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By Trip Payne and Scott Purdy
Answer: REPRESS MEMORIES

The answers to the acrostic clues are:

  • A: NAPHTHA
  • B: OCHOCINCO
  • C: WEIGHT
  • D: IMPASSE
  • E: TABULA RASA
  • F: SPEAKEASY
  • G: TRIFLE
  • H: IMPALA
  • I: MINT
  • J: EAGLES
  • K: TAKE OFF
  • L: OPERATED
  • M: BLITZEN
  • N: UNSEASONED
  • O: ITERATING
  • P: LAKE ST CLAIR
  • Q: DAMASCUS
  • R: TOAST
  • S: HAWKING
  • T: EGALITE
  • U: GROVER NORQUIST
  • V: RATTLESNAKE
  • W: ISOTOPE
  • X: DETEST

The first letters of those answers spell NOW IT’S TIME TO BUILD THE GRID. Put the letters, in numerical order, into a 15×15 crossword grid: 

GANGS COBS ASPS
AGORA HARE STET
PERIL ITAL TOTE
   FILCH FIACRE
SPUTNIK FIN KID
WON EZEKIEL HES
ARIA ANON EGO
TENTH SAG TELLS
  HMO OLEG EDAM
TEA SQUARES EMU
ORB TUT PACKRAT
   MAITAI AARON
ASTI LEVI PASTA
TEEN TWIN ECLAT
ODDS SEAT SKYPE

For the most part, the crossword clues give definitions for the down entries, in random order.

  • Sitcom role for Van Dyke: PETRIE
  • Like contact lens solution: SALINE
  • Nike competitor: AVIA
  • Ratatouille vegetable: TOMATO
  • Had ratatouille, maybe: ATE
  • Ripen: AGE
  • Leave It to Beaver exclamation: GEE
  • Shot from a stick, sometimes: SELFIE
  • Spam containers: TINS
  • Defendant in a 1925 trial: SCOPES
  • Pornography: SMUT
  • Negative conjunction: NOR
  • Spigot: TAP
  • Place to put in a PIN: ATM
  • Wiped clean: ERASED
  • Terrier of whodunits: ASTA
  • She played Sally in Cabaret: LIZA
  • Queensland tree-dweller: KOALA
  • Discontinuity: GAP
  • She might get sheared: EWE
  • Maidenform product: BRA
  • Underhanded: SLY

However, in 15 cases (one in each column of the puzzle), the clue is for an entry that is one letter off:

  • Doctor Zhivago role: LARA, not LAMA
  • Candidate’s goal: SEAT, not SWAT
  • Cold remedy, supposedly: CHICKEN SOUP, not CHICKENS OUT
  • Handy identification?: FINGERPRINT, not FINGERPAINT
  • Calms down: QUIETS, not QUILTS
  • Small key: ISLET, not INLET
  • Grain for grinding: GRIST, not GRIFT
  • Oliver Twist’s request: MORE, not PORE
  • The Waltons actor Will: GEER, not GEAR
  • Resident of a certain European capital: STOCKHOLMER, not STOCKHOLDER
  • Bad engine sound: KNOCK, not KNACK
  • Takes the helm: STEERS, not STEEDS
  • Shameless, in a way: UNINHIBITED, not UNINHABITED
  • Book before Joel: HOSEA, not HOSTA
  • Quaker product: OATS, not OATH

Taking the correct letters in clue order, rather than the letters in the grid, spells the answer REPRESS MEMORIES.