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Started late this week, but had a good run until the instructions after the grid. Many thanks Simplesimon for your hint which saw me through the first part.
As to the second…
I can see something in the eight line where a reversal of four letters could offer an answer. Is this right - it looks a bit weak to me. Should I be looking elsewhere and if so where? Any help welcomed.
Thanks

Williamseal, you're correct about the second step -and yes, it was a shade pedestrian after the first clever first instruction!

Thanks Malone - otherwise a good puzzle.

This puzzle has been a bit of a relief for me—I've spent several days on it so far, but only a couple of hours in total, which is a change.

My grid is about 90% complete. I also have the full reminder (idiotically, I quickly forgot to apply the "across" part of the preamble; eventually it started seeming suspicious that I had no confirmed extra letters in the downs), the name and awards, and (I presume) the principal unclued entry, to which I have not yet determined how to apply the reminder, nor have I yet highlighted anything.

Despite having the full reminder there are a few letters in which I'm not sure how the letters are derived. In most cases this is because I simply haven't worked out the wordplay at all (38ac, 42ac, 43ac), but in one case I'm particularly confused because the clue seems to be complete in definition and wordplay as-is. That is:

20ac: Opinion about bridge player became stale (5)

I'm inferring this needs to have a substituted letter based on the other letters I have adjacent to it, but I'm not sure how—especially given the letter it appears to need to be. Any nudges?

As a quick followup...

38ac and 43ac I now understand fully. Still not clear on 42a and 20ac. I also seem to have the second part of the reminder fulfilled--I take it this should seem almost anticlimactic in its scope?

ChrisRemo, I no longer have my copy, so this is just a suggestion for 20A. As the clue is, do the tenses fit?

For 42a newcomers to MIT would be first-year students.

Malone, I believe so, if definition and answer are both used as verbs.

mathprofrockstar, thanks for the reply—that's actually the part I understand, ha! I'm not clear how "out of money" translates.

Take away m for money.