Solution: Are You The One

The puzzle presents 20 dating show contestants who each have a short description of their perfect match. Each of these descriptions refers to 1 or more of the other contestants, whether by describing letter properties (when using capital letters, as presented) or a substring in the name. By finding eligible potential matches and applying the process of elimination by locking down contestants who only have 1 option, you can form 10 pairs that satisfy both contestants' preferences.

In the 10 correct matches, each pair has 1 name that is length 5 and starts with letters A-J. Putting these in order and reading the first letters of their matches, you get a 10 letter clue phrase: TAG OR FOCUS, which clues LASER.

This puzzle was inspired by the dating show Are You The One, where contestants are told that scientists have determined their “perfect match”. Throughout the show, the contestants attempt to pair up correctly, and they receive feedback in the form of light beams - 1 beam per correct pair. We had been considering writing a dating show themed puzzle anyway, and when we saw the light-related answer, AYTO seemed fitting. We did consider presenting the puzzle as a series of past pairings and # of light beams for solvers to deduce the correct pairings, or making more use of the actual TV show, but we didn't want a mini puzzle to get too tedious or require too much wiki diving.

During the hunt, it seemed that solvers were mostly able to interpret the clues as we had hoped and find the correct pairs, although we did receive some occasional questions about whether polyamory or unrequited love were in play.