outlook 365 search bar loses focus (oct 2024, version 2410)

I'm using Windows 11 and Outlook 365 version 2410, build 18129.20054; Oct 19, 2024.

I click on the search bar inside Outlook (not the "new" version!) it flashes the current Mailbox or All Outlook items left of the box and the mouse loses focus. Eventually, after seeing other posts on the web, I was able to click quickly on the up/down arrow on the right side of the bar to freeze the dialog, and could see lots of the standard choices (search in, attachments, from, to, etc...). but every time I entered a keystroke anywhere into the bar or the dialog, it lost focus right afterwards and went to some unknown location. so, if I hit backspace, it would think I was deleting something, like an attachment or actual email, -- wherever the focus went to. I found that I could do a cut/paste of a word into the search bar at that point, and it accepted it and upon hitting carriage return, it would then do the search (assuming that I was searching in 'All Outlook Items'. This problem just started today, and I believe that yesterday or today there was some kind of system update, at least to Microsoft's Edge. Coincidence?  I think not.  Anyone else having this problem?  It seems that over the years search bar instability has been a repeated occurrence, but this is the first time I've had enough issues to complain.