Explanation: There are four across entries (denoted with an asterisk) that can be made into two words by using alternating letters in order (alternade words). I was hoping the words “every other” and “skip” in the title would point to what needed to be done. 18A becomes BLOND & ALOE. 31A= FUN & LET. 33A= LUG & ONE. 41A= WIDES & ERNS. These eight words can be found at the beginning of clues. BLOND @ 10D, ALOE @ 40D, FUN @ 7D, LET @ 42D, LUG @ 1A, ONE @ 17A, WIDES @ 47D, ERNS @ 52A. The first letters of the entries for these clues spell FRIENDED. If you apply the mechanism one more time you get the meta answer, FINE REDD.