Here's the rest ...

Across:

 1. "Casablanca" heroine: ILSA.  Here she cajoles Sam into playing As Time Goes By ...

Judy Dench and Geoffrey Palmer cajoled that tune into a delightful 10 series romcom -- I think this is episode 1.

5. Is generally positive: HOPES.

10. Mavens: PROS.

14. Subject with lots of problems: MATH.  That's how you learn MATH -- by solving lots of problems, and the more problems you solve the more MATH you learn.

15. Weasel out of: EVADE.

16. "Rats!": DARN.

17. Attachments: TIES.

18. Old thing: RELIC.  My favorite relic is the Shroud of Turin, a sheet of linen 14' 3" long by 3' 7" wide containing a highly detailed image of a crucified man, which has several unique properties.  It is believed by some to be the burial shroud of Christ, certainly a debatable question, but as yet no one has come up with a satisfactory explanation for how it was created.   But there is no question that it is the most studied artifact of all time. Based on radiocarbon data collected in 1988 from a sample taken from a single location on the cloth, skeptics claim that it was created in the Middle Ages.  Others say that the carbon-14 measurements may have been accurate for the 2.5 sq. in. sample taken from one of the corners, but that it is probably not representative of the age of the whole 50 sq ft. cloth. The skeptics have been challenged by David Rolfe, a British documentary film producer and researcher on the Shroud of Turin, who has offered a million dollars to anyone who can replicate it, the only stipulation being that they can use only technologies extant in the Middle Ages.  FWIW, Teri and I were fortunate to see the Shroud in Turin, Italy in 2000; I have read several dozen books on the subject, both pro and con; and I still have no idea on how it was made.

19. Classic pet name: FIDO.

20. Amanda Gorman's "__ to Our Ocean": ODE.  In June 2020, Lonely Whale collaborated with Atmos and Future Earth to produce Ode to Our Ocean — a poem by Amanda Gorman written for World Oceans Day.

Amanda Gorman

21. Civil rights leader __ Scott King: CORETTA.  Coretta Scott King (née Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was the wife of Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his assassination in 1968.

Coretta Scott King
1964

23. Hem but not haw?: SEW.

24. A as in Aristotle: ALPHA. ALPHA is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, the alphabet used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Aristotle
Marble portrait bust,
Roman copy (2nd century bce)
 of a Greek original (c. 325 bce)

26. Hasty getaway: LAM.

27. Hate the thought of: DREAD.

29. Footprint makers: SOLES.

30. Fútbol cheer: OLE.

31. Birthing coach: DOULA.  Doula vs midwife: what's the difference?

32. Dweeb: TWERP.  I think either the clue or the fill is a stretch ...

33. Kylo who is Darth Vader's grandson: REN.  Kylo Ren (born Ben Solo) is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in The Force Awakens (2015), the first film of the sequel trilogy as the main antagonist. He subsequently appeared in The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).  Looks like a bad dude ... 

Kylo Ren

34. "What a butterfingers I am!": OOPSY.

35. Fuse together: MELD.  WELD fit, but didn't perp.

37. Coffee containers: URNS.  The preferred containers for holding coffee in crosswords.

39. Whole: ENTIRE.

42. "Don't be led __": ASTRAY.  Good advice!

46. Fog: MIST.

47. Tea region of India: ASSAM.  Actually there are three regions in India that cultivate tea, but NILGIRI and DARJEELING wouldn't fit.  Here's a lovely lady plucking tea in an Assam tea garden ...

Assam tea garden

51. Couch: SOFA.

52. Baseball Hall of Famer nicknamed "Master Melvin": OTT.  Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958) was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants, from 1926 through 1947.  He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Though unusually slight in stature for a power hitter, at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), 170 pounds (77 kg), Ott led the National League in home runs a then-record six times. He was an All-Star for 11 consecutive seasons, and was the first National League player to surpass 500 career home runs.
 

Ott was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951.

53. Round figures: SPHERES.

55. Farm pen: STY.

56. [Theme reveal]

59. Naturally curly styles: AFROS.  AFROS commonly style our crossword grids and my favorite wearer of them is Keith Jarrett.  Known primarily as a jazz pianist and improvisor, he is also equally at home playing classical piano.  I was first introduced to him with his performances of the Russian composer Dimitri Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues.  Here is Keith playing the latter's Op. 87: No. 1 in C Major ... 

 
 61. Fashion's Diane __ Fürstenberg: VON.  Diane von Fürstenberg (née Diane Simone Michele Halfin; 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon von Fürstenberg. Following their separation in 1972 and divorce in 1983, she has continued to use his family name. 

