This month’s MMMM challenged solvers to find a famous pop singer.

The key, hinted at by the title “Generational Talent,” is to notice that the first word of each theme entry becomes the surname of a famous singer when the letters S-O-N are appended. For example, ROBIN becomes ROBINSON, etc. The first name of each of these singers appears as the first word of a clue to an entry elsewhere in the grid, as follows:

The first letters of the entries clued in this way are C, K, L, R, and A. These can be anagrammed to form CLARK. Repeating the addition of SON yields CLARKSON, the surname of pop superstar Kelly Clarkson, this month’s meta answer. Typically we would avoid having an anagramming step, but since it’s November, we opted not to include parenthesized numbers after the theme clues to add a little more difficulty.

Meta Song:

Lindsay Marie joined some local Santa Barbara musicians and the Kindred Souls for this duet of a Kelly Clarkson classic. Enjoy!

Selected Solver Comments:

BethA   Took me a long time to see what to do! Thanks to Smokey Robinson, though, all the buzzers started going off!

Katiedid   I liked it, but I’m surprised I can’t find a way to put CLARK in order. Usually all your metas are so perfectly arranged.   Quite a few solvers commented on this. Perhaps it would have been better to number the theme entries!

Raygirl  Can’t believe how long it took me to see the names in the clues! Kelly is a generational talent.

Tade  A fun solve, well constructed, even with a little anagramming required. Easier than some other November Metas that I remember – not that I’m complaining.

rvkal  When I saw NILS, I automatically thought of Harry Nilsson, which goes to show that being really old can be pretty helpful once in a while!

LaceyK  In a way, you managed to get Sonny & Cher covered in this year’s puzzles!   CHER was a meta answer earlier this year!

Evan Super-tough for me. Funny that IDOL shows up in the puzzle as an extra nod to the answer.

Alternative Music Clues:

pbfrommn suggests cluing SLAP as [___ bass, instrumental technique popularized by Larry Graham], LEVY as [Eugene ___, actor who portrayed a folk musician in “A Mighty Wind”], and CLEAR as [“Crystal ___” (1990 single by the Darling Buds)].

Evan suggests cluing IDAHO as [Home of the Treefort Music Fest], RUDD as [“Follow the Sun” musician Xavier], and CLEAR as [“On a ___ Day You Can See Forever” (musical adapted into a 1970 film starring Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand)].

Groaners:

mattyx  Trouble-son

Jwaan  Thought I was Mr. Know It All but then it took me 3 days to spot the “sons.” But what doesn’t kill you makes you Stronger. Now just trying to Catch My Breath after this week…

samkat9  If I manage to get this right, I will feel like a fortunate son.

Mikey G  Because of you, I had to breakaway and solve this puzzle!

Totals this month:

151 correct, 27 incorrect

Rating: 4.27 out of 5 stars

Difficulty: 3.90 out of 5

Monthly mug winner: Maggie Wittlin from New York, NY

Thanks to Ben Chenoweth for stepping in for Matt Gaffney to review this month’s puzzle at Crossword Fiend, where you can rate the puzzle (thanks!) and/or leave a comment.

Thanks to Tamara Brenner for the graphic.

Thanks for playing and see you next month!