It’s Sunday afternoon, so here’s the solution:
The title is [Re]-Key Ingredients, and solvers will notice that there are 14 down clues with [parentheticals], followed by a (number). The [parentheticals] are alternate clues, and the (numbers) are the order in which results should be arranged. These down grid entries, with the expected “re-key” for the new clue, in (number) order are as follows:
2D: RISER – re-keyed to [smarter] becomes WISER
9D: BATHES – re-keyed to [woodworking tools] becomes LATHES
14D: UHS – re-keyed to [300 to 3000 MHz range] becomes UHF
7D: ALF – re-keyed to [the Matterhorn] becomes ALP
54D: SACS - re-keyed to [moments] becomes SECS
26D: PATE – re-keyed to [step] becomes PACE
42D: OLDPANS – re-keyed to [quills] becomes OLDPENS
11D: DEER – re-keyed to [bad grades] becomes DEES
52D: ESSO – re-keyed to [1970s Bruin nickname] becomes ESPO (Phil Esposito’s nickname)
39D: EROS – re-keyed to [Seth’s son] becomes ENOS
28D: ONE – re-keyed to [expired when it gets there] becomes DOA (i.e., dead on arrival)
33D: AARP – re-keyed to [Wyatt at the OK Corral] becomes EARP
36D: RAIL – re-keyed to [wind-catcher] becomes SAIL
49D: FLIRT – re-keyed TWICE to [say suddenly] becomes BLURT – this one was a little tricky since it had two numbers – implying two alternate letters
So looking at all the letters that were re-keyed in we have WLFPECESPNAESBU, which means……..absolutely nothing. So what’s the next step?
Solvers should have noticed that re-keying all of these down entries also created valid new words at the corresponding across entries. And the clue to the last across answer gives a hint on what to do: “Goal reached after you GO ACROSS THE LINE in rugby (and sometimes, metas)”. The parenthetical numbers indicate the order the new across entries should take. Reading the resulting “re-keyed” across grid answers, again in the order indicated by the parenthetical numbers, results in the following:
1A: TWO
7A: ALL
19A: BEEF
18A: PATTIES
57A: SPECIAL
37A: SAUCE
59A: LETTUCE
22A: CHEESE
61A: PICKLES
42A: ONIONS
38A: ONA
32A: SESAME
36A: SEED
49A: BUN
Those of us who are of a certain age and nutritionally-challenged will recognize this as one of the most famous product jingles of all time – McDonald’s 1970’s ad campaign for the BIG MAC, a six-letter food made from some key ingredients, and our meta answer.
Here’s some nostalgia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2qBbDn5W0
And here’s what the completed grid looks like, with the changed down answers in gray, the changed letters in red, and the new across answers in yellow:
This one was fun to make. With so much theme material packed in there, I was afraid it might get tedious, but everyone seemed to have fun with it. All told, we had 45 solvers - our Muggle Meta Monday audience seems to be growing each week, which is nice to see.
Thanks and see you again soon!
Tom
Probably rolling over in their graves -- victims of early cholesterol disease!