Author: Seth Bisen-Hersh
First, answer the clues as follows:
'80s cat eater (3) ALF
Most sleep here (3) BED
Baby chickens do this from eggs (5) HATCH
Deadbolt (4) LOCK
Character in a play (4) ROLE
Type of beer (3) ALE
Scandalous (5) JUICY
What a blind man can't do (3) SEE
Male heir (3) SON
"Tree's falling!" (6) TIMBER
"Ding- ! the Witch is Dead" (4) DONG
Hotel (3) INN
Game played with knucklebones (5) JACKS
Approximately 3.28 feet (5) METER
" singular sensation..." (3) ONE
90 and 45 degrees, e.g. (6) ANGLES
An atom with a net electric charge (3) ION
Final (4) LAST
Rigid (4) TAUT
Saltwater (5) BRINE
Gaelic language (4) ERSE
Young female horse (5) FILLY
Feral (4) WILD
Mad Men make these (3) ADS
Jersey (4) BOYS
Take it on the (4) CHIN
Not high (3) LOW
Ashen (4) PALE
Black, green, Earl Grey... (4) TEAS
"Tea for " (3) TWO
" Sure the Boy I Love" (3) HES
Less healthy, or more like a Beastie Boy (5) ILLER
Unite (4) JOIN
" Get Fooled Again" (4) WONT
Gamble (3) BET
Naval rank below Lt. (3) ENS
Obtain (3) GET
The slippery part of the banana (4) PEEL
Stair (4) STEP
Slang term for a mammal that looks like it's wearing a mask (4) COON
A pen needs this (3) INK
Lower part of cheek (4) JOWL
It helps row a boat (3) OAR
Oodles (4) TONS
Next, realize that the clues come together to form Film Director/ Movie pairs with some of the letters changed, and take out the changed letters to get more words:
ALF BED HATCH LOCK ROLE
ALFRED HITCHCOCK ROPE: BALL
TIMBER SON SEE ALE JUICY
TIM BURTON BEETLE JUICE: ESSAY
METER JACKS ONE INN DONG
PETER JACKSON KING KONG: MEND
ANGLES LAST TAUT ION
ANG LEE LUST CAUTION: SAT
FILLY WILD ERSE BRINE
BILLY WILDER SABRINA: FEE
CHIN TEAS TWO ADS PALE LOW BOYS
CLINT EASTWOOD SPACE COWBOYS: HALL
JOIN WONT HES ILLER
JOHN WOO THE KILLER: INS
STEP ENS PEEL BET GET
STEVEN SPIELBERG ET: PET
JOWL COON OAR TONS INK
JOEL COEN BARTON FINK: WOOS
Finally, take the new words and find 2 more film director/ movie pairs:
SAT MEND ESSAY BALL
SAM MENDES SKYFALL: TAB
WOOS HALL INS FEE PET
WOODY ALLEN SLEEPER: SHIFT
Look on your keyboard. The key between the TAB and the SHIFT keys is... CAPS LOCK, which is the answer to the puzzle.
Note: The title Filed Erector is FILM DIRECTOR with 2 replacements as a mini-clue.