"United in Duet"

[damefox]

Leaderboard update as of 7:30 Tuesday:

17. Anita
18. m5rammy
19. dudeski
20. C=64
21. Schmeel
22. Joe Ross
23. KayW
24. Wendy Walker
25. MikeM000

[hazmat]

Pretty excited that hint Wednesday has arrived.

[Bird Lives]

Like adolescents lined up at the church, I am awaiting confirmation, but I'm pretty sure I have left the couch, thanks to a nudge.

(Note to self: when you are doing the puzzle in .puz format and getting nowhere, remember why you shouldn't do the puzzle in .puz format.)

[lbray53]

Pretty excited that hint Wednesday has arrived.

As am I!

[lbray53]

I just hope that any hints given get me past where I am now.

[damefox]

It's hint day! I'm just going to post all three at once, because I know I'll forget to come back later today.

1. The words in the title have a particular property that tells you what you're looking for.

2. Although the answer is a six-letter word, the six long across entries are not what you need to look at. The answers you do need to look at are also symmetrically placed though.

3. A dog named Lemon?

Good luck! I can give more hints via PM if you find yourself still stuck.

[whimsy]

Spent too long stuck in the poufy cushions of an incorrect assumption --

Have now extricated myself!

[Dplass]

It's hint day! I'm just going to post all three at once, because I know I'll forget to come back later today.

1. The words in the title have a particular property that tells you what you're looking for.

2. Although the answer is a six-letter word, the six long across entries are not what you need to look at. The answers you do need to look at are also symmetrically placed though.

3. A dog named Lemon?

Good luck! I can give more hints via PM if you find yourself still stuck.

Cute video relating to one of the above spoilers:

A dog VS a lemon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFIpCSmLVhs

[Dave C]

We only needed the second of the three nudges, but it still took longer than it should have. Excellent meta.

[Beth Tyrpin]

Kudos to Emma on this beauty.

[minimuggle]

So many possible rabbit holes. I'm still enjoying exploring all of them. If you say it is hard, then I won't feel quite as bad if I don't succeed here. So far it is fun. Thanks

[Bird Lives]

So many possible rabbit holes. I'm still enjoying exploring all of them. If you say it is hard, then I won't feel quite as bad if I don't succeed here. So far it is fun. Thanks

It's hard mostly because of two rather large and bright red herrings. damefox identifies one in her second spoiler.

[hcbirker]

Finally had the time for this one. Very nice Emma! And I enjoyed your puzzle in the WSJ too!

[cbarbee002]

Great puzzle! Not confirmed, but pretty sure I'm OTC, after being forcibly pulled off the couch by Dr. Tom.
Also note that the title is in theme.

[lbray53]

Solved but only with all of the nudges. I did not see ALL of the answers right there in my notes. I will stay on the couch until I figure this out. So fun!

[damefox]

Leaderboard update as of 7:25 Wednesday:

26. whimsy
27. Bird Lives
28. Dave C
29. dencurrin
30. Beth Tyrpin
31. RPardoe
32. hcbirker
33. markhr
34. hazmat
35. cbarbee002
36. lbray53

Thanks all!!

[ChrisKochmanski]

Hey, Emma, that's a nice puzzle in today's WSJ too. You go!
https://www.wsj.com/articles/doing-with ... 1609704387

[BarbaraK]

Finally off the couch. Needed the first nudge to get there as this is not my strong suit. Clever meta and fun grid.

[damefox]

Leaderboard update for 7:55 Thursday:

37. FrankH
38. Tom Shea
39. Cindy N
40. Hidden in 3D
41. BarbaraK
+1 non-Muggle who found the puzzle on Crosshare and emailed me the answer

[joequavis]

I'm loose change in the cushions. Trying to solve sans nudges. Will give it another look tomorrow. Thanks, Emma, for the great puzzles this week!