Wednesday, September 2, 2026 - Guilherme Gilioli

 

Theme:  Order in the Court!

 

It was so ordered; until it wasn't ...

 

 

 

Perhaps you'll like this video instead? (for anyone who's a Boomer or older)

 

Puzzling thoughts:

Chairman Moe here.  Today's constructor Guilherme Gilioli (the link will take you to his last appearance at the Crossword Corner) has been featured as a constructor @ the LATimes a total of four times now.  He also has 3 published puzzles @ NYT and has his own webpage for crosswords (in his native, Portuguese) - very impressive

Today's puzzle has the dreaded circles (side-eye shout out to SS); however, without them I am not sure that you would have noticed the reveal:

59 across. Judge's directive, or a feature of each set of circled letters?: COURT ORDER. 

The reveal is supported by the following entries; I highlighted the circled letters in red text:

17 across. 1990s grunge icon: KURT COBAIN.  There is far too much to write about him to fit into this blog. I'm pretty sure that he was quite polarizing, but then again, aren't we all to some degree?  When I read his biography @ Wikipedia I noticed this fact about him, straight away: he died at the age of 27 (this link will provide the names of the other iconic rock stars who passed at this specific age, which began the use of the term, "27 Club")

23 across. Some street food vendors: TACO TRUCKS.  These are quite popular here in the desert SW but I hear that they are becoming popular in more and more places across the country, not just in Arizona or other states that border Mexico.  Does your city have one?  Do tell!

 

This is one that we frequent

37 across. Going the faster way, hopefully: TAKING A SHORTCUT.  This brings back some not so fond memories of taking road trips with my parents and sister.  Earliest memory probably was at the age of 6 or so.  Dad was "infamous" for trying to find a shortcut rather than stick to the beaten path.  I guess that he swore by the adage that the shortest distance between two spots is a straight line.  Well, often that "straight line" that dad drove resulted in a dead end.  Many times at a farm house!  My mom had an expression for his shortcuts and called them "two-mile roads", as we always seemed to drive two miles in and then two miles back out

48 across. Easy A's: GUT COURSES. [from AI] "A gut course is college slang for an easy, undemanding academic class. The term arose in the early 20th century from the older slang notion of a "feast" or "belly-full"—implying a course so simple that a student could easily "swallow" or consume it without mental strain. Campus slang dictionaries and historical references (such as the Online Etymology Dictionary) note student use of "gut" for an easy class emerging around 1916, though some major lexicons trace its widespread recorded use to the mid-20th century."  I did not know this

After solving the puzzle and revisiting the circles, I noticed that the "order" of the letters in the word COURT were correct in only 3 of the four entries.  37 across (TAKING A SHORTCUT) was the exception, and the added T next to the circled letters felt "odd".  I suppose that is a nit but when I do my recaps and rate the puzzles I take everything into account; I WANT ORDER!! 🤨

To his credit, Guilherme used very few three-letter words; the entries were quite fresh; and he used 55 letters for the reveal and entries (that's a lot). Overall, I rate this ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐.   Bom trabalho!

Here is the grid: 

 

On to the rest:

Across:
1. Rascal: SCAMP.

6. With 30-Across, FIFA women's powerhouse: TEAM (30 across. See 6-Across) USA.  [from AI] "Team USA women hold elite historic milestones across sports, highlighted by the soccer team's 4 World Cup titles, basketball's dominant Olympic streak, and a record-breaking 12 gold medals for female athletes at the 2026 Winter Games"

10. Rip-off: SCAM. Moe-ku:

        A Generic brand

        Ripped-off Hormel with canned meat.

        It was a Spam SCAM 

14. Green growth in a pond: ALGAE.  Moe-ku: (this one will test your knowledge of soul music)

        Hi Records star Green

       ("Let's Stay Together") 

        Has homo-phonic nickname 

        I think it's ALGAE

15. Rotating shaft: AXLE.

16. Salt-N-Pepa, e.g.: TRIO. Soul music was what I grew up with; the next generation was into Hip-Hop (I think!).  Salt-N-Pepa was formed in 1985 in NYC.  Salt (Cheryl James) Pepa (Sandra Denton) and DJ Spinderella (Deidra Roper) are the trio [Wikipedia].  Their website

[entry #1]

19. Learning tools: AIDS.  Anyone remember these?

 

20. Manatee habitat: SEA. But the Malodorous Manatee's habitat is here, at the Crossword Corner!

21. Ray of McDonald's history: KROC. Moe-ku: (this will test your knowledge of TV sitcoms)

       "New Girl" actor Max

        Played McDonald's founder Ray;

        That's a Kroc of Schmidt 

22. General locations: AREAS.  As opposed to "Dollar General" locations: everywhere! 

[entry #2]

26. VEX creations: ROBOTS. Perps helped solve this one

29. Make a choice: OPT.

[see above @ 6]

33. Azerbaijan neighbor: IRAN. Today's geography lesson

34. Right-hand page: RECTO. Today's Latin lesson.  Recto in Spanish, though, means "straight" (as in straight ahead)

36. Only word spoken in "Silent Movie": NON.  Ironically spoken by famed mime artist Marcel Marceau

[entry #3]

41. Former quarterback Manning: ELI.  Eli and his NY Giants Football Team won two Super Bowls: Super Bowl XLII and XLVI - both versus the New England Patriots.  Not sure if this video will load, but the highlight of SB 42 was this catch:

 

42. 1/16 of a pound: OUNCE. 

43. 2026 "Legally Blonde" prequel: ELLE. Any fans here of this movie or its prequel?

44. Taxpayer ID: SSN. Entered as a nine-digit number: xxx-xx-xxxx.  It helps to remember your last four digits

45. "Sweet!": RAD. The word "rad" became popular in the mid-1980's.  My generation used the word "cool"

46. Make a value judgment: ASSESS. 

[entry #4]

52. Result of haste, in an adage: WASTE.  

54. Colossal: VAST.

55. Prefix with -tainment: EDU.  Hand up for trying CON first?  

Learning moe-ment: [from AI and Wiki]: "Edutainment is a blended word combining education and entertainment. It means media or activities designed to teach people while keeping them amused and interested. This approach turns learning into a fun experience instead of a chore".  So is this a portmanteau?

58. So much: A LOT.  Would "very" much have been A TON??

[reveal]

62. Junction point: NODE.  Moe-ku:

 

        The energy flow

        Was all catawampus, but

        The NODE knowed the way

63. Hayride seat, say: BALE.  Why I chose LOFT first befuddles me; I was on a hayride, not on a "ride in the hay" 😂😂😂

64. "All sales are __": FINAL.

65. Beloved: DEAR.

66. Scrabble board symbol covered in the first play of the game: STAR.  It also is a Double Word symbol.  Helps to get off to a good start.  The image below was a game I played against another person (you'll notice the score for the "Chairman".  The word RALPHED was my star-ter.  I also made a few Triples

67. Young horses: FOALS. Very young horses.  Newborns

Down:
1. Fifth Avenue retailer: SAKS.  

2. Game with secret passages: CLUE.  Colonel Mustard, in the kitchen, with a knife

3. Taj Mahal city: AGRA.  Moe-ku:

 

        Magicians say this

        Magic word in India:

        AGRA-cadabara 

  

4. Yoga surface: MAT.

5. Eat like a bird?: PECK AT.  These birds know

6. Frowned upon: TABOO.  I've always instructed people not to wear cologne or perfume at wine tastings, so I guess THIS would also be

7. Spot-on: EXACT.

8. Legend in the ring: ALI.  Father or daughter?? 

9. Big boys: MEN.

10. Severely plain: STARK.  But not THIS Stark:

11. Throws in the towel: CRIES UNCLE.

12. Verdi opera: AIDA.

13. Green growth in a terrarium: MOSS.  Are you one who believes that moss only grows on the north side of a tree?  That sounds a bit shady, to me

18. Middle-earth monsters: ORCS. 

22. Many a Hollywood Walk of Fame honoree: ACTOR.

There are exceptions though 

23. "Un-Break My Heart" singer Braxton: TONI.

24. Swiss pharmaceutical giant: ROCHE.  [Wikipedia] "F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche, is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The company headquarters are located in Basel.

