"Bottoms Up!"

[Darth]

"This is the way"... Thanks, Al!

[Laura M]

Got it (I'm almost certain) with the first two nudges and a forehead slap.

Great puzzle, thanks Al! Also, I recommend the 49A trilogy (which has nothing to do with the meta).

[HeadinHome]

Needed nudge #1 to re-think the way I was reading the title. Got it. (I actually found 5 extra possibilities, but none that were confirmed by other clues.)
Needed nudge #2 to redirect my attention to the right word(s). Got it.
Needed nudge #3 (obviously, because I am still clueless). I do have a guess but it would take a long time to type.
Nudge #4? Anyone?

This is fun! It’s like being the village idiot on an escape room team.

UPDATE: assisted off the couch by some merciful muggles! How a few of you people got there without nudges i do not know, but I am impressed!

FUN PUZZLE!! So many instructions, but worth the treasure hunt. Wins the award for longest meta directive ever, amiright??

[hcbirker]

I believe I’m off the damn couch! Still feeling like a clueless idiot. How could I have not seen that?

[cbarbee002]

0 for 2.

[minimuggle]

OK, I think I am off the couch happily with some nudges and tugs. What a brilliant puzzle. The "aha" moment came to me last night as I was falling asleep so I waited to get off the couch until this morning.

[MarkWoychick]

Confirmed, off the couch - it’s a good thing the couch was comfortable because I was there for a long time. Thanks for the puzzle, Al!

[Abide]

If you need a Nudge 4

dont forget 2022 is “A Year to Watch”

[Al Sisti]

Thursday leaderboard additions:

15 higgysue 
16 Cap'n Rick
17 whimsy
18 MamaE
19 woozy
20 Darth
21 Laura M
22 Wendy Walker
23 Bbaack
24 hcbirker
25 Gmoney
26 MarkWoychick
27 markhr
28 Hammertime

[HeadinHome]

29 HeadinHome.

[SewYoung]

I submitted, but perhaps my answer was incorrect.

[cbarbee002]

Finally OTC. Was very comfortable there . . . .

[rjy]

Enjoyable journey to get tentatively off the couch… awaiting word to see if I must return

UPDATE: off for good!

[FrankieHeck]

Wow. I think *I* was the village idiot with this one. Even knowing what I was looking for, I somehow failed to see it. I think I have finally submitted the right answer. If not, I give up and am not optimistic about my meta mojo this year!

[Al Sisti]

I submitted, but perhaps my answer was incorrect.

Hmmm... I don't have a PM or email from you.

[Al Sisti]

29 HeadinHome.

Weird. I didn't get one from you either... I did notice that my Inbox was 100% full, so I deleted a few of the older messages. But maybe yours were sent (and not allowed in) before I made room. If anyone else sent something but hasn't gotten a response from me, please resend your PM. Thanks and sorry...

[SewYoung]

I just sent you another PM. No idea what happened to the first one...

[HeadinHome]

weird indeed... I actually sent it again after lunchtime, because it seemed to have been swallowed up by a black hole (not in my outbox or sent box). I just checked, and the second one is same.

Sending again now.

I think I remember this problem happening before when I forgot to put anything into the "subject" field... that's completely possible.

[hoover]

Oof. Still on the couch even after a bunch of Al's nudges. My step 1 problem was that I found 15 entries that could be used as pieces for step 1, but after elimination of the ones that didn't fulfill an important criterion, I was left with 8, not 7. And after reading Al's nudges, I realize that 2 of my 8 are incorrect, and I'm missing the 7th which was one of the original 15 that I discarded. Having been dragged to step 2, I think I'll sit the rest of this one out and wait for the reveal.

[KayW]

weird indeed... I actually sent it again after lunchtime, because it seemed to have been swallowed up by a black hole (not in my outbox or sent box). I just checked, and the second one is same.

Sending again now.

I think I remember this problem happening before when I forgot to put anything into the "subject" field... that's completely possible.

If you try to send a message without a subject line, you get an error message in red to that effect. I’ve learned (the hard way ) to check the screen carefully after submitting to make sure my painstakingly crafted masterpieces (sarcasm font here) actually got sent.