No Minor Entertainer (Meta)

Very interesting! I must admit, my answer was a guess after seeing 7-Down + 51- Down, then looking at the silhouette in the picture, and noticing the clue about CATS. But I think the mechanism of the meta is still eluding me :o

Thanks, Ben! Not sure VERY FAST TRAIN will ring a bell for most yanks, but the other two should help.

VFT: Variable Frequency Transformer? Vinyl Floor Tiler? Oh, Very Fast Train. Did not know that. NME: Never heard of it. Good thing I saw BLANK SPACE or I may never have gotten this. Tough one.

After you told me VFT was VERY FAST TRAIN! Then the synonyms for SWIFT we’re all there! Thanks, Ben!

Went down a list of megastars and when I saw it, I knew it. But couldn’t shake REM as the first set of three initials. Not automatic (for this person) but thankfully I wasn’t out of time to solve…

I'm embarrassed to say after the frustration of discovering that VFT did not mean Venus Fly Trap (I can't blame Ben for that but, no, very fast train just isn't even a thing here) I then spent over an hour frustratingly pounding my head for a musician whose name might mean speed or has a song about speed and thinking it can't possibly be Joan Jett, could it? Or Freddie Mercury?

I don't know if I'd done better if I had started in a better frame of mind but... wasn't there for me.

Now had it been birds.... I once identified her as a singer on a pub trivia night by figuring the theme was birds so it had to be her. (But synonym for "speed". thats a brick wall for me?)

I was thrown by REM and Venus Fly Trap both being bands. PDQ Bach didn't really fit in but I really couldn't think of what else VFT might refer to.

Needed the VFT translation!

I hope it was intentional that TAS also stands for tool-assisted speedrun.

I entered Taylor Swift twice and got "incorrect" before I remembered that you wanted a middle name, too. That will explain why this was my "third" guess! lol

Needed the nudges, because I didn’t know VERY FAST TRAIN. At which point, the meta answer became an immediate head slapper. Fun! Thanks, Ben!

Well, I got there. First thought was Michael Stipe (obvious), then Geddy Lee, and finally Tracy Chapman. I friendly muggle then suggested I look for other synonyms and there it was. With as much exposure as she has gotten lately over the whole Travis Kelce thing, I can't believe that one slipped by me. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

I was able to find VFT on my DuckDuck search, including the Australia connection. I would have recognized TGV but maybe just because I have been a tourist in France.

Needed the hints and then some extra thought but I got there... not very quickly though :-)

You know, now looking at the graphic, the singer LOOKS like Taylor Swift! I don't see the grid confirmation yet but I am sure it is there if you are more into music than I.

SO dumb! I got the three "triples" (well with Ben's clue 3.5 I did) and then stuttered. I kept trying to put into Google, "Artist whose name implies speed" and do you think that dumb bunny would help this dumb bunny? I sent Ben a list of things I was playing with and he sent back, "nope the only thing you have is RAPID, FAST, QUICK....well "back at square one Tom was beginning to say"...wait that's a Tom Swift...SWIFT, how could I be sooooo blind. Thanks Taylor Alison! Nice one Ben!

Ah, OKAY, someone mentioned the confirmation. I do not know that song I'm afraid. I mean I know who she is, I admire her talent, but I'm more of a Smokey, Bee Gees, Beatles kind of guy

With Sebastian the Train, and PDQ Bach, I just had to find a song by REM with Johann in it. Is there a Golden Koala award?

Oy. And, to think- my first thought when I saw the picture in the puzzle header was Taylor Swift... yet I worked around all of the other "fast" names I knew before getting to her. Fast Eddie Money, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, Tracy Chapman (and Luke Combs, who covered Fast Car), etc. Damn. I missed the Blank Space clue. There's also another small clue, not sure if you intended it- "Tabloid Twosome"- her & Travis Kelce are most certainly THAT couple right now. Fun puzzle, thanks Ben! And thanks for the VFT nudge- I've never heard of Very Fast Train- VFT is definitely variable frequency transformer in my brain!

After nudges, this one still rather eluded me until I looked up synonyms for rapid...then I SWIFTly recognized the answer.