25. As many as: UP TO.  There may be up to six Moe-ku's today

26. Ceremonial events: RITES. And one Moe-l'ick, for a change ... and the rite is probably well-known to our Jewish cornerites:

        After birth, couple's son had his Bris

        
But just wait 'til you hear about this!

        The Mohel arrived drunk;

        Then butchered baby's junk.

        Looks like something's become quite a Miss.

27. Spoken exams: ORALS. 

28. Science fair volcano ingredient: BAKING SODA.  [From AI]: "A classic science fair volcano uses baking soda and vinegar to create a fizzy, foaming chemical reaction"

The video below is a tad juvenile but it's still pretty cool 😎😎

 

31. Spiritual essences: SOULS.

32. Pays to play: ANTES.  Today's grammar lesson:  Why would you say ante versus antes? "Ante is the base form of the verb used for I, you, we, they, or plural nouns in the present tense, while antes is the third-person singular form used for he, she, it, or singular nouns.  Did I say this correctly??

34. Total stranger: RANDO.  [AI explanation]: "The slang word "rando" comes from shortening the word "random" and adding the suffix -o (similar to words like weirdo or sicko). It first appeared in American youth slang during the 1990s and 2000s before becoming mainstream in the 2010s"

35. Key near F1: ESC.

38. America del __: Mexico's continent: NORTE.  North America

39. Green dip, briefly: GUAC.  I make a mean guac if I do say so myself.  My recipe includes (besides avocados) fresh cilantro, chopped red onion, diced Hatch chili peppers (when in season) or jalapeño peppers, lime juice, and low-sodium tajin.  I put everything into a food processor and puree, maintaining just a bit of "chunkiness" 

40. Model/activist Holliday: TESS.  Ryann Maegen Hoven, known professionally as Tess Holliday and formerly known as Tess Munster, is an American plus-size model, blogger, and make-up artist based in Los Angeles - she is unknown to me

46. Helper: Abbr.: ASST.  One of the other nits I had with today's puzzle was the number of abbr's

47. Trigger, as an alarm: SET OFF.  

49. Total: UTTER.  

50. Throat dangler: UVULA.  This was one from Jim Davis that was a bit surprising ... 

51. More uncommon: RARER.

52. Steam __: latte-making gadget: WAND.  

53. Sunburn treatment: ALOE.

55. "Giant" novelist Ferber: EDNA.

56. "Works for me!": DEAL.

57. Web addresses: URLS.  Moe-ku #6

        Websites in Russia

        Are all named after mountains:

        The Urals' URLs 

 

(hey, they can't all be winners ...)          

59. "48 Hours" airer: CBS.  I always thought that "60 Minutes" was all I could watch in one sitting.  "48 Hours"?  My attention span now lasts for maybe 30 seconds ... 😉

60. Breakfast bit that might soak overnight: OAT.

61. Home of Sugarloaf Mountain: RIO.  Here is a fun fact:  There are no less than 450 mountains, hills, and rock formations named Sugarloaf worldwide, with over 200 located in the United States alone.  Bet you didn't know THAT!  

Now, when it comes to rock bands named Sugarloaf, the one featured in the video below is the Chairman's favorite - not sure when in 1970 that this one became a "hit"; either before I graduated HS or after I became a freshman in college.  But I still like this song (Green-Eyed Lady) some 56 years later ...

  

See you next month - my carpal tunnel surgery on hand number two is manaña

Thursday June 11, 2026 Guilherme Gilioli

Guilherme Gilioli is a Brazilian constructor who mostly creates puzzles in Portuguese. I'm always impressed by people who can do this when English is not their mother tongue (hi CC!). As you know, crosswords involve many idioms and word-play, and that's hard enough to do even when being born here!

16A. *Wham! hit on "Make It Big": CARELESS WHISPER. Written by George Michael, this song sold more than eleven million copies so I've probably heard it.

26A. *No Doubt hit on "Tragic Kingdom": DON'T SPEAK. This one was big in 1996 for the alternative/indie/punk rock band. It didn't sell as well as the Wham song, but at least I recognize the title. 