Diane von Furstenberg

62. __-toothed tiger: SABER.  The scientific name for this beast is the Smilodon, an extinct genus of felids. It is one of the best known predators of prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats, The hundreds of specimens obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of Smilodon fossils.  

Painting of Smilodon populator
the American Museum of Natural History
Charles R. Knight

65. Mosque toppers: DOMES.  The Dome of the Rock is an Islamic shrine at the center of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It is the world's oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture, the earliest archaeologically attested religious structure to be built by a Muslim ruler and its inscriptions contain the earliest epigraphic proclamations of Islam and of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. 

Dome of the Rock
 Temple Mount
Old City of Jerusalem

66. Terminus: END.

67. Cornflower kin: AZURE.  Both are shades of blue -- here are a few others.

68. "Rly?": SRSLY.  Text speak: "Really?":"Seriously!".  Seriously meh! 

  69. __ race: RAT.  ... the RATS appear to be winning.

70. Sidestep: DODGE.

Down:

 1. Lament from someone in big trouble: I'M TOAST. The birth of an idiom ...  

2. Knocked out of action: LAID LOW.

3. Church tower topper: STEEPLE.  Ulm Minster is a Lutheran church located in Ulm, State of Baden-Württemberg (Germany). It is the tallest church in the world.  The church is the fifth-tallest structure built before the 20th century, with a steeple measuring 161.53 metres. 

Ulm Minster
Lutheran church

4. Satisfied sounds: AHS.

5. Sub: HERO.

6. Authoritative ruler: OVERLORD.  A timely clue.

7. Hoppy brew: PALE ALE.

8. Word feature: EDIT MENU.  Microsoft Word that is.  I intended to illustrate this clue with a screen shot of the Word EDIT MENU, but Word has become so bloated with features that I couldn't find it.  The product seems to have overtaken by adverts for Microsoft's AI product, CO-PILOT.  Just tell it what you want and it will do the rest.

9. Offshoot: SECT.

10. Many an attachment: PDF.  Portable Document Format, a freeware product original developed by Adobe Acrobat, which has become an industry standard for document portability -- regardless of who you're sending it to, there is a good chance that they'll be able to read it.

Adobe Acrobat

11. Elevate: RAISE UP.

12. Major hassles: ORDEALS.  Or this could have been clued "Major ordeals:" HASSLES. 

13. Unscheduled winter break: SNOW DAY.  As retired folks we no longer break for SNOW DAYS --  but we can't break from SNOW SHOVELING! 

21. Wyoming's second-most populous city: CASPER.  Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of the 2020 census. Casper is nicknamed "The Oil City" and has a long history of oil boomtown and cowboy culture, dating back to the development of the nearby Salt Creek Oil Field. 

Casper skyline

22. Extras: ADD ONS.

25. Recluse: HERMIT.

28. Dove bars?: ROOSTS.  These ROOSTS are often found in Dovecotes.

36. By __ and bounds: LEAPS.

38. Japanese noodle dish: RAMEN.

39. Panic! at the Disco genre: EMO.  Panic! at the Disco was an American pop rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2004 by childhood friends Ryan Ross, Spencer Smith, Brent Wilson, and Brendon Urie. Following several lineup changes, Panic! at the Disco operated as the solo project of front man Urie from 2015 until its discontinuation in 2023.  Here's their House of Memories ... 

40. Trivial objection: NIT.

41. Threatening NOAA forecasts: T STORMS.  The number of T STORMS that NOAA is allowed to forecast has recently been reduced by circumstances beyond its control -- weather is so chaotic! 😕

43. Last on-screen message in a classic film: ROSE BUD.  The film referred to in the clue is the 1941 drama Citizen Kane, a thinly veiled biopic of the publishing magnate, William Randolph Hearst.  The film was directed by Orson Wells to a score by Bernard Hermann.  Near the end of the film, as Kane dies his enigmatic last words are ROSE BUD.  Reporters and others launch a search for the meaning of these words, but are unable to discover them.  The very last scene shows workmen wandering through his warehouse, inspecting and disposing of various artifacts from his life -- but only we see the name ROSE BUD on his childhood sled as it is consumed by flames in the fireplace.  Some commentators describe Kane's words as his recollection of his childhood innocence at the moment of his death  ... 

 44. Toward the rudder: AFT.

45. "Oh, happy day!": YAY.  What kids SAY on 13Ds! 😀

48. Cold response: SHIVER.  What I do on 13Ds! 😕

49. City in Arizona's Verde Valley region: SEDONA.  Sedona is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031.  And CSOS to Lucina, CMOE, and Prof. M.

