One Way Ticket

@Cherry “Après ski” is “after skiing” in French.

@DHG In your example, and in the clue, “take” and “hold” are not equivalent. “To take” something is to gain possession of, steal, wrest, remove, dispossess, etc., something from someone or somewhere. “To hold” something is to continue to possess something (that may or may not have been previously taken.) “Taking” and “holding” your wife’s book in the waiting room are two different acts. The only example that I can think of that comes close is “to take a position on some issue” and “to hold a position on some issue.” But, even though these are interchangeable, I think they still suffer from the same lack of equivalency. And I think the difference is great enough that “take” and HOLD don’t work for 25A. In any event, I’ve never encountered (or learned) the HOLD sense of the word “take”.

@katarina To me, it’s akin to a hypothetical clue: “Organ viewing an eyesore,” where the answer is EYE.

@katarina But perhaps I’m just a crossword “Karen.” I WANT TO SEE THE MANAGER!

@Michael Lol. Great catch!

@Gil Hivens See discussion below. I agree with you.

@Nick Dengler It can’t. See discussion below.