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Puzzle #39’s weird title, “A Résumé for Sue Ream,” pretty obviously anagrammed to a much more familiar title, “Measure for Measure.” And the grid had a bunch of anagrams, of (plural and singular) units of measure:
The key, as hinted at in the meta prompt, was conversion. Let’s look at an example: 12d was NICHES, which anagrams to INCHES – and there are 12 of those in a FOOT, which appears anagrammed in the grid as FOTO. Similarly:
60a MINUETS -> MINUTES, 60 of which make an HOUR -> ROHU
24d HORUS -> HOURS, 24 of which make a DAY -> ADY
16a UNESCO -> OUNCES, & 20d HILL’S SIGN -> SHILLINGS; either way you get a POUND -> UPNOD
3d FÊTE -> FEET, 3 of which make a YARD -> DRAY
The first letters of the grid entries that anagram to the singular, larger units (FOTO, ROHU, ADY, UPNOD, DRAY) spelled out the meta answer, FRAUD. Which is something that is sometimes (but not always) involved in tortious conversion (which means wrongfully possessing, and withholding, something that belongs to someone else – basically, it’s what you sue for if someone steals from you and – and it doesn’t always involve fraud but it sure might.)
The alternate conversions for pound had some solvers a bit confused, searching for some particular reason there were (as the clue indicated) two ways to get to UPNOD and not just one. There wasn’t anything special about it, I just really liked both of those anagrams so I kept them both. Sorry if that quirky choice tripped you up.
Up next is puzzle #40, “Let Me Check My Calendar.”
The answer to the metapuzzle is a three-word phrase that might be part of a date proposal. Submit your answer using the contact form by Monday, December 16 at 11 p.m. Pacific Time. I’ll post the solution, and a new puzzle, next Tuesday.
To keep up with the puzzles: Twitter @pgwcc1; follow the blog for email reminders; rss feed if you’re set up for that.
PGWCC 