Jess

@Nancy J. Oooh wow. It wasn’t until I saw your first sentence with the clue and the answer next to each other than I finally got it. Brains are funny. That one was a forehead-slapper, no question. Clever. I’m bested, it’s true, but I don’t mind.

@One Way Ticket Agreed. 99.9% of the time, I come away from something like this with an understanding of why I’d misunderstood the connection and a sense that I’ve learned something. This time, I just don’t think the stretch was solid enough. “Take” and “hold” are words with strong relationships, but those relationships are defined by the conceptual differences between the two, not their similarities. One may take something and then hold it (or not). One may hold something having taken it (or not). But “to take” and “to hold” are not interchangeable objectively. I can only say at this point that the sole justification for this clue’s validity is that English speakers in practice will use the words interchangeably, with the real meaning implied only by context. And I do believe that in this and other crossword puzzles, that kind of usage does justify this clueing. I don’t like it. But, of course, that doesn’t happen to be a factor in crossword construction. Good thing, too, in the majority of cases. 😁