Relative difficulty: Medium
THEME: None
Word of the Day: HIDDEN BALL TRICK (57A: Diamond deception) —
The trick is exactly what its name suggests. It’s a deceptive play in which the runner on base is fooled as to the location of the ball, and is then tagged out by a nearby defender. Most often, this involves one of the basemen making a fake throw back to the pitcher who, for the play to be legal, must be positioned off of the mound.
According to multiple sources, there have been fewer than 300 successful instances of the Hidden Ball Trick in the recorded history of the Major Leagues. Considering that the game has been around for over a century, with each team playing more than 100 games, it’s an astonishingly low number.
One of the earliest known practitioners of the trick was Bill Coughlin, a third baseman who played for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers in a career which spanned nine years (1899-1908). While there is no way to verify his claim, Coughlin was said to have been responsible for seven successful executions of the Hidden Ball Trick. His most high-profile exhibition came in Game Two of the 1907 World Series, when he caught Jimmy Slagle of the Chicago Cubs. It is the only recorded instance of the trick in World Series History.
[The Wanna-Be Sports Guy ]
• • •
Hi, everybody. PuzzleGirl here filling in for Rex so he can get some sleep before catching his flight to L.A. at oh-dark-thirty tomorrow morning. My flight doesn't leave until the afternoon, so I told him I'd have plenty of time to do this post. Never mind that I haven't packed yet. And the clothes I want to pack need to be washed. And that I have a thing at the kids' school tomorrow morning. But hey, I printed out a bunch of my back-logged puzzles for the plane, so I'm sure everything will be just fine. Priorities, people!
I thought this puzzle was pretty fun. When I saw it was constructed by one of the Boy Wonders, I had a moment of panic. It's not always easy coming out here and telling you all about the mistakes I make and the stuff I don't know. And sometimes on Fridays and Saturdays, I can't even finish the puzzle. For some reason, when it's a young constructor, it makes me feel even worse about myself. So I'm happy to report that I did, indeed, finish the puzzle with no errors. (Whew! And, by the way, you know I adore you, Natan!)Let's talk about the 15s. I'm shocked that THE SUN ALSO RISES (20A: Novel whose title comes from Ecclesiastes) doesn't turn up at all in the cruciverb.com data base. I thought for sure it was more common.
I guess I'm thinking of "A Farewell to Arms," but even its most recent appearance was back in 2006. "Old Man and the Sea" is also 15. You'd think this Hemingway theme would have been done to death by now. Maybe constructors come up with it and think "Nah. Too easy." In