The Ys Have It (Meta)

Post your alternate themers below! Here are a few to get you started... "Money put aside for committing adultery?" (TRYSTFUND); "What Bond drinks when he wants to stay sober?" (SPYWATER); and "Cloud-based holiday destination?" (SKYRESORT)

Quite appropriate for today. Thanks, Ben.

I figured out the answer but the path still eludes me for the fourth letter.

Thanks for another great (and timely) meta, Ben!

I will!!

Nice one, Ben - and thanks for the nod to US events.

Partner in fashion? STYLE MATE

Being pretty sure of the answer from the start helped me solve the last bit. I was taking the whole new word -- TIGER MOTH and CAST AWAY did fit the definitions, but LUNCH BOX? -- well, I justified that since you described it as a square meal -- and then I figured (as you would well know ) that kids could end up talking about just about anything in English class, including Disneyland! I liked this a lot! Thanks, Ben -- for the puzzle and the public service announcement!

Thanks, Ben!

Nice metanism, Ben. And very "apt" indeed!

Nice!

Very apt for today. Hmm, let's see -- "Tool you would use to tighten a nut while bowling?" (ALLEYWRENCH) Yeah, I think I'll leave these to the master. Thanks for the puzzle, Ben!

Just did, Ben! So, so, so ready for cheetoh jesus to go away forever.

I assumed for the longest time that the entire phrase was important. Not just a moth that flies in the night be specifically a TIGER Moth. Do Australian supermarkets have a "Lunch Box" section? An essay is a theme, but even lose creativity can't call English class a PARK. Banged head against wall and was half convinced that Tiger Moth=Night flier could be coincidence... but it couldn't be. Maybe, maybe, maybe, thinks they might say "Cast Away" as well as "She's off" when they launch a boat. But not really. But then I have V...O so VETO. submit know but if it's not grid order (which would make V very late anyway) but clue order it could be VOTE. That's appropriate and I can maybe back-solve the E and the T.

Yep. Let's see what the comments so. Wait THEME was ESSAY after all? But what about the PARK? There's no PA.... oh, It was just the MOTH. the TIGER wasn't important. So without BOX and just LUNCH = T?... Oh, Tea. So It's not "Cast Away" it's just "Cast"... as in "Cast Off". It wasn't "She's Off". It was just the phrase "Cast off".

So... I frequently misspell CAIO.... and so,... "En Pissant" had me laughing for minutes.

Okay. I had to be reeled in from a WILD goose chase. I was looking for a harder mechanism based on your comments. SO, I found when.
If found MYTH MOTH replacing Y with O. But wait! MOLAR MYLAR by changing O with Y. A vowel transplant. That HAS to be it.
THYME > THEME and PELE > PYLE. Here we go! I am on a roll. But then I struggled. LYNCH LUNCH > USER YSER or maybe RUES RYES CYST CAST could be TAE TYE or RAE RYE or ADS YDS The mechanism works except for the fact that there is no word that makes sense. I did come up with RAMP, PRAM PUMA

Maybe and idea for a meta there somewhere.

“Place to sharpen your bite?” (CHEWINGGYM)

Well I had the worst time trying to find a clue I could answer with MATH. Maybe "Round score in the 80's despite bad putting" = TIGERMATH. It finally dawned on me "'Tom, all the other things are real things when you change the letter Y' and then I sank my teeth into VAMPIRE.

I chuckled because you probably could have had it so THeme word order it is VOTE but Grid order it was VETO and then had a title like "The Y's have it; Or Not!" Anyway a fun romp Ben even after desperately trying to fit VILLENUEVE into 50A (Lynch was the original, the one that everybody felt was terrible). Enjoyable and completely rational, unless you approach it the Tom was. Oh, and my contribution: Cash spent on outfitting your home with the latest colors and trends: STYLEBREAD

Person who clears away the funeral ashes: PYRECLEANSER Mystery show focused on the motive not the perp: WHYDUNNIT Fun one, Ben!

Australian confectionary manufacturers better offerings? (FYNAFOODS)

Continuing my catchup. Initially I was looking for alts to the full phrases, but then focused on the individual words. Got stuck there, until nudge 4 told me that I should keep going. Turns out TIGERMOTH is not a thing I knew, and unfortunately TIGERMATH googled well enough to avoid warning me off. Eventually after combing through the clues a few times trying to match MATH I finally hit on MOTH and then was puzzled for a bit as to how VOTE was apt. But of course in early November I wouldn't have been. :) Thanks. :)