Call For Backup

[Eric Porter]

I now have step 1 after taking a fresh look this morning. It took some Googling...

I still can't figure out how to get an 8-letter word. Either I didn't fully do step 1 or there's something else I don't recognize.

[Dplass]

I now have step 1 after taking a fresh look this morning. It took some Googling...

I still can't figure out how to get an 8-letter word. Either I didn't fully do step 1 or there's something else I don't recognize.

Same.

[kurtalert]

I now have step 1 after taking a fresh look this morning. It took some Googling...

I still can't figure out how to get an 8-letter word. Either I didn't fully do step 1 or there's something else I don't recognize.

Same.

Me three... hoping some ideas come to me!

[minimuggle]

Still stuck at what I think is step 1. I'm old enough to get this, but just not familiar enough with the subject. May need the nudges. Fingers are cramping from all the googling.

[HeadinHome]

I also am at step one, waiting for another idea to hit me. I’ve tried a couple things. Wondering if maybe there’s a familiarity thing going on (I did have to google already to get step one).

[whimsy]

Off the couch and calling for backup --

[Bird Lives]

Ah youth. I implied at the outset that the answer might be more familiar to muggles of "a certain age," i.e., certain to be eligible for Medicare. If you have come up a few letters short, here are some early nudges.

And the four long across entries are the themers. And the rest is just fill.

And the themers all seem to follow a syntactic pattern.

And the pattern might also be worth Googling in connection with the word you’ve found..

[HeadinHome]

oops - submitted on Crosshare with one letter missing (7-letter words won’t work?? ha). Definitely a new one on me (the answer), but makes logical sense with the meta!

[michaelm]

Off the couch w/o the early nudges.
Great grid, clues and meta.
Thanks Jay!

[hcbirker]

Got it without nudges. Finally figured out what to Google. Spelled it incorrectly the first time on Crosshare! Oops!

[Dplass]

Got with the nudges. TFTP!

[TeamDoubleTow]

We thought we got the correct answers after seeing that last nudge but Crossshare did not agree! We still enjoyed it though even if we got the wrong answer. We did need to Google to confirm details and for last step. Thanks for the fun puzzle! Editing to add...my phone's "spelling" suggestions are to blame. Resubmitted with the correct spelling.

[woozy]

And the pattern might also be worth Googling in connection with the word you’ve found..

Why, oh, why on earth, did spoiler 3 never occur to me to do? In hindsight it seemed "of course you'd do that" I even googled something else but.....

[Bird Lives]

Yesterday, I heard cries of frustration and responded with premature nudges. Whether from those nudges or merely the passage of time, another eleven solvers have left the couch.

29. Bob cruise director
30. whimsy
31. Johnny Luau
32. Sharkicicles
33. Bbaack
34. dplass
35. michaelm
36. hcbirker
37. BrennerTJ
38. Teamdoubletow
39. Darrell

That’s still a pretty low total. Maybe these additional nudges will help.

And the themers all have two words, but only one of them is important.

And the syntactic pattern referred to in yesterday’s nudge is part of all these nudges.

And the solution lies in putting the relevant word from each themer with what’s common to all these nudges. If that doesn’t ring a bell, try Googling it.

[Eric Porter]

Got it with nudges. Thanks!

I didn't need the second 3 nudges, but I just saw them all now. I really just needed the third. I did the same thing as woozy and Dplass.

I'd only heard of 1 without using Google.

[edestlin]

I'm with woozy, dplass, and Eric Porter.

I'm so mad at myself for not seeing step two much earlier. Got the step one without Google and thought I *might* sneak in first on Monday morning... Stared, stumped for the next two days. Nudge 3 helped.

Delightful meta, Jay. Thank you!

[Dave C]

Finally, after all the nudges...

[Cinny]

Finally off the couch. It shouldn't have taken me this long. I just couldn't see the next step. Thanks, Jay!

[bhamren]

Off the couch DEFINITELY with the nudges and google

[CPJohnson]

Off the couch, finally; I'd never heard of 2 of the themers. Thanks, Jay!