Hooked on Metas (Meta)

Finally! A couple wrong submissions and then when I submitted Barrie and that was wrong, I was really confused. I put it down and when I came back I noticed the J and M. A very enjoyable puzzle even if I did need Google for some of the grid. Thanks, Peter and Wendy. Oh my gosh! Peter and Wendy -- it just hit me. Who better to construct a meta about Peter Pan!

Aah, now I understand the title. (Captain) Hook'ed on Metas! Well done!

Fun one!

Got it, with a nudge. Fun! Thanks, Peter and Wendy!

I tried Tinkerbell. I thought the Peter and Wendy angle was very cute!

I saw the PAN and Peter and Wendy and THE LOST BOYS and just started plugging in various Peter Pan-related names until one of them worked. I still have no idea about the metanism. I tried James Barrie before I remembered he went by his initials.

I was really liking Barrie from the start but ART, LES, AL, MAC, LOU, ED, LEE, YUL, COSMO(?!) weren't getting me there. Then saw the JERSEY, MAMAS, etc. connection -- but those ALOU boys knocked me off kilter for a bit! :) Wonderful the way the whole Neverland theme tied together in a rather meta way!

Loved the puzzle. 15A (Meta)DATA had me going for a minute. Then the M & E had me thinking SMEE for a sec. THEN the double J (JERSEY/JOS) confused me, but JMBarrie panned out. Nice challenge; thanks.

I was lost, too, for quite a while. Nice one!

Saw the Peter Pan connection right away and submitted a couple wrong answers before the light dawned. Nice puzzle! Loved Peter and Wendy!

I too jumped the gun and guessed Peter Pan just from the title, constructors, and one long entry. It took some tinkering around in the grid to find the missing boys. Now that the picture is clear, I wonder why I never before noticed the family resemblance between Peter and Mary Martin.

Woohoo! You are perfect collaborators for this one. Glad we didn't have to walk the plank!

Boy oh Boy what a wonderfully thought out and well executed meta. Really worth the AHA! Thanks for the magic Wendy and Peter.

Solved without nudge. Enjoyable and nuanced use of this mechanism, with a little puzzle-hunt craftiness to boot. Well done, Abide and Wendy!

Got stuck in the rabbit hole that every letter of the alphabet appeared in the grid except for W... you know, the Wendy Walker W. How could that not be a thing??? Next rabbit hole? Deep dive on all the variations of names of the Lost Boys... one pair is referred to as The Twins, and with BAMBAM, YESYES, YAYA symmetrically placed at the top - along with 12 other pairs - surely that's a thing, no?? Needed the nudges (dang it!) but thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Thanks, Peter and Wendy!

Loved this one! Thanks Peter and Wendy!

Fun puzzle. I thought something was off when Peter's name was missing but it did take me a few looked to see all the Lost Boys! Well done!

6D. It's funny but not only does Oda have a Macron, but it would seem that Macron has an Oda (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2021-07-27/one-piece-eiichiro-oda-draws-original-illustration-for-french-president/.175567)

I guess I was 2/3 of the way there since monday. I saw Pan, Hook, and the Lost boys and submitted Peter Pan early (although I knew I had to be more to it). I looked for boys name but couldn't find any that didn't seem coincidental. The Meta-data clue was more convincing then the Peter pan one so I tried pursuing that-- looking at clues that refer to data infomation or the clues themselves but that was too vague.

Being told on Tues that 38A was important I notice JERSEY BOY and MAMAS BOY and following that I got the letters JMBIE and could make any sense out of it.

I'm afraid I have never heard of RUDE BOY or ROUGH BOY.

I had tried considering other names of male characters of Peter Pan but Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, or Curly seemed to weak to carry a puzzle.

Reading Wednesdays nudges and seeing R's I figured maybe I could try the JM Barrie as it hadn't occurred to me and it seemed to fit with the JMBIE. Altar boy just eluded me in the natural ways.

Very cute that the constructors were Peter and Wendy. That had escaped me.

Got it with the nudges! Good one, Peter & Wendy!

jeez loueez I made that hard. Peter or Peter Pan was my first WAG based on the title and 38a alone. It took me forever to find all the lost boys in the puzzle. Very clever. And what an appropriate theme from Wendy and Peter!

Ay sir, hoisted on my own petard! Well done Peter and Wendy! I told Peter on Monday that I detected a distinct J. M. Barrie flavor - not knowing that was ultimately the answer.

I was wondering why the byline wasn’t PETER Abide. So clever!

After filling out the grid on Monday, had to let things simmer for a few days, but finally got it today with no use of nudges. Thanks Peter and Wendy!

Nice puzzle! Thanks so much.

Nicely constructed. Needed another nudge as google had led me astray with errant ________ [boy] answers.