50A. *The Beatles hit on "Please Please Me": TWIST AND SHOUT. The only one of the three that I knew right off the bat. What I didn't know was that it originally was recorded by The Top Notes, and later covered by the Isley Brothers before the Fab Four got a hold of it. It's the only Top Ten Beatles song not written by them.

39D. NBC singing competition that completed its 29th season in 2026, or what appears to get louder at the ends of the answers to the starred clues?: THE VOICE. The theme answers all contain a tone of VOICE that build to a crescendo: WHISPER, SPEAK, then SHOUT. And since THE VOICE is a music competition, song titles are very appropriate.

It's interesting that Guilherme chose left-right symmetry with a downward reveal. And even if you didn't know the songs, this still was a pretty straightforward puzzle. BTW, I rarely include external links to  things like these songs because I feel they take you away from the core of what's happening here. I like to pick a fun fact or two, and if that piques your interest, then Google is just a click away.

Let's see what else he's talking about:

Across:

1. "Shoot!": ASK.

4. Greek vowel: ALPHA. Part of a complete breakfast!

 9. Watermelon keg need: TAP. I didn't know about watermelon kegs, but they are simply a hollowed out watermelon with the top sliced off to use as a dispenser. You can buy a special TAP made for these.

12. Wander: ROAM. Had to wait to see if it could be ROVE.

14. __ butter: COCOA.

15. Greek vowel: IOTA. They're in that cereal bowl somewhere.

16. [theme]

19. Hockey gear: SKATES.

20. Get testy with: SNAP AT.

21. Flute part: STEM. A little misdirect. Not the instrument but a tall, narrow champagne glass. 

22. Blue area on a map: SEA. The blue used to go right to the edge where you'd fall off.

25. Go the distance: LAST.

26. [theme]

29. "Shark Tank" airer: ABC. The American Broadcasting Company. Shark Tank is a reality TV series where panelists decide whether to invest in products being pitched by contestant entrepreneurs. It is the  American franchise for BBC's Dragons' Den, which itself is a remake of the Japanese television show The Tigers of Money. 

32. __ rhyme: NURSERY.

33. __ worker: GIG. Many in the labor force don't work full time, or augment their regular job with a GIG. A GIG economy is a labor market characterized by short-term contracts, freelance work, and independent contracting rather than permanent, traditional employment. Unfortunately, that also means no benefits.

36. Foot-to-thigh yoga pose: TREE. Occasionally, the arms are held upward like branches.

38. Angels and Devils: TEAMS. Baseball's Los Angeles Angels vs. hockey's New Jersey Devils would be an epic battle of biblical proportions!

39. Big addition to a to-be-read pile: TOME. Now that's heavy reading.

40. Food from heaven: MANNA.

42. Potato spot: EYE. 

43. Self-storage and self-moving company based in Phoenix, Arizona: UHAUL. I once helped a cousin move from Arkansas to Florida. Our old UHAUL van had an early version of cruise control - a brick on the accelerator. We rarely reached 55 mph. except downhill with a tail wind.

44. Thingamabob: GADGET. I had WIDGET at first, but that was NO HELP.

46. Totally useless: NO HELP. Like a WIDGET.

48. Countdown start: TEN. 

49. Spacious ride: SUV. I still prefer a station wagon over a Sport Utility Vehicle, but that class of vehicle has been virtually wiped out by families who also need to traverse a canyon on the way to soccer practice.

50. [theme]

57. Appear to be: SEEM.

58. Smiling face with heart-eyes, for one: EMOJI. This one expresses feelings of love.

59. Fruity frozen treats: ICES.

61. Iron-rich vegetable: KALE.

62. "Judy" star Zellweger: RENEE. She won the 2020 Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Judy Garland. RENEE also sang all the songs. Quite a talent!

63. Pat-a-cake motion: CLAP.

64. Part of MMA: ARTS. Mixed Martial Arts is a fighting sport akin to boxing.

65. Glum: SAD.

66. "Child's play!": EASY. This puzzle was EASY peasy.

Down:

1. Story trajectories: ARCS.

2. Long baths: SOAKS.

3. Gold standard: KARAT. A KARAT is a unit used to measure the purity of gold. It is measured on a 24-part scale, meaning 1 karat represents 1/24 of pure gold in alloy. Thus 24 KARAT is 100% pure.

4. High cards in bridge: ACES.

5. __ Angeles Dodgers: LOS. As much as the LOS Angeles Angels love to fight the Devil, it's more likely they will face the Dodgers in a Freeway Series. 

6. Some HPs: PCS. Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 in a Palo Alto garage. They make Personal Computers, among many other electronics.

7. "By what means?": HOW. HOW did a multi-billion dollar corporation rise from this garage?

8. Satisfied sighs: AAHS.

9. Big name in trading cards: TOPPS.

10. Seriously annoyed: ATE AT. This one ATE AT me.

11. Divide: PART.

13. Dished (out): METED.

15. "Stuck in the Middle" actor Presley: ISAAK. He's no Elvis, apparently, just a Middle-of-the-road actor. If you're his agent, then I meant he's really great. Really.

17. Dish soap scent: LEMON. 

18. Dental filling: INLAY. It may be 16 KARAT gold (24 KARAT is too soft).

22. Wall in Manhattan, e.g.: STREET.

23. Writing assignment: ESSAY.

24. Primitive bipeds, informally: APEMEN. Unlike modern humans who are obligate (permanent) bipeds. That's why your mom told you to stand up straight.

27. Snack mix morsel: NUT.

28. Backpedaling sounds: ERS.

29. PIN point?: ATM. Winner: Best Clue. You may enter your Personal Identification Number at an Automate Teller Machine.

30. Toot one's own horn: BRAG.

31. John of "Peacemaker": CENA. I like John CENA because he isn't afraid to poke fun at himself, in spite of all his accomplishments in wrestling and movies. 

33. Striker's target: GOAL.

34. "My turn!": I'M UP. Last Thursday, this was the answer to, "Are you awake?" This clue fits better.

35. Product often used to create a wet look: GEL.

37. Meeting scheduler's concerns: END TIMES. In spite of this, meetings always run long.

39. [theme]

41. Matures, as whiskey: AGES.

43. "Forget about it": UH UH.

45. Host's invitation: ENTER. UH OH. This sounds rather ominous. 

You may ENTER...

47. Davis of "Grumpy Old Men": OSSIE. OSSIE Davis was an award-winning actor and activist. He appeared in over 50 movies, 50 TV shows and 30 plays. Quite the career.

50. Sign of sorrow: TEAR.

51. Paintball injury: WELT.

52. Home of Iowa State: AMES. A common crossword town populated with useful letters.

53. Deca- minus one: NONA. Greek numerical prefixes. Deca (10) -1 = NONA (9).

54. Worked a wedding reception, say: DJED. This abbreviation for Disc Jockeyed looks wrong somehow.

55. Campus near Sunset Blvd.: UCLA. The University of California at Los Angeles was originally called the Southern Branch. The first UC campus was in Oakland before moving to Berkeley.

56. Socials with cucumber sandwiches: TEAS.

57. Reggae kin: SKA.

60. Intelligence agent: SPY. 

Be good. RB

Monday October 27, 2025 Guilherme Gilioli

 

Happy Monday, everyone! sumdaze here. Our Saturday blogger, Husker Gary, introduced us to today's constructor on February 24, 2024. Today's puzzle is Guilherme's second LAT publication.

Theme:               

...went upstairs to kiss a fellow. How many fellows did she kiss?
One, two, three, four, ....
(Did you play this jump rope game at your school?)

Each of the three themed answers contains the letters R, O, P, and E with just one letter between them -- a very specific requirement. The circles highlight how the R's, O's, P's, and E's line up vertically in the grid. Wow! I'll insert it now, in case you missed Guilherme's fancy footwork.  

20 Across. Cornucopia: HORN OF PLENTY.  In Latin, cornu  means HORN and copiae means PLENTY or "abundance".

Notice that the basket is HORN-shaped.

28 Across. "Can't Fight This Feeling" band: REO SPEEDWAGON.  This one gets a slight ding for the extra E immediately following the P. Nevertheless, it was a fun change to see REO's full name in a grid. Here is that 1984 song (with lyrics):  

45. Device for inflating tires: AIR COMPRESSOR.  

The reveal ties everything together:  

52 Across. Cord in some cardio workouts, or an apt description of each set of circled letters in this puzzle: SKIPPING ROPE.  The letters R, O, P, and E literally SKIP.

This is an 8:19 min. compilation of choreographed jump rope videos.

Watch until you've had your fill. (I could not turn it off.)

Let's move on to the remaining clues.  

Perhaps this wise BIRD OF PREY will help guide us?

Across:

1. Puff of smoke: WISP.

5. Veer off course, as a ship: YAW.  Def.:  (intransitive verb) of a ship:  to deviate erratically from a course (as when struck by a heavy sea); especially: to move from side to side.

8. Morales who becomes Spider-Man in the "Spider-Verse" films: MILES.  Miles Morales is a comic book character created in 2011. I am going to over-simplify this and say that he is not replacing the other Spider Man. Rather, he is from an alternate universe. Perhaps a true fan can tell us more....

13. Love, in León: AMOR.  

14. App Store patron: USER.

16. Joker, to Batman: ENEMY.  

17. Feng __: SHUI.  Def.:  (noun) a Chinese geomantic practice in which a structure or site is chosen or configured so as to harmonize with the spiritual forces that inhabit it.

also : orientation, placement, or arrangement according to the precepts of feng shui.  

This is a 1 min. video on how to use feng shui to arrange your office.

Note: This guy talks fast so you might need to read the subtitles. He has a lot of good

Feng Shui videos. Find him on YouTube @DearModern.

18. Curly cabbage in the mustard family: KALE.  

Kale is a good source of vitamins C & K, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

19. Software extension: ADD-ON.  This is a piece of software that enhances existing software without having to start from scratch.

23. Beatles opener?: THE.  The question mark hints that we might not be talking about the opening song from a Beatles performance. Similar to The Who, not "Who", they were "The Beatles", not just "Beatles".

Please Please Me was their debut studio album, released in 1963. Can you guess what was the opening song off that album? I'll give you just seventeen guesses.    

Notice that in this video The Beatles do not yet to "own" the stage.

24. NNW reversal: SSE.  Think "compass".

25. Animation frame: CEL.

32. Chatted on WhatsApp, briefly: IMed.  Instant Messaged.  (Hi C.C.!)

34. Overtime cause: TIE.  This clue references sports -- not work hours. A tie score will throw a game into overtime.

35. Quarrel: ARGUE.  Quarrel is a verb here. 

36. Quick snooze: NAP.

37. Nile reptile: ASP.

38. Bought by us: OUR.  

Our House     ~     Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young     ~     1970

IIRC, D-Otto has two cats in his yard. 🎵🎵

40. Hoppy pub pick, for short: IPA.

41. Zagreb native: CROAT.  CROAT is the demonym for the ethnic group native to Croatia. A "Croatian" is from Croatia but not necessarily an ethic CROAT.

43. Media with reflective sides: CDs.  

You can hang them in your garden to keep the birds out of your strawberries.
...but then who will eat the slugs?

44. Podiatry focus: FEET.  

Click to enlarge.

49. Gobbled up: ATE.  

a wild turkey gobbling up insects

50. Cristo Redentor's city: RIO.  CSO to our Brazilian constructor!  

aka Christ the Redeemer

51. Floppy rabbit part: EAR.  

A lop-eared rabbit refers to any rabbit with ears that droop.
I'm not sure if being super-cute is also a requirement.

58. Formal "Me too": AS DO I.

61. Volcano near Sicily's east coast: ETNA.

62. Paradise: EDEN.

63. Lard Lad treat on "The Simpsons": DONUT.  

Does Lard Lad remind you of anyone?

64. Like an old cotton blanket: SOFT.  

65. Family dinner rule, maybe: NO TV.  Dinner is the only time DH and I turn on our TV. It's just the two of us so we call it "dinner theater".

66. Paver option: SLATE.  

39 seconds

67. Short story writer Edgar Allan __: POE.  six Edgar Allan Poe story suggestions just in time for Halloween

68. Deuce topper: TREY.  A three tops (beats) a two for "high card".  

Down:

1. Use soap on: WASH.  

2. Texter's "As I see it": IMHO.  In My Humble Opinion

Some people are now speaking with texting initialisms IRL!

3. Tart-tasting: SOUR.  

4. Not handwritten: PRINTED.  This one made me laugh a little because printing is one form of handwriting.  

PRINT (top) & cursive (bottom)

5. Laugh riots: YUK FESTS.  YUK is slang for laugh and FEST is short for FESTival.

6. "... and make it snappy!" letters: ASAP.  

YUK! YUK!

7. "Maybe, maybe not": WE'LL SEE.  These are magic words for a parent.

8. Shepherd's pie filling: MEAT.  The usual MEATs are beef or lamb.

9. Racing body with an annual "500" event: INDY CAR.  This clue plays with the definition of body. A car body is the main structure of a car, excluding the mechanical components.<cite>  Law Insider has a more detailed definition. Also, this Car and Driver article classifies the various car body styles.

10. Showed the way: LED.  

Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein (1974)

"Walk this way."  (1:42 min.)

11. Punk subgenre: EMO.

12. Antonym's opposite: Abbr.: SYN.  SYNonym

I looked up "synonym" in The Synonym Finder. Ironically, it was not listed. However, It does have these words for "synonymous":  equivalent, equal, even, parallel, twin, corresponding; same, similar, like, alike, identical, exact; correlative, comparable, exchangeable, transposable; reciprocative, reciprocal.

15. Witherspoon of "Big Little Lies": REESE.  This is an HBO MAX series based on a novel by Liane Moriarty. It was primarily filmed in Monterey County (some of the filming locations). This is a video of the opening credits for Season 1 (2017):

21. "Caught you!": OHO.  Def.:  (interjection) used to express various emotions (as taunting or amused surprise).

22. Actor Beatty: NED.  [1937-2021]  his IMDb page

26. Like shortcake, compared to shortbread, usually: EGGIER.  This word strikes me as a difficult one to clue. Eggs can be used to make recipes fluffier.  

strawberry shortcake        and        Scottish shortbread

27. Gem examiner's tool: LOUPE.  Wow, wasn't that heist at the Louvre gutsy??!!

28. School assignment: REPORT.  

29. Domino dot: PIP.  We use the same word for dice dots.

30. Tug-of-__: WAR.  

31. Not messy: NEAT.

32. Andean empire: INCA.

33. Ave __: Catholic prayer: MARIA.  

Luciano Pavarotti     ~     Ave Maria (Shubert)

37. From __ Z: A TO.

38. Verse of praise: ODE.

39. Upper chamber in Amer. politics: US SENATE.  American is abbreviated, so is United States.  

42. Gets the best of: ACES OUT.  like a TREY over a deuce

43. Shirt that shows off one's abs: CROP TOP.  

44. Landlord's sign on an empty property: FOR RENT.

46. Hosp. scan: MRI.  I have not had one of these.

47. Plumbing components: PIPES.

48. Yield to gravity: SAG.

53. Lightweight toy flyer: KITE.  

In Geometry, a KITE is a four-sided polygon where two pairs of sides
that touch at a corner are the same length.

54. Facts and figs.: INFO.  figures and INFOrmation

55. Strong smell: ODOR.  Losing all sense of smell is called anosmia.  Some famous people with this condition include Jason Sudeikis of Ted Lasso, Ben of Ben & Jerry's, and Bill Pullman of Independence Day.

56. Folk icon Seeger: PETE.  Click on the image below to hear Pete perform a well-known folk song, This Land is Your Land, written by another famous American folk singer, Woody Guthrie:    

57. Green with __: ENVY.  

58. YouTube interruptions: ADS.

59. Note after fa: SOL.  

60. Crime lab evidence: DNA.  

This is an excerpt from Humble Pi:  When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker (p. 56):

Between 1993 and 2008, the police in Germany were searching for the mysterious "phantom of Heilbronn," a woman who had been linked to forty crimes, including six murders; her DNA had been found at all the crime scenes. Tens of thousands of police hours were spent looking for Germany's "most dangerous woman," and there was a €3000,000 bounty on her head. It turns out she was a woman who worked in the factory that made the cotton swabs used to collect DNA evidence.

Have a great week, everyone! Here's one more for the road: