MGWCC #784 — “They Turn Into Superheroes”

[markhr]

Got the first step OK. Thought that would lead to an answer.
So far, no luck. This is a tough one.

[Streroto]

Grid was like a Saturday NYT!!! I see step one…then brick wall.

Stay well

[Meg]

Well, that was quite a grid! I think it would have been much easier if I were about 40 years younger. Many tunnels with no bunnies and then something was tried and it worked.

[boharr]

Beamed.

[Clpdlt22]

Beamed up just in time for the top 50. Glad to have meta free sleep

[schmidzy]

Whew! Finally beamed up with a nudge. Had to take a break and bake some focaccia to get through this one. Funnily enough, I saw the correct answer down a rabbit hole at one point — if I remember, I'll share it after the reveal.

[ColinM]

I had it written in front of me for an hour before I realized that I had the answer. Beamed up.

[Cinny]

Tough grid. Beamed with a nudge.

[SJMcK]

Beamed up. This one was too clever for its own good. So many rabbit holes.

[PuzNewbie]

Just submitted, but I'm quite sure I've got it. What a meta!

p.s. Leslie, SAD puzzle indeed!

[markhr]

Finally beamed up. Went down quite a few rabbit holes before I caught on.
A SAD puzzle for sure, and nicely done.

[MajordomoTom]

yes, once you get it, it's not a week 5, it's a nice week 2.

beamed up, not yet confirmed, but it's 100%.

[rjy]

Quite the challenging grid and meta, but a terrific aha! Beamed up at 61

[Al Sisti]

I hated this one until I loved it.

[ricky]

I really enjoyed the puzzle. The meta stumped me good for about 8 hours and then I had the aha moment. More like a Week 3 - "Week 2 that's really a Week 3" should be a recognized MGWCC subgenre by now.

[benchen71]

I needed someone to nudge me away from some wrong paths. That helped me find the right path. Beam me up!

[MikeyG]

I hated this one until I loved it.

I was terrified I'd be lost forever on this one. But what a delicious epiphany that it sounds like a lot of us are experiencing!

Solid Week 2.5/3 with the amount of hair-pulling I had along the way.

[ajk]

Got it thanks to some Discord breadcrumbs and an kindly explanatory confirmation. Grid was definitely beyond me in many places, but fair enough given how much it normally skews toward my wheelhouse.

p.s. -- view from our AirBnB this week in Henningsvaer, Norway (this whole area is ludicrously scenic):

[Jeremy Smith]

SAD...SAD...SAD meta! Brilliant! Tougher than normal grid with a nice Easter egg found in retrospect. The idea for the metanism actually came to me as I was falling asleep last night.

[woozy]

Okay. I'm not too proud to beg for nudges. Thing is... how can something like this be in plain sight when it can only be one thing?

*pounding on the door* Where's my epiphany! Where's my epiphany!