"Drawing a Blank" by Cap'n Rick and Wendy Walker

[Cap'n Rick]

I made an incorrect guess and then inadvertently clicked on the Give Up/Reveal. Talk about irony!!

Yes, we "forgot" to turn that off.

[woozy]

Okay, *finally* got it figured out. I had to be told what the answer was.... and what the mechanism was.... and it still took me a day after that...

[Alvibu67]

SSSolved - only after overthinking it and needing every nudge!

Great puzzle, Wennedy!

[Wendy Walker]

Our final SSSolvers were:
39. ZooAnimalsonWheels
40. Markhr
41. Lbray53
42. Hoover
43. Woozy
44. Streroto
45. Alvibu67

Thank you all for SSSolving! The meta answer is SENIOR MOMENTS.

Solvers had to notice that there were six “blanks” in the clues, the first letters of which spelled SENIOR.

1. Situations when one really should have known better: ___ in judgment
23. “Every ___ Way But Loose”
28. “No soup for ___!” (Soup Nazi’s proclamation)
51. “If I ___ be so bold …”
58. “Only ___ Be With You” (Hootie & the Blowfish song)
72. “Remind me not to ___”

“But, hey, Team Wennedy,” you protest, “that’s only six letters; what about the remaining seven?”

The large number of clues referring to memory and its loss (we crammed as many in as we possibly could: 15A, 21A, 29A, 48A, 3D, 11D, 32D, 46D, 53D, 56D, 62D) should have prompted solvers to infer that MOMENTS was the second half of the phrase we were looking for.

[BarbaraK]

Thank you all for SSSolving! The meta answer is SENIOR MOMENTS.

Solvers had to notice that there were six “blanks” in the clues, the first letters of which spelled SENIOR.

1. Situations when one really should have known better: ___ in judgment
23. “Every ___ Way But Loose”
28. “No soup for ___!” (Soup Nazi’s proclamation)
51. “If I ___ be so bold …”
58. “Only ___ Be With You” (Hootie & the Blowfish song)
72. “Remind me not to ___”

“But, hey, Team Wennedy,” you protest, “that’s only six letters; what about the remaining seven?”

The large number of clues referring to memory and its loss (we crammed as many in as we possibly could: 15A, 21A, 29A, 48A, 3D, 11D, 32D, 46D, 53D, 56D, 62D) should have prompted solvers to infer that MOMENTS was the second half of the phrase we were looking for.

And surely having the fill in the blank clues be "Lapses which you may want to forget" was not random

Nice one!

[Cap'n Rick]

And surely having the fill in the blank clues be "Lapses which you may want to forget" was not random

Nice one!

Whoops! Looks like we "forgot" to mention that part of the mechanism. Thanks, @BarbaraK!

And thank you, @Wendy Walker, for a fun co-construction. Let's plan to collaborate on another meta "project" soon!

[Wendy Walker]

And thank you, @Wendy Walker, for a fun co-construction. Let's plan to collaborate on another meta "project" soon!

I will not overlook that kind invitation, @Cap'n Rick !

[dsbened]

I'm still a newbie who is trying to figure out how the SSS site works, but is there a place where I can view the completed grid? Plz help!

[KayW]

I'm still a newbie who is trying to figure out how the SSS site works, but is there a place where I can view the completed grid? Plz help!

If you open the CROSSHARE link to this puzzle, you should see a REVEAL option in the upper right, and you can reveal the entire grid.

But here is a copy of the completed grid for this puzzle:

[Cap'n Rick]

And here's a copy with the themers highlighted, @dsbened: