ANSWER: HALF-PINT and LINT (two words associated with a pocket)
As suggested by 75-Across, eight asterisked entries contained a synonymous "word within a word". These are known as "kangaroo words", with the smaller word representing the "joey". The joeys in the asterisked entries, when read from bottom to top, spell HALF-PINT. Apply the mechanism again to get LINT. And that gives you two words associated with a pocket.
Several solvers had trouble making a connection with half-pint and a pocket. Perhaps they were unfamiliar with the small liquor bottles and hip flasks favored by street drinkers and tailgaters. Obviously these solvers have been spoiled by Isaac's bar service.
The genesis for this meta was during a Zoom call discussion of Wendy's pocket, and making that the next crowdsource meta. My original answer of NO LINT was discarded as too much of an in-joke. So I started with LINT and back-kangarooed to something pocket related. From this site https://kangaroowords.com/index I focused on joeys with different first letters than the original word. With eight words of varying lengths, and ROO as last across, the grid had to be asymmetric. Eventually I stumbled onto the pocket shape, and then turned the whole hot mess over to co-constructors Rick and Wendy. They both did excellent work, and I really appreciate the collaborative effort.
Crosshare stats
Total completions: 241
Average completion time: 0:14:25
Completions without helpers: 107
Correct contest submissions: 71
Total contest submissions:76
Prizewinner information follows.
