Thanks Stu. This could be very useful in lieu of a design change.
* I repeated what I believe you did using 7.7.1 (I had an existing prompted query created in Console. I opened the query, put in the prompt value, and used "add this page to shortcut bar" to make a copy of the query with the retained initial prompt). Like Stu referenced - the query now runs 1st with the limited value - and I can then remove, change, etc.
* I don;t see how to accomplish the same in Console still (you can put in a value - but as soon as you use the "Prompt for Input" check-box this is removed and not retained.
So - it is a little 2-step (publish - stick in the initial values - save and then get rid of the original. It does offer relief - not a classic design - but an option as high use queries begin to fry the capacity. Thanks for the information!
Terry