Hmmm, tried several things someone suggested: Windows key + W calls up the shell of the Widgets but then it just disappears after about a second. Also tried signing out and back in, no cigar. Dism.../restorehealth fails to fix it.
So I changed my Insiders channel from Beta to DEV, restarted and am now installing the release preview (21996.1 to 22000.51). Unfortunately, the Widgets issue persists despite the updated build. Hopefully, telemetry will take care of this eventually. Widgets does appear to have several issues, according to several online sources.
UPDATE Well, Widgets does work, and quite well....once you turn in on in Settings.
I found it via: right-click on Taskbar/Taskbar Settings/Widgets. Mine was toggled to "off." Once I toggled it to "on," it showed right up when pressing Windows key + W.
Very nice, I'll make use of this app down the road.
OK, issue solved for me.