Close, But No

[ajk]

Late start, but speedy solve. Thanks for another fun one.

[Cinny]

Off the couch. Nice one, Jay. Thanks!

[KayW]

OTC that was fun!

[Ergcat]

Off the couch!

[Bird Lives]

So far, forty-eight solvers have checked in, many adding their own malapropisms in the Crosshare comments. I wish I'd had these when I was constructing this puzzle.
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Nudges tomorrow

[JeanneC]

Great puzzle and fun solve. Many thanks for the respite from all the stuff going on outside of muggledom!

[Eric Porter]

Nice puzzle. Thanks Jay! I should have seen it much earlier. I got stuck in a funny rabbit hole.

[minimuggle]

I think I've got the mechanism but I must be missing something......

[Qmark]

Off the couch...thanks Jay!

[Bird Lives]

Since the last roll call, another seven solvers have left the couch.

49. Eric Porter
50. LB800
51. FrankieHeck
52. Jaclyn
53. andeux
54. rvkal
55. Qmark

For anyone else, here are the nudges:

For every malapropism, there is a propism.

The title stands on its own. It is not an incomplete sentence. . .

. . which is to say, stop looking for cigars . . ..

. . unless you are thinking of George Burns . . ..

. . . and Gracie Allen:
"Oh George. You know that new announcer who auditioned to replace Harry von Zell while he's on leave? Well, he seems like such a pleasant fellow, but Blanche warned me about him. She said he's just a wolf in cheap clothing."

George:
"It's not 'cheap clothing' Gracie, it's . . . ."
(See Nudge 1, and check the clues. In the case of 71 Across, you don’t have to look far.)

Say goodnight, Gracie.

[minimuggle]

Off the couch. Had the mechanism but forgot to add one of the malapropisms. Such a fun puzzle. Thanks

[ReB]

Off the couch after a slap to the head...

[haydendog]

Got it! Needed most of the nudges though.

[MaineMarge]

Great meta Jay, with chuckles abounding. Late getting an invite to the couch party, but I’m outta here now. Outside to guard in the trigger bed- especially in the autumn, the skunks may be coming down a garden path at any time. Our Lab Ruthie had her first skunk bath of the season last week. Hope it’s the last.

Dear friend Cindy giving Ruthie her first bath at our house-
Now that’s a VERY special friend.

[SewYoung]

OTC - Didn't have time to look at it until last night. Was able to get it pretty quickly. My initial guess was confirmed after studying it for a while.

[Cap'n Rick]

Fun one, Jay! Clever mechanism!

[Bird Lives]

The MMM week draws to a close with another thirteen solvers on the board to bring the total to sixty-eight.
56. minimuggle
57. ReB
58. DebbieC
59. Streroto
60. Bbaack
61. Alvibu67
62. OguyDave
63. Craig Mazin
64. LindaPRmaven
65. SewYoung
66. MaineMarge
67. Capn Rick
68. Prog

The answer is MISTAKE.

In each themer, the entry that fills the blank is a malapropism. For example, the entry for 71 Across (“A wolf in ____ clothing”) is CHEAP. But in the proper phrase it would be SHEEP’S. So the next step is to find the proper word. Each of those is in a clue, a clue for a different entry. In this case, it’s in the clue for 72 Across: “Sheep’s mothers.” The entry for that clue is EWES. The initial letters of the derived entries spell the answer.
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Thanks to all who solved and especially those who malapropped in the comments on Crosshare. whimsy’s riff on the puzzle title is worth repeating here.
Listening to George Harrison while solving — other Beatles are pretty good too. Close, but no sitar.