Space Madness

by Dan Katz
Answer: SABRE

Each clue a-m gives an adjective, while each clue n-z gives an animal. However, each clue has a superfluous word.

a. Committing (international) perjury - LYING
b. Inside a (neural) cell - CAGED
c. Possible result of (executives) sacking someone - SAFETY
d. Item used by (aboriginal) shamen in an online game – TOTEM
e. "You (Can’t) Make Me Sick" artist - PINK
f. Mule that danced on (Heather) Mills’s piano - MUFFIN
g. Suffering from (pericardial) heart pangs - LOVESICK
h. Like excited children or (hexadecimal) clocks - WOUND-UP
i. Half a hogshead of (Australian) wine - BARREL
j. Cruise (ship) feature from 1988 - COCKTAIL
k. Sobe (echinacea) beverage made with pineapple and mango - KARMA
l. You can be arrested for this (remark) - CRIME
m. (Elastic) material used to make candles - WAX

n. Source that's (airing) Behind Enemy Lines - MOLE
o. Herbie Hancock (drinking) song - CHAMELEON
p. Detroit football player (Barry) - LION
q. One who waits (expectantly) at the Playboy Club - BUNNY
r. (Tourist) group founded by the Careys - FLAMINGOS
s. (Warrant) officer, pejoratively - PIG
t. Shoulder the burden of (eternity) - BEAR
u. (Electric) shade of yellow - CANARY
v. Word preceding backwards (name) - ASS
w. (Elderly) lady, in British slang - BIRD
x. The (X-Men) series is set near this city in New York - BUFFALO
y. What Randy Jackson might call "(Embraceable) You" - DOG
z. Villain who ran (smuggling) for the mayor of Gotham – PENGUIN

Clue x refers to a series set near Buffalo, New York. This series is Wonderfalls, in which the protagonist sees talking animals no one else can see. The 13 episodes' titles are each formed of an adjective and an animal, the ones shown in the clue answers. The initials of the extraneous words spell IN EACH PHASE READ BETWEEN EXES.

The animated grid shifts on a loop between thirteen phases. There are a disproportionate number of X's, which all occur in pairs of one X and then another in the same location two phases later. Within each phase, if you read the letters in locations that were just X's and are about to become X's again, you will find a command (more or less) uttered by the title animal in one of the Wonderfalls episodes.

• MEND WHAT WAS BROKEN - Lying Pig (a,s)
• GET OFF YOUR ASS - Pink Flamingos (e,r)
• TELL HIM YOURE HAPPY - Caged Bird (b,w)
• GO AHEAD TELL HER - Crime Dog (l,y)
• GIRL NEEDS A DONUT - Lovesick Ass (g,v)
• SHOW HIM WHOS SPECIAL - Totem Mole (d,n)
• GET HER WORDS OUT - Karma Chameleon (k,o)
• TAKE A PICTURE - Safety Canary (c,u)
• BRING HER BACK TO HIM - Wound-Up Penguin (h,z)
• KEEP EM HERE - Muffin Buffalo (f,x)
• GIVE IT BACK TO HER - Barrel Bear (i,t)
• SAVE HIM FROM HER - Cocktail Bunny (j,q)
• MAKE ME A MATCH - Wax Lion (m,p)

Use the coordinate pairs in the corresponding grids, and reorder by proper episode order:

• MAKE ME A MATCH - Wax Lion (m,p) - X
• GET OFF YOUR ASS - Pink Flamingos (e,r) - H
• GET HER WORDS OUT - Karma Chameleon (k,o) - O
• BRING HER BACK TO HIM - Wound-Up Penguin (h,z) - C
• GO AHEAD TELL HER - Crime Dog (l,y) - K
• KEEP EM HERE - Muffin Buffalo (f,x) - E
• GIVE IT BACK TO HER - Barrel Bear (i,t) - Y
• GIRL NEEDS A DONUT - Lovesick Ass (g,v) - P
• TAKE A PICTURE - Safety Canary (c,u) - L
• MEND WHAT WAS BROKEN - Lying Pig (a,s) - A
• SAVE HIM FROM HER - Cocktail Bunny (j,q) - Y
• SHOW HIM WHOS SPECIAL - Totem Mole (d,n) - E
• TELL HIM YOURE HAPPY - Caged Bird (b,w) - R

This spells X HOCKEY PLAYER. The answer to the X clue is Buffalo, so the puzzle answer is SABRE.