MIT Mystery Hunt 2020/No Clue Crossword

No Clue Crossword is a puzzle from the round of the 2020 MIT Mystery Hunt. The puzzle is presented as a crossword where all of the clues are "No clue".

Puzzle Elements
Grid-Centric - Solvers are given a normal crossword grid, in addition to a list of clues that all read "No clue."

Flavortext - ''The balloon merchant gives you what appears to be a crossword, but your brief conversation with him isn't very helpful. "What's this for?" "No clue." "Where'd it come from?" "No clue." "Am I supposed to solve it?" "No clue."''

Red Herring - The puzzle has a somewhat misleading presentation; the crossword grid is not meant to be filled with anything.

Diagramless Crossword - One may note that the clue numbers do not align between the "clues" and the crossword grid. However, the solver can reconstruct a different grid from the clue numbers, in the fashion of a diagramless crossword.

Marked Elements - Some clue numbers have asterisks next to them. Marking the squares corresponding to those entries on both grids and overlapping them...

Give Me a Y - ...forms letter shapes that spell out the answer.