Meta Prompt
The answer is the one that's missing.
Nudge1 As the title and intro suggest, you are looking for a set of seven. (Personal experience with any or all of them may be helpful but is certainly not required.)
Nudge 2 Only six of the seven are in the grid. Those six plus one other related entry are symmetrically placed.
Nudge 3 hese six (and the missing seventh) are the kinds of things people might try to hide. Consequently, they are hidden (though not very subtly) in the themers.
Nudge 4 A good place to start looking: entries that are a) longer and b)awkward, i.e., not the kind of phrase that would pop up in everyday speech.
Checking for previous play data...
But I quickly saw PRIDE in 20A and then was off to the races. Did google to find the last one (not that I couldn't have come up with it). Fun stuff, thanks.1A
Lone or forest follower
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Across
- 1ALone or forest follower
- 7AThat shrinking sea that's always in crosswords
- 11AMs. Lipa
- 14AName list ender, usually abbreviated
- 15AGuys out for the prize
- 17ABring the news
- 18AGlowing quality
- 19ADirective on a Wonderland cake
- 20AWhere to get a sandwich after you visit the Grotta Azzura
- 21AThe Greatest
- 22ABig Blue
- 23A"___ I say"
- 24ARealms
- 27ATire out
- 30ADavid (NBA), Isaac (violin), and Howard (radio)
- 31ASmall Chevy of the 2000s
- 32ADoes some mischief night "decoration"
- 33AAll shook up
- 36APublisher of Cong. hearings
- 39AHt.
- 40ALike "Last Tango in Paris" and "Midnight Cowboy" originally
- 44AColeman with a plastic sax
- 46APut it another way
- 47ASwarm with insects, people, whatever
- 48AMethane for one
- 49AStimpy's pooch
- 50AOne who stole "The Scream" in 1994
- 54AAaron and Raymond
- 56A"Don't go. I'll be right back"
- 57APlacebo solutiion
- 58AShook hands about
- 59ATemper, as glass
- 60AStephen of "The Crying Game"
- 61ATalkative bird
- 62AExcruciatingly dull
Down
- 1DChecks the text again
- 2DPigged out
- 3DWhen it's quiet at day care
- 4DTake, slangily (usually with "onto")
- 5DWord on Irish stamps
- 6DLab or gym follower
- 7DComposer and French hornist David
- 8DDo some harvesting
- 9DR ___, vacation
- 10DHeinz varieties in ancient Rome
- 11DGo to a restaurant
- 12DTake off a necklace
- 13DThey wring out the old
- 16DWhen repeated, the verbal equivalent of ellipsis
- 20DNetwork whose logo resembles an eye
- 22DInjury additive sometimes
- 25DSound from Sandy
- 26DBranch water?
- 27DFirst lady
- 28DPersian king who invaded Greece
- 29DGarden workers at times
- 31DOff-road ride
- 34D"I told you so"
- 35D"Can't help lovin' ___ man. . ."
- 36DTake up arms
- 37DServe as a warning sign
- 38DA pittance in Italy once
- 41DHung around a little while longer
- 42DLike damnation for really bad stuff
- 43DHow sardines are packed
- 45DChew the scenery
- 46DThe so few to whom so many owed so much
- 48DShe played Thelma to Susan's Louise
- 51DNot us
- 52DMs. Lamarr
- 53DIt can follow tire, branding, or steam
- 54DSource of ruin
- 55DRadius neighbor
- 57DWoebegone