Bar Code

Oops, I don't think there was an opportunity to enter the answer? Thanks, you two!

Thank you for the fun puzzle!

Kinda up my alley.... thx

I'm only here because of M,X, and D -- (orange juice, cognac, and cranberry.) Confused about the Manhattans and Old Fashioneds -- I would make a lousy bartender! :-) Thanks for the team creation, Wendy and Alan! Cheers, indeed!

i found alot of mixed (and straight) drinks in your clues.... Screwdriver, Rye, Sidecar, Old Fashioned, Emperor, Maple Leaf, Tiger, Cupid, Manhattan, Cognac, cosmopolitan. Stabilizer, Lug..... Way more than I needed ! Fun one, Wendy!

Saw the cocktails, and then a bit later the ingredients. Had a devil of a time figuring out the last step, but ultimately it dawned on me. Thanks for the booze, Alan and Wendy! An appropriate topic for this crew.

Very nice!

Fun puzzle - well conceived and executed - thank you, Wendy and Alan!

Solved an hour and 15 minutes before 5pm - ugh. Will have to put the idea of these drinks on ice for a while..

Terrific construction! Even though I knew what the answer must be, I also struggled until I saw the crosses. Wow! I stick to white wine so had to google my way through it. However, I did remember one of them from college...

Beautiful.

But it's funny. Once I saw that it was about drinks and their ingredients, my very first thought of the coding ordering might be where the drink and ingredient entries cross. But I somehow ruled it out (it think because an old fashioned has rye and sugar [and lemons] are what I associate with side cars) and once I ruled it out... it took me a few bit of tinkering with "what's the order, hmm" before I ruled it back in.

BTW this kind of reminds me of my very first and absolute worst meta: https://crosshare.org/crosswords/W5lr3iYMxwg63noDPvgU/lets-meet-for-a-drink. You succeeded in doing what I totally failed at.

this was SO GOOD!! such a fun puzzle - thank you wendy! i caught on pretty fast because i used a very similar metanism for a (yet-to-be-released) puzzle i have titled "kindred spirits"

Very nice. Thanks.

Many moons ago I dabbled in bartending and so I intuited the answer. Had to go back to suss out all the elegant mixology involved. Great fun. Thanks and cheers.

Nice concept! I got behind the eight ball and went looking for EIGHT drinks... and with so many cocktail names in the world, I went with Cupid to complete the set. So, using first letters, the answer is DEGIXARD!? It's a kind of message where I come from! lol Thanks for the fun.

Congratulations on another successful collaboration - I'll drink to that!!

I forgot to do something I almost always do --highlight the themers -- and wound up needing a nudge to do it. I got the idea as soon as I hit "sidecar," but I still had to do some Internet research. I discovered that someone has invented a cocktail for or just about any word or phrase, including parts of three innocent entries in the grid. or clues. Why else would "trouble" be in the clue for eight ball or "deep freeze" for the pipes or "stabilizer" for KEEL. There's probably a drink called the Red Herring. (two parts Cheery Heering, one part something else).

I am truly embarrassed at how long I took and how much help I needed. I saw a lot of drinks (many of my favorites many I did not know. Who knew there was a Munich and a Deep Freeze) but of course that was not it. I got a nudge towards ingredients but tried to use those OR the the drinks OR both letters, but again nothing. Finally had to be told to look at the intersection (you would have thought that I would have known to YIELD at the intersection....)

Great job, Wendy and Alan! Now I see what Wendy meant by my "unwitting help with the title". Glad to be of assistance!

Late start but early happy hour now. A meta drinking game? Here's a toast to a great concept and execution!