My faves were 1A and 3D; I didn't follow the parse for 2D.I think [Northern Michigan] is a clue for U (as in university), which is a two-stepper for me, but then is [change of heart] meant to swap the last and first letters of [Top seed] into TOSPEED? If so, I'm still not sure where the first P comes from. It is fun, though, to try and figure it out!
North part of Michigan is the Upper Peninsula, which is basically always called the UP (by Michiganders, not sure how widespread it is outside the state).
Thanks, Aaron! Yeah, the idea is to swap the first and last letters of TOP SPEED, which are in the middle when the words are smushed together. A little stretchy but worth it!
Thanks, dilly. I was kind of picturing the words smooshed together and then switching around two adjacent interior letters. And then UP for Northern Michigan (the Upper Peninsula).