Most Excellent!

Cute. I got thrown by "complete" rather than "utopian" being a superlative in my mind. But boy, there sure were a lot of confirmations along the way!

Nice puzzle! I was looking for the G's in the top half of the grid, especially after seeing the central entry. It took a bit to locate that initial G in the clues. Thanks for the puzzle!

Cheers! Cap'n

Very nice!! I didn’t see the letters in the clues. I just guessed. Actually, the cabana boy just stared at me with that "Seriously?" look.

Brilliant how that all came together. And yes, I notice now the significance of the central across entry.

Nice one! And I agree with you on the answer!

Initially I had Guinness right, but thought the IRISH STOUT Easter egg was the two-word phrase. Fun!

Great puzzle as usual, and a clear dedication to the honoree. Happy St. Pat's, Cap'n Rick, and Happy birthday!

Super fun...thanks Rick!

Like some, apparently, I found the mechanism for the phrase. Just guessed at the beer. But hey -- a solve is a solve.

I almost “completely “ confused myself, but the second answer showed me that I had been “set” up. It was the stout that confirmed it. Nice one Cap.

I must admit, for 1a, I wanted to answer MICK (Mantle is my all-time fave), but fine, the Babe it is.

And a toast to you, Rick!

The hint in the backstory helped. :) While solving the meta I almost started to ignore the entries because I was missing EDEN and ERIE, and BSTBER looked like nonsense, and I knew I needed to look at the clues instead because GINNES looked almost readable. When I figured out what I was missing, the other half made sense too. (Side note: I always get tripped up by UTOPIA's etymology of "nowhere" whenever I see it clued as best or ideal or similar.)

Very fun. I submitted each answer separately so should have read the directions more carefully. Finally put them together and SUCCESS! Totally missed the STOUT hint since I'm not a beer drinker. Thanks

Fun stuff, thanks. Took me a beat to get to GUINNESS, which is ironic given that my folks grew up in Dublin and it's all I drink when I'm over there. OTOH, Ireland is the only place I'll drink it, so I quibble with the characterization of the state-side version. :D :D

Cap'n: U R 2 Clever/Funny/Excellent! This was a blast to complete and solve! Thank you for sharing your skillz!

Another Easter (well, St. Patrick's Day) egg in there as well! Thanks Captain Rick!

Thanks, Cap'n Rick - great puzzle, and happy birthday!

Excellent meta! Happy Birthday!!

Got it after a little snag! Perfect for St Patrick’s Day Week! I’m going to Dublin in May and will visit the Guinness Storehouse and Gravity Bar! Ahhhhhhh

Clever and elegant as always. Thanks Rick!

Thanks, Cap’n Rick!

I'll drink to that - or would if I liked beer...

Fantastic! Love the double meta answer. Very clever.