"It Takes Two"

[haydendog]

Got it! I couldn’t have gotten this without Google but the trip down memory lane was quite fun.

[Dplass]

Never gonna happen, even with all the nudges. Thanks for the puzzle, though.

[Cap'n Rick]

Never gonna happen, even with all the nudges. Thanks for the puzzle, though.

Oh well, thanks for trying, David. Sorry I couldn't nudge you off the couch.

[minimuggle]

Thank you Cap'n Rick for pulling me off the couch. What a great puzzle and I'm sorry I couldn't solve it on my own. I continue to be amazed by these metas and how you come up with them.

[woozy]

It's a good and straightforward puzzle. Unfortunately it's in a subject area that.... just isn't for me. (Actually, I was a bit startled how little I knew for this one).

[hoover]

I more or less raced through the grid on Monday and immediately saw a Thing. I went looking for other Things but didn't find any, so I set this one aside. This evening I read through the nudges and realized that my Thing was on the right track and is probably one of the meta pieces, but I still don't see any other Things to go with it.

[Dow Jones]

Nudged off the couch. Well done, Cap'n Rick.

[DavyGravy]

Still completely stuck to the couch. Nudges didn't help. Oh well - on to the WSJ comes at 4:00.

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

Well, we managed to nudge 27 more Muggles off the couch bringing our solver total to 56:

lbray53
BrennerTJ
michaelm
JeanneC
donutrobot
Snood
jbird
Johnny Luau
MatthewL
Dave C
Sharkicicles
hcbirker
david
Cinny
Carolyn
ajk
CPJohnson
Teamdoubletow
Laura M
Jade
haydendog
Bob cruise director
Jim Dean
JM
minimuggle
woozy
Dow Jones

There are still a few more couch-bound solvers out there who could use a little more help, so let me offer up one final "Bonus Nudge":

The female singers' names are PEACHES, GRANDE, GRANT, CROW, YUNA, and KEYS. Just find their male singing partners and the intersecting letters, and you're done.

Please let me know if I've missed anyone, and please PM me if you would like more help.

Good luck!

[rjy]

Nudges needed, but wow! Clever concept and construction, Cap’n!

[bhamren]

Needed the bonus nudge also to get off the couch.

I listen to so little music it is the reason I stopped for a while doing the MMMM puzzle also - I don't know many musicians. 70's rock I know quite a bit, but if it is less than 40 years old I know very little.

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

Seven more pairs of Muggle feet have hit the living room floor bringing our solver total to 63:

rjy
bhamren
Ergcat
Jaclyn
hoover
Naptown Kid
MaineMarge

Please let me know if I've missed anyone.

[Cap'n Rick]

Leaderboard Update:

One more solver brings our total to 64:

Alan Connor

Reveal tomorrow!

[ReB]

Needing every last nudge, I basically had to be dumped off the couch - but I'm on the floor admiring the view...

[Cap'n Rick]

Final Leaderboard

How "fitting" that we end with "two" more solvers bringing our final total to 66:

ReB
frostyjhammer

Thanks for solving, everyone!

[Cap'n Rick]

Ahoy Muggles!

The meta answer is "Hear Us" - a fitting two-word phrase for six pairs of singers carefully positioned around the grid. The title - "It Takes Two" - a hit duet by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston - was intended to signal that the theme was music-related. The "reuniting" of 70s duo PEACHES and HERB at the top of the grid as well as 33D-DUETS and 51A-TWOSOMES were hints directing solvers to look for other intersecting singing partners including Stevie WONDER/Ariana GRANDE, Peter CETERA/Amy GRANT, Sheryl CROW/Kid ROCK, USHER/YUNA, and Alicia KEYS/Busta RHYMES. The shared letters, in grid order, spell the meta answer.

I think it's safe to say that this was my most challenging meta to date - both to solve and to construct. Like @ReB said in his Crosshare comment, I needed to find 6 pairs of singers who've performed together, who had names that could be easily camouflaged, who had at least one letter in common, and whose common letters spelled something relevant. It's also safe to say that I won't try anything like this again! Anyway, I hope the solve was enjoyable for most of you - even if it did take "two" of you (and/or Google).

Until next time!
Cap'n Rick