This was one of those night-time meta ideas that pop into your head while you are supposed to be sleeping. While it's not like my usual metas, I think you will still enjoy it. The answer to the meta is a three-word phrase. Answer and explanation: https://www.xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php?p=102224#p102224
Check out "The MOAT Mini Pack of Marching Bands" here: https://www.ephesusscroll.com/about/interest4.html. US$5 gets you 7 Marching Bands which, hard enough on their own, now contain metas too. And once again there's a mega-meta!
Once I figured out to eliminate the two ends and just use the corners, I generated a phrase that seemed plausible, though I hadn't heard it before - and it proved correct. The closest American phrase I think would be "on the mend" - as in after an accident. Glad I had the mechanism all along.