Cranking hard is how I was taught too, so maybe we both got bad advice.

Read a study once saying techs miss sounds when focused on meters.

So basically the bright star has been lying to you this whole time and you just trusted it? Rude. Meanwhile the mid-range star is sitting there like the middle child, finally getting some attention and saving your whole shoot. Classic. My trick is way less noble, I just focus on the moon if it's out and pray the rest follows. Works about half the time, which honestly beats my old method of squinting and hoping.