Pitt County Crossroads

I read in the Reflector recently about the “Welcome to Greenville” sign that was installed on the eastbound side of I-587 at its intersection with the Southwest Bypass. Landscaping, spotlighting, and illumination for the lettering will be forthcoming soon. The sign features a cupola representative of structures at East Carolina University and atop the Pitt County Courthouse.

So it made me think of a riddle. Just 1-Across of town, a small municipality put up a sign which said “Welcome to the least 24-Across place in all of 41-Across. What do you call a sign like that? The answer is a made-up word that is pronounced like a real word.

To get the answer, rearrange the circled letters and place them in the blanks below the grid. (Anagram answer for previous puzzle: GIVE PEAS A CHANCE)

Across

1 Under the stars, say

8 Singer Tori

12 “The Canterbury Tales” author Geoffrey

13 Kelly once of “All My Children”

14 Calvin’s tiger in the comics

15 Lamprey lurer

16 Commuter carrier

19 Boy, in Bogotá

20 Gasohol, for example

23 Food that jiggles

24 Arousing one’s attention

26 Write a funeral poem, perhaps

28 Tattered attire

29 Anecdotal knowledge

30 Material on the road

35 Reed of “It’s a Wonderful Life”

37 In a boorish way

38 Morales of “My Family”

39 Office gizmo

40 Mark of omission

41 “A Horse with No Name” band

Down

1 Adolph of publishing

2 “I’m in trouble now!” (2-2)

3 Perfume brand

4 Not blatant

5 “Law & Order: SVU” regular (3,1)

6 ___ Moines, Iowa

7 Poet’s before

8 NBA venue

9 Citizen soldiers’ group

10 Available job

11 Island garments

17 TV host Gibbons

18 “Or ___!”

20 Put into competition

21 Set free

22 Going on and on

23 Like The Reaper

25 One who might yell “Sell!”

27 Robin Williams’ “Aladdin” role

31 Ice unit

32 Sandwich shop

33 Baldwin of “Talk Radio”

34 Breckenridge of fiction

36 The Crimson Tide’s st.

37 Smash into

Answer: BILLBORED