Start Writing!

Got it - thanks, Schmeel. I was stuck for a bit deciding if PENDANT or PENNANT was hanging... Good "aha" moment

Very clever and much fun. Thanks!

I submitted NAMES first, thinking it was a somewhat underwhelming answer. Then, of course, I was wrong. Delightfully.

Thoroughly enjoyable. GUIN made me smile when I got it, and I wondered if that word was the inspiration for the rest of the puzzle.

Was sure the first step was the answer. Finally came to my senses.

Great meta. Was PENNANT "Big game"? I tend to hear it as meaning the title or prize for the winning (championship) team. Maybe that's "big game" as in a major goal you aim at?

Several fun ports of awareness - aha, put the PEN to the fore; aha, synonymous clues; aha, use the corresponding entries; aha, that's the order/aha, put the PEN to the fore. Thank you, Schmeel! Glad you jumped in again, and glad that writers don't use DRIBL after all!

Nice challenge! One of my guesses was ERATO…

DINGDONG the witch is dead! - i remember this was my favorite song as a little kid from wizard of oz i don't even know why... i would rewind the tape on the VCR to play it over and over again

fun puzzle thanks! PENNANT was the hardest for me to find as i thought of the flag but then i already had PENDANT for the hanging item... but it was back-solvable at that point

PENGUIN was my way in

I'm still not sure where the S comes from. I've got PENNANT left over and can't make a flag out of either Big game or Gender offender.

Needed nudge number 2, but finally got there. Very clean and fun puzzle. Thanks Schmeel!

Beautifully constructed and fun meta. Thanks!

Tricky, but fun! Thanks for the first couple nudges.

Needed nudge 2 to set me on the path, but fell quickly after that except having to backsolve for SEMI. Fun stuff, thanks. :)

I made the mistake of thinking pending was 50D, not 11D, but was able to figure out where I went wrong. I needed the third spoiler.

Excellent!

Got it with the nudges. Thanks for the fun puzzle.

Fun puzzle! (Disregard the earlier wrong answer… iPad autocorrect strikes again!)

Nice one! I was traveling today, so I solved it this evening.

Submitted without knowing what the S was, but I see that it’s semi. Makes sense! Hope you’re doing well Schmuel!

I spent so much time chasing rabbits on the MGWCC, that I wasn't able to work on this until today. And then it took me a while to get big game for pennant. Fun meta! Thanks!

I would have had it at nudge 2, IF I actually took the time to read nudge 2. I missed the "at the beginning" part. I had been playing with the first letters. though in a much different manner. Then after clue 2 I started adding things AFTER the first 1-2-3-4-5 letters and of course got NOWHERE! So I struggled and was about to go back and reveal the other nudges when I re-read #2, AH, BEFORE the letters, and of course PEN GUIN immediately popped up. When I got NAMES I thought, gosh everybody uses names, but some WRITERS use PEN NAMES (of course then I looked to see if any of the named authors were pen names that I was unaware of.

Nicely conceived and executed Schmuel, and a VERY clean grid. Thanks for the workout

Clever. It took a minute to get from "names" to "pen names"

Needed the nudges, but got here eventually! Thanks for the fun puzzle.