I had one idea in mind for a puzzle when I was falling asleep, and when I woke up the next morning, this is the puzzle that emerged. There are two paths to solve...three if you count good old-fashioned guessing.
Nudges
The grid is pretty small to contain much beyond the themers, so where else might you look to solve?
Did you notice 26A?
The themer clues contain both paths to solve: the specific answer and the general theme. Either path will get you to the meta answer
The first part of five themer clues might get you to the general theme answer path, especially combined with the prompt
The other path: the first letter of the first themer clue is....?
What is something we often follow? Or don't, depending on the person or situation