Cathedral Rock
Coconino National Forest
Sedona, AZ

50. Political philosopher Hannah: ARENDT.  Another timely clue. Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century.  She is probably best remembered for the controversy surrounding the trial of Adolf Eichmann; for her attempt to explain how ordinary people become actors in totalitarian systems; and perhaps most of all for the phrase "the banality of evil."

Hannah Arendt

53. Cheeky: SASSY.

54. "Makes me want to cry": SO SAD.

57. Carolers' tune: NOEL.  Here was the first one ...

58. Maker of Zen K-Cup pods: TAZO.  Tazo Tea Company (TAZO) is a tea and herbal tea blender and distributor founded in Portland, Oregon. It is now a Lipton Teas and Infusions division and is based in Kent, Washington.  This Britaphile finds the idea of getting green tea from plastic cups to be not very green, and quite frankly revolting! 😖

59. Some internet search results: ADS.

60. Supporting: FOR.

63. Bit of energy: ERG.  The ERG is a unit of energy equal to 10−7 joules (100 nJ). It is not an SI unit, instead originating from the centimeter–gram–second system of units (CGS). Its name is derived from ergon (ἔργον), a Greek word meaning 'work' or 'task'.

64. "The Pioneer Woman" host Drummond: REE.  Anne Marie "Ree" Drummond (née Smith, born January 6, 1969) is an American blogger, author, food writer, and television personality. Drummond became known for her blog, The Pioneer Woman, which documented her life in rural Oklahoma, and her cookbook.  Here's how she makes Orange Chicken ... 

And her recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo looks good too ...
 

Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo

Cheers, 

Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proofreading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley

Wednesday, Jan 8th, 2025 ~ Catherine Cetta

 This is not a Pipe (organ)

This Is Not a Tool for Drilling

A new twist on a crossword puzzle idea that even I tried to construct - in that version, I inserted "Drill" into the song title "The Thrill Is Gone" - but that idea had been done more than once; in fact, the old editor, Rich Norris, was the constructor of one.  Our C.C. could tell you more - today's author is another "C.C.", whom I have not had the pleasure to blog - she appeared for the LA Times three times in 2024, two of them on Mondays.  No circles, a few names that filled via perps before I had the chance to read the clues, a run of 26 Five-Letter Words ( 5LW ), and several answers that I "Learned From Doing Crosswords" (LFDC).  Here's your "Do It Yourself" minimum requirements; 

17. Emphasize and then some: HAMMER HOME

24. Had an aha moment: SAW THE LIGHT

51. "Be brutally honest": LEVEL WITH ME

63. Some Expedia search results: PLANE FARES - I don't much like "plane", but it works - but Southwest came up before Expedia on my Google

39. "Remember your training, people!," and what can be said about the starts of 17-, 24-, 51-, and 63-Across: THIS IS NOT A DRILL - for those who don't recognize the paint job on the drill above, here's where it comes from

Van Halen - Poundcake

And Away We Go~!

ACROSS:

1. Carve into: ETCH - I used letter punches to "ETCH" my name into this wood block for sanding

I whacked the "N" sideways the first time 😜

5. Multitasking, perhaps: BUSY

9. Chocolate canines: LABS - as in Labrador, the dog breed; Australian Shepherds are on their way to my local shelter, so I might just go with that breed for my new pet - I already know how much they shed, bark, weigh, and the amount of exercise they need~!

13. 22-Down city: TROY - AND - 22D. Epic poem featuring Patroclus and Achilles: ILIAD - Five-letter Epic poem blah-blah-blah = Ektorp

14. Turkish bigwigs: AGHAS - Learned from doing crosswords (LFDC)

16. Run __: AMOK - I do the DOWNs first; otherwise, I doubt I would have understood this clue

19. Written reminder: NOTE

20. Portents: OMENS

21. Glowing quality: RADIANCE

23. Me day place: SPA

27. Bearded garden figure: GNOME

I want one~!

29. NPR host Shapiro: ARI - name #1, filled via perps

30. "Don't get carried __!": "AWAY~!" - we have a lot of "quoted" clues today as well . . . .

32. Whisper receiver: EAR - different way to clue this answer

34. Book of maps: ATLAS

43. "Water Lilies" painter Claude: MONET - Is it mAnet, or mOnet~? - I can never remember; the "O" filled via perps

44. Little bit: TAD

45. Above: OVER

46. Slugger Mel inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1951: OTT - name #2, Crossword Staple

49. Isabel Wilkerson work subtitled "The Origins of Our Discontents": CASTE - name #3, again, filled via perps

56. Financial daily, initially: WSJ - The Wall Street Journal

59. Speechmaker's story: ANECDOTE - "So there I was, in the middle of nowhere . . . "

60. Bonn's river: RHINE - or rhOne~?  This time, I was wrong with the "O"

62. Seethe: BOIL

66. Jazz legend Fitzgerald: ELLA - name #4, Crossword Staple

67. Canyonlands features: MESAS

68. Campfire output: HEAT

69. Stand the test of time: LAST

70. Credit card balance, e.g.: DEBT

71. Requests: ASKS


DOWN:

1. Belief system: ETHOS

2. Walk with heavy steps: TRAMP - I tried CLOMP first

3. "What?": "COME AGAIN~?" - reminds me of the "Wolf" scene from Pulp Fiction - NSFW

4. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," for one: HYMN - no clue; again, perps; name(ish) #5

5. Forbid: BAR - I had BAN first; 67% correct

6. "How repulsive!": "UGH~!"

7. In the red: SHORT - OWES was not long enough

In the RED, and SHORT

8. Big name in electronic instruments: YAMAHA - an electric organ~?  Anathema~!

9. One of four islands in Maui County: LANAI - name #6, filled - oh, never mind

10. "You're __ friends": AMONG - ooof - not sure I would ever guess this answer

11. Bungle: BOTCH - I always associate "BOTCH" with plastic surgery - definitely NSFW - even the "success" stories look creepy

12. Shooting sport: SKEET

15. Passover meal: SEDER - LFDC

18. Canadian fuel giant: ESSO - LFDC

25. Iowa college town: AMES - name #7 - LFDC

26. Gradually ease off: WEAN

28. Org. with opening and closing bells: NYSE - check the $$$ of your IPO on the NYSE in the WSJ

30. PIN point: ATM - good change-up for this Crossword Staple

31. "__ knows?": "WHO~?"

33. "Rubbish!": "ROT~!"

35. Not quite run: TROT - another tough-to-relate clue/answer

36. Go-getters: LIVE WIRES - I have to put this one in

I love playing the drums to this - the cowbell fills are great
Mötley Crüe - Live Wire

37. India Pale __: ALE - Crossword Staple - seen as "IPA"

38. Pro's camera: SLR - a professional's Single-Lens Reflex 35mm (typically) tool

40. "Mom knows": "I TOLD." - you dirty rat . . . .

41. RPM gauge: TACH - abbr. for RPM = abbr for tachOMETER

42. Driver at the Oscars: ADAM - Ooops, not MINI ( which is actually Minnie ) - name #8

47. Early afternoon hr.: TWO PM

See what I mean~?

48. Named: TITLED

50. Feudal laborer: SERF

51. Laundry instructions spot: LABEL - my first thought was the lid of the washing machine 😜

52. "__ Holmes": Millie Bobby Brown film: ENOLA - name #9

53. Obscures: VEILS

54. Razzle-dazzle: ÉCLAT

55. Rib: TEASE

57. B-ball shoe: SNEAK - meh.  sneakER.  My first thought, and I said "there's no way that's the answer."

58. Makes jokes: JESTS

61. "That's funny!": "HA-HA~!"

64. Snag: NAB

65. Superlative ending: EST - as in the BESTEST, ever

Splynter

That's a PIPE~!

Notes from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the pipe guy's 20th continued sobriety. Reaching this milestone is a testament to your resilience and dedication to living your best life. Congrats, Splynter!

Monday October 28, 2024 Catherine Cetta

  

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.

a possible origin of this phrase

The first word of each of the themed answers is a type of PIN, as illustrated below.

l to r:  SAFETY PIN, PUSH PIN, HAT PIN, and BOBBY PIN

Works for me! Now let's explore the rest of the puzzle....

Across:

1. Took a chair: SAT.   

4. Small tool in a knife block: PARER.  

The three knives (l to r) are chef's, utility, and paring.

9. Bedouin's beast: CAMEL. A Bedouin is a nomadic Arab of the Arabian, Syrian, or northern African deserts. Their population is estimated at about 4 million people.  

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.  

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.

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.  

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:  ESTÉE.  (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."  

There are many beautiful photos of her.

67. Shooting sport: SKEET.  Here is a 2:14 min. how-to video:  

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.  

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.  

12. Trap: ENSNARE.

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.

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.  

Everyone loves a cookie-maker!

34. Attempt: TRY.

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.  

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.  

45. Optimal option: BEST BET.  

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.  Tết, short for Tết Nguyên Đán, 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?