LF: I wrote you a long response, but I lost it before I managed to post it, and I don’t have time to rewrite it now.
One point, though. There is two registered tzdadim in the achronim – is the mitzva to drink, or is the mitzvah to get drunk?
I was working with the rationale that the mitzvah is to be drunk, and the drinking is only the method, not the goal. In that, I tried to explain the Rema in two ways – (a) you can attain that goal however you want, but you must also drink because Purim is a Yom Mishte. The two chiyuvim are nonrelated. (b) You must achieve “ad delo yoda” by virtue of wine.
You understand the mitzvah is the drinking, and being drunk is the shiur (See Emek Brocho/R’ Yisroel Salanter, that it isn’t even a shiur, it is a p’tur. You must drink and drink and drink… you can stop when you are that drunk). Accordingly, the Rema is very simple – you must drink wine until you reach the stage of Ad Delo Yoda, which can be until you are no longer thinking straight or until you fall asleep.