Here is another puzzle that really came about as I was filling in a non-Meta crossword. "Hmm", I mused. "I'll bet with a little work this could be a meta!" It turns out I was right.
More than a few of you saw it during testing: Cap'n Rick, Wendy, Whimsy, Peter and Al Sisti.
It was not a bad puzzle before I sent it to Peter and Al, but Al came up with a meta answer that was not just good, but inspired. Any of you who say "how clever" at the end (and I hope there are a bunch) are really saying it to Al.
So, on with the puzzle. The meta answer is a literary/film character in a leadership position (that is the Sistinspiration I spoke of). I would put this at a solid 2.5 or perhaps 3 due to the final twist.
There will be nudges starting Wednesday. The initial ones will be the patently obvious and they will get more and more focused over time.
Nudge Day:
Nudge 1] Given the title (yep there that is again) are there any clues that suggest positions?
Nudge 2] Once you find all of them (11) then you have to do something, but that should be obvious
Nudge 3] So, that is the first part done - what did that give you?
Nudge 4] Given what you have been doing all puzzle, and with the derived phrase and the meta prompt, what does that tell you about what the answer should be
Nudge 5] Let's just say that this should give you license to kill this puzzle
THE REVEAL
There were 11 theme answers, each with a "position" in their name (such as Speaker of the House vis-a-vis the Presidency; second in ___). If you took the letter referred to (in the cited example it would be second in line or I) you would eventually spell out FIRST OF MANY. Then the last step was taking the M (the first of many) who was the film/literary character leading the MI6 in the James Bond films.
For a full explanation and a graphic reveal go to: