LAST WEEK’S RESULTS:

Title: “I Will Follow You”
Prompt: This puzzle’s contest answer is a 6-letter kind of person who might be able to help you with this meta.
Answer: SENSEI, found by 245 solvers, 196 of which were solo solves

Five long theme entries in last week’s grid, like so:

17-A: [Got to the other side of, as a river] = SWAM ACROSS
26-A: [“Only Murders in the Building” actor] = MARTIN SHORT
37-A: [Levy on profit made by selling an asset] = CAPITAL GAINS TAX
51-A: [They’re often by the front door] = COAT CLOSETS
61-A: [“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” actress, 1941] = LANA TURNER

Now what? The key thread to tug on is that each of the first words in these can add an I to make another word:

SWAM –> SWAMI
MARTIN –> MARTINI
TAX –> TAXI
COAT –> COATI
LANA –> LANAI

Next, find another entry in the grid whose clue can satisfy these new entries:

SWAM(I) = 66-A = [Wise person] = SAGE
MARTIN(I) = 11-D = [Alcoholic beverage] = EGG NOG
TAX(I) = 60-D: = [First word in a Scorsese title] = NEW. This has to be on the short list of “most obviously meta-related clue of all-time.” The movie is 1977’s “New York, New York”.
COAT(I) = 68-A: = [South American animal] = SLOTH
LANA(I) = 6-A: = [Island often seen in crosswords] = ELBA

The first letters of those five spell SENSE, to which we add the theme I to get contest answer SENSEI, found by 245 solvers. Obligatory “Napoleon Dynamite” scene:

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

Today’s puzzle is Week 4 of 5 in May. Instructions: