Been There

Of the rows and columns with three answers, there are five whose last letter of the first answer and first letter of the last answer combine to form a state postal code. The second word in each is the capital of that state with one letter changed. The replacement letters needed to correctly spell the capitals, in order, are B O I S E. This is the capital of Idaho with postal code ID. The first bonus word (CAPRI) ends in I, the last bonus word (DIGITAL) begins with D. (For extra elegance, the first three letters of the first bonus word and last four letters of the last bonus word combine to spell CAP ITAL!) Using the clue in the title “BEEN THERE”, change the BE to an EN to change Boise to noise, which is the meta answer.

This was my very first completed construction, and without the help of Crosshare or similiar app. I was pleased to have been able to squeeze in some Xs, Zs and a J, but missed out on K and Q. In hindsight, BASIC/SEND/CARBINE could have been BATIK/TEND/KARBINE, where KARBINE is some character in Donkey Kong. And if I was really desperate, LAGS/LUTE could have become the incredibly obscure combo of QAGS/QUTE. As I was wrapping up the puzzle, I was happy to realize that what had been ENDEAR/NABOB and INSTA/IBERIA could be easily changed to ENDEARS/NABOBS and SINEMA/SIBERIA, thus eliminating two black squares. It still didn't help my least favorite clue/answer - changing BVS (reference to Batman v Superman) to BVE (referring to Bachelor of Vocational Education).

...and yes, I did go through the puzzle and make sure there were no other first word/last word combinations resulting in a state postal code. I thought about that as I was wrapping up and cringed that there might have been an "AL" in there, but no "BONTGOMERY". :)