From the book I'm reading. An officer, calling his boss on the phone, is surprised to find that the boss is harried and brusque.

"Get on with the job and don't pester me! There was a click as the phone was hung up. Deiter was startled. It was uncharacteristic for Goedel to blow his top. No doubt they were all tense about the threat of invastion. But the upshot was clear. Dieter had to do this on his own.

Seems like an odd use of upshot. To me the word means consequence, not conclusion or implication.

Am I off-base here?

It doesn't entirely work, or not work, but I'm with you it does seem an odd choice. I wouldn't use it in this context.

walrus

Surely consequence can be substituted for upshot to mean the result of the phone conversation without loss of meaning?