Solution to Evan Birnholz’s August 1 Post Magazine crossword, “Places, Please”

Whenever I solve a meta that involves numbers, my first thought is that they might relate to the actual numbers in the grid. But if you take the letters indicated by their numbered boxes in today’s grid (A for No. 1, C for No. 2, S for No. 8, and so on), you spell out ACSTUACAT, which is nonsense. So, I guess we need a different approach. This is essentially a single-insight “either you see it or you don’t” mechanism, but all you have to do is focus on the letters of the theme answers themselves. If you take the letter in the corresponding positions…