>With ))) we just repeatedly type ))) until the cursor jumps to the target opening paren we are trying to close. Exactly. Or, the IDE can close all the parens

>With ))) we just repeatedly type ))) until the cursor jumps to the target opening paren we are trying to close. Exactly. Or, the IDE can close all the parens for you: SLIME command "slime-close-all-parens-in-sexp", which you can map to whatever key combination you want.