Central Casting

[Schmeel]

Off the couch.
Thanks for the puzzle!

[Bird Lives]

On Day One, thirty-three people rose from the Central Casting couch and joined the ranks of the solvers.
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Maybe an early nudge will bring in a few others.

The title and the “sounds like a middle school subject” part of the prompt seem unrelated — we’re not looking for 13-year old actor. But they both have words that refer to a key thematic element

More nudges (and more solvers) tomorrow.

[SJMcK]

Off the sofa

[KayW]

Dragged off the couch. Well done, Jay!

[ChrisKochmanski]

OTC!

I needed a further nudge from a friendly Muggle, but in my defense, we’re traveling, and I’m having trouble focusing on puzzles.

Very much liked this one. You go, Jay!

[rjy]

OTC! Busy week (already!) but glad I eschewed nudges … this was really terrific, Jay, creative with clean execution! Fun to wrestle with this to the final aha!

[Bird Lives]

Since yesterday’s head count, another seven solvers have checked in.

34. Alvibu67
35. Bob cruise director
36. SJMcK
37. KayW
38. ChrisKochmanski
39. rjy
40. Philip Chow

More will arrive, I hope. As soneone said, “If you nudge them, they will come.”

The theme entries themselves don’t matter. But their clues do.

As in many metas, these are cover-two clues. Each can apply to another entry in the grid, but . . .

. .. only after that entry has been slightly altered. It requires the addition of the common idea mentioned in Nudge 1.

When you find those alternative entries and proceed in the usual way, you will get gibberish. Again, you have to apply the common idea.

Or you could just go to the Internet and look up the date of the puzzle (it’s repeated in the intro) and find that it is designated as a special day.

[Cinny]

OTC.

I needed nudge 2, but straightforward solve after that. Nicely constructed. Excellent meta, Jay. Thanks!

[BarbaraK]

Finally got it! I immediately dived deep into a rabbit hole that I was sure had to be the starting point. Yesterday's nudge made me think I was on the right track. But today's first nudge totally wiped that out and got me reoriented in the correct direction.

[BarbaraK]

Or you could just go to the Internet and look up the date of the puzzle (it’s repeated in the intro) and find that it is designated as a special day.But "pound cake" doesn't sound like any school subject or actor! Amazing how many special days there are every day

[CPJohnson]

Solved! Needed nudges 1-3. Thanks, Jay!

[Bird Lives]

Or you could just go to the Internet and look up the date of the puzzle (it’s repeated in the intro) and find that it is designated as a special day.But "pound cake" doesn't sound like any school subject or actor! Amazing how many special days there are every day

I was going to use that joke in the reveal. Now I'll have to come up with something else.

[Guffman]

A stellar construction, Jay.
I'm ashamed to admit that I needed more nudges than I'd like,
but every step of the way was fair and pleasantly surprising.
Thanks!!

[Eric Porter]

OTC.
Well done, Jay. I needed the nudges, but really just the first 2. I looked up nudge 6, but it didn't help, so I got to the answer the intended way.

[Dave C]

I needed one nudge - the second one - but until then I was clueless.

[MarkWoychick]

Finally got back to this one, Jay - very enjoyable and not just because of my brush with greatness at 74A

[Bird Lives]

Finally got back to this one, Jay - very enjoyable and not just because of my brush with greatness at 74A

I'll keep using that clue as long as I keep using that word. And as long as I don't have to pay royalties.

[JeanneC]

Solved just before Matt’s puzzle came out today. Great construction! It really did take me the four days on and off to get it.

[Bird Lives]

Another 22 solvers since last count brings the final tally to 62.
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This puzzle was ready to go several weeks ago, but @Abide, the alert MMM editor, somehow knew that March 4 was National Grammar Day. So the puzzle was posted on March 4. The answer is KELSEY GRAMMER.

The key to the metanism was MIDDLE. Each of the starred clues could be applied to another entry in the grid if that entry were preceded with MIDDLE. For example, “George Eliot novel” clues SILAS MARNER. But, as many solvers noticed, the entry at 13 Down, MARCH, if preceded by MIDDLE also became a George Eliot novel, Middlemarch.

In most puzzles, you would take the initial letters of these alternate entries. But for this puzzle, you had to take the middle letter.
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Thanks to all for solving or at least trying and for the kind comments. Also, an interesting fact that I did not know how to work into the puzzle or even the nudges: Kelsey Grammer starred in a film called “Middle Men.”

[Abide]

Looking at this solution grid 3-4 months after Jay first proposed this idea, it still amazes me at how Jay polished a chunk of coal into this diamond.