I learned a bunch from this puzzle.

Like Brian McKnight would say, “Start it back at 1,” so here we go.

1D Mocking remark: JAPE. JAPE?! No idea.

jape (v.)late 14c., “to trick, beguile, jilt; to mock,” also “to act foolishly; to speak jokingly, jest pleasantly,” perhaps from Old French japer “to howl, bawl, scream” (Modern French japper), of echoic origin, or from Old French gaber “to mock, deride.” Phonetics suits the former, but sense the latter explanation. Chaucer has it in the full range of senses. Around mid-15c. the Middle English word took on a slang sense of “have sex with” and subsequently vanished from polite usage. It was revived in the benign sense of “say or do something in jest” by Scott, etc., and has limped along since in stilted prose. Related: Japed; japing.
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=jape

So that’s a thing I now know.

53D Frozen dessert chain: TCBY. We all know that it’s the place to go for the country’s best yogurt, but I haven’t seen one of those since I was on the Santa Monica College campus.

Oh I just checked, and TCBY is still on that campus! That’s pretty cool. Too bad I have to miss out this summer because covid!