"Do I Have To Spell It Out For You?"

[michaelm]

Thursday and just missed page 2.
Wait, what board is this?
Thanks for the nudges and sweet puzzle Al!

[rjy]

Still haven't cracked this nut yet, but shout-out to Al for the puzzle and, more particularly, the nudges: it's always good to have nudges that provide just enough of a toehold without spilling the beans entirely. Happy to still be noodling this one

[PuzNewbie]

I'm still having trouble and would love a nudge (yes, in addition to the four...). It's so frustrating getting stuck in the cycle of thinking the same things over and over! They didn't work before, they won't work now

[Al Sisti]

I'm still having trouble and would love a nudge (yes, in addition to the four...). It's so frustrating getting stuck in the cycle of thinking the same things over and over! They didn't work before, they won't work now

Sent you a PM. Thanks for sticking with it... I think it'll be worth it. Then again, I thought this was a 2.2, so what do I know?

[rjy]

Wow! Finally got it... with just 10m before WSJ, phew! Really nice puzzle Al, and again, glad there was still a fun, mind-bending journey even after the nudges!

[CPJohnson]

Wednesday leaderboard update (please let me know if I've missed you). I am happy to give more nudges tomorrow, should anyone want some. I do want everyone to eventually get this...

5 Schmeel
6 BenChen71
7 Mikey G
8 boharr
9 Meg
10 Cindy Weatherman
11 I K Snamhcok
12 ajk
13 JHSeeman
14 heidi
15 ReB
16 BrennerTJ
17 Mwoychick
18 markhr
19 Pair O Ducks
20 lbray53
21 JM
22 MatthewL
23 woozy
24 Snood
25 Anita and Steve
26 BarbaraK
27 WendyWalker
28 rayyandroid
29 Bird Lives

Is it time for more nudges yet?

[KayW]

OTC with remedial nudges. Very clever metanism. Thanks, Al!

[Eric Porter]

I still don't see it with the nudges. I kinda see what Al's saying, but the mechanism is still a mystery. Maybe I need a shove, or it actually has to be spelled out for me.

Edit: I'm off the couch with a shove from Al.

[Al Sisti]

Thursday night update:
30 whimsy
31 DrTom
32 KayW
33 jbird
34 Adam Doctoroff
35 hoover
36 michaelm
37 PuzNewbie
38 rjy
39 DIS

[CPJohnson]

Finally solved with extra help from Al. Great puzzle!

[Cinny]

Finally rolled off the couch with a nudge from @CPJohnson .

[Al Sisti]

Friday night leaderboard update:

40 Eric Porter
41 CPJohnson
42 Cindy Heisler
43 dannyvee
44 AaronT
45 Berto

[minimuggle]

Al can I get that nudge that the others have gotten. I'm glued to the couch. Even with the clues I'm lost. Thanks so much.

[edestlin]

Ditto @minimuggle - I'm firmly in the couch here.

[Al Sisti]

It’s reveal time. You all got that spelling was going to key, but whereas I meant for you to look into the clues, I suspect most did the “usual” thing, and started looking for candidates within the grid. I thought the title might be a strong enough hint when coupled with those four symmetrically-placed long acrosses, and their the non-word clues. And I even had the fates step in when I was (re)constructing the NW corner, with the serendipitous entry that showed up at 1A, ACRONYMS. Taking advantage of my good luck, I clued it to include “more informative when spelled out,” and – so you’d realize that I was referring to more than just acronyms -- added the “One example…” And I even gave another early hint when I “corrected” (read: Spelled out) my difficulty rating from 2.2 to twopointtwo. [And obviously, 2.2 was wrong. So here’s a quick note about difficulty level ratings, which may also turn out to be a solving aid for meta newbies. When I’m doing the MGWCC, for a Week 1 or 2, I always stay with the grid. When faced with a Week 3 and especially Week 4, the clues (almost always) come into play. So by that rubric, I should have rated my puzzle a Week 3 at least].

So what was the metanism?

There are four clues without words (I was very careful to not have any others anywhere in the clues). Per the title and 1A, I wanted you to spell out those four clues. Once you did that, you should have seen a word or phrase (at least 5 letters) that then is a clue to another entry in the grid. The initial letters of those four grid entries, taken in grid order, form the answer word...which also then has a tie to the title.

They were:

1970s = nineteenseventies - contains "Teen's Event." Looking through the clues/grid entries to see for which entry it could be an alternative clue, you see 54D Prom... hmmm... that's a "teen's Event." The entry at 54D is DANCE, so you now have the "D" in the answer.

Et. al = et alia. Contains Talia, as in Shire, who was in a “Rocky” relationship, as was Adrian at 18A.

TL;DR = toolongdidntread. This contains “oolong,” which, like 28D NESTEA, is a “caffeinated beverage.”

7/8 = seveneighths, which contains “neigh.” Neigh also answered the clue for 9A Horse’s huff (WHINNY)

…and taking those four matching entries (WHINNY, ADRIAN, NESTEA, DANCE) in grid order gives WAND, which, of course, is used in casting a spell.

Okay, truth be told, this was not my best-received MMM, but I was pretty proud of it, and I really wanted everyone to solve it, even if it took a few nudges. And 45 people did, which for a Week 2.2 3.2 isn’t too bad. And the randomly-picked winner of either a Utica Club keepsake, or a Blarney Rebel Band CD, or $15 donation to any charity is Adam Doctoroff. Congrats, Adam, and let me know what prize you want…

Oh yeah! Starting on Sunday, April 30th, please check out Contest Crosswords Combating Cancer (CCCC). Will Pfadenhauer (aka @AnswerPfinder) did an excellent job coordinating and compiling 16 special meta puzzles from 18 constructors (including yours truly) to raise money for cancer-related charities. The suggested donation amount is $13, but you can donate any amount you'd like to any cancer-related 501(c)(3) organization. Check it out! We had a blast doing them, and I'm sure you'll enjoy solving them.

[minimuggle]

Just got this with a huge nudge from Al. This puzzle was genius. I love the thought process.

[JeanneC]

I doff my cap. Truly Gaffneyesque!

[Al Sisti]

I doff my cap. Truly Gaffneyesque!

High praise indeed!!

[Laura M]

This is an excellent meta concept and I'm embarrassed that I didn't solve it. I was distracted by "two point two" and Know vs No (excellent song) and whether 1970s was "nineteen seventies" or "one nine seven zeros" and if I should spell out the semicolon in TL;DR, etc., and I never figured out that I should be looking for hidden words. Maybe next time...

[SewYoung]

Yes. Yes you did have to spell it out for me.