puzzle thirty nine - say, say, say, say, say - adam aaronson and jack joshi guest puzzle

guest puzzle from adam aaronson and jack joshi, or so they say! they sent this to me asking if i wanted it as a guest puzzle, and when i saw how good it was, what else could i say? and what else could the constructors say?

apparently, they've got a lot to say! constructor notes: we've been huge fans of et tu etui since the very beginning, so we're pumped to be making our debut here! we're good friends who met each other last year at uiuc. you may recognize adam from his nyt and indie puzzles, and you should keep an eye out for jack as a budding cruciverbalist as well! we hope you find this puzzle, dare we say, sensaytional!

p.s. this is not related to say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, say, or any other puzzle; at least, that's what the lawyers want me to say.