Off to a slow start and I see a lot of missed guesses. Not the fault of the solvers, more the bad assumptions by the creator, so, how about some nudges!
Nudge 1: I have already mentioned this, but to reiterate, the answer is not spelled out, it is implied.
Nudge 2: "before and after" refers to the position of each part of the answer (which happens 4 times)
Nudge 3: There are certain words that you see that immediately bring to mind other words
Nudge 4: What was the first thing that popped into your head when you read clue 21A and filled in the answer
Nudge 5: Ditto the above for 49A, did you say "Oh yes, the Spanish Explorer
Nudge 6: In a similar manner, have you ever been to or seen pictures of the beach in Nice, France? If you ever go, bring something to lay on
Nudge 7: The applicable clues are worded in a manner so as to try to force your mind to a certain answer while still answering the clue
Nudge 8: The Meta related answers are not QUITE symmetric because I could not find words of the appropriate length to fit, but they are close and all follow the same exact convention
Nudge 9: Depending on where you are, names can evoke a completely different response. If I am in Panama and say "Balboa" people picture the explorer who first laid eye on the Pacific Ocean. If I am in Philadelphia the response is COMPLETELY different
THE REVEAL - Solution to the Meta
There were 4 different sets of clue answers that would have provided the meta answer:
20A SQUIRREL and 21A ABBEY
25A HORROR and 28A ACCESS
49A BALBOA and 50A TOBACCO
59A BEACH and 60A MAIN
Each set of words can have ROCKY "Before" the first and ROAD "After" the second to give the meta answer ROCKY ROAD