"Of Thee I Sing"

[Al Sisti]

Good morning Muggles, and welcome to Muggle Meta Monday!

Today’s puzzle is called “Of Thee I Sing,” probably around a Week 2 rating. Please PM me your solution by 4 PM on Sunday. If you get stuck, you can PM me, or you can wait until Nudge Wednesday when I’ll be dropping three “Dr. Pepper” nudges (at 10, 2 and 4).

Of Thee I Sing.pdf

Of Thee I Sing.puz

The answer to this meta is an artist with a one-hit wonder in the 80s. Good luck!

[Joe Ross]

Link to Of Thee I Sing Excel form.

[spotter]

Got the grid done, but no strong leads for the meta just yet. Will keep coming back to it with hopes of solving before Nudge Wednesday!

[C=64]

Fun cluing! I have a lot of circumstantial evidence pointing me to a particular answer but haven't found any strong justification yet.

[Hector]

I had the right idea quickly, but it took a while to make it yield an answer. Nice meta and grid, too, with interesting clues and entries. Thanks, Al!

[Dplass]

Did something happen with the grid? It's about half the usual size.

[Abide]

Well done; some slick cluing as usual (26-D; 29-D; 40-A; 50D). Thanks for a enjoyable lunch break!

[TMart]

This one was lots of fun. Thanks, Al!

[Cindy]

Nice

[Al Sisti]

Well done; some slick cluing as usual (26-D; 29-D; 40-A; 50D). Thanks for a enjoyable lunch break!

Thanks...

[Wriggler]

Got it. Clever.

[Meg]

Fun! Some bizarre rabbit holes, but that goes with the territory.

[oldjudge]

Pretty sure I have it (Confirmed). Great job as always Al, the clues are so much fun.

[Dplass]

Well done; some slick cluing as usual (26-D; 29-D; 40-A; 50D). Thanks for a enjoyable lunch break!

Thanks...

I didn't understand any of those clues, but at least I wasn't natick'ed too badly by their answers.

[ChrisKochmanski]

Off the couch!

Fun! I'll PM Al for confirmation, but I'm confident of my answer. Thank goodness my attention to pop music extended into the '80s. I know this hit!

Al should know too that his cluing is basically the best. It's delightfully Sisti-an. Or Sisti-esque. Or whatever. (Have we covered this already?)

[ChrisKochmanski]

Whoa! I just noticed something that would seem to confirm my answer. VERY cool!

[C=64]

Whoa! I just noticed something that would seem to confirm my answer. VERY cool!

I confirmed with Al that I have the correct answer, but all I have found is cool confirmation stuff; I still haven't found the meta mechanism, but not for lack of effort.

[boharr]

Whoa! I just noticed something that would seem to confirm my answer. VERY cool!

I confirmed with Al that I have the correct answer, but all I have found is cool confirmation stuff; I still haven't found the meta mechanism, but not for lack of effort.

I did the same thing. I took a short cut off the couch and then had to jump back on to finally get the meta mechanism.
And thanks, Al, for a fun puzzle,

[BarbaraK]

Whoa! I just noticed something that would seem to confirm my answer. VERY cool!

I confirmed with Al that I have the correct answer, but all I have found is cool confirmation stuff; I still haven't found the meta mechanism, but not for lack of effort.

I think I'm the same place you are. See a lot of miscellaneous stuff that strongly points to a 80s one-hit wonder, enough that it can't be coincidence (famous last words:) But I won't count myself off the couch til I find a proper mechanism. Trying, and mostly failing, to resist the urge to backsolve.

[Laura M]

Off the couch! (Still lost in space, though.) Very enjoyable!