"Stop, Thief!" That's the title of today's crossword by Garry Morse. Each theme answer is a pun using a word which can be a synonym for "stole":
The gym thief... LIFTEDWEIGHTS
The dairy thief... POACHEDEGGS
The liquor store thief... BOOSTEDSPIRITS
The restaurant thief... GRABBEDDINNER
The art thief... KNOCKEDOFFWORK
The condiment thief... PINCHEDSALT
The casino thief... SWIPEDCARDS
The chocolate thief... STOLEKISSES
"Quito's land" is ECUA. Yes, Ecua. is a legitimate abbreviation for Ecuador, although I don't know why anyone would
need to abbreviate Ecuador -- but OREG as an abbreviation for Oregon? I don't think so. The clue is "Mt. Hood's state" and Mt. Hood's state is abbreviated OR (by the United States Postal Service) or Ore. (in journalism).
"Fire sign" is a clever clue for PINKSLIP. "Meager" is EXIGUOUS, a word which dates from 1651 and is derived from the Latin
exiguus, which comes from
exigere, which is variously translated as "to demand," "to drive out" or "to weigh or measure." It is in the sense of weighing and measuring that the word took on the meaning of "meager; excessively scanty; inadequate." "Exact" and "exigency" also come from
exigere. "Growl" is GNAR, an imitative word which Merriam-Webster says dates from the 15th century. It means "snarl" or "growl" and can also be spelled GNARR. "Each" is APOP. "A pop" is one of many words and expressions which I seldom see or hear except in crossword puzzles. Among the others are ASEA, AROAR, ORT, ELHI -- and ALP as a singular.
"Gotcha" is AHSO. "Ah so" is often used in stereotypical portrayals of Asian men. The words are short for the Japanese
ah so desu ka, which, depending on intonation, translates to either "Oh, I see" or "Oh, is that so?" A discussion of the phrase is on the JapanesePod101.website:
http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2893And that does it for today's crossword. So, またあとでね -- that's
mata atode ne ("See you later").
