I had the metanism in mind, but I just didn't have the patience to figure out the common word. Didn't help that I was working first with the long entries.
The nudge gave me that common word (BAG), and then it was just finding the remaining grid entries that would spell out the answer. Very clever that the answer keys the metanism in reverse: "bag" DROP (to get back to the grid entries). Pleasant diversion, but alas - it's back to my to-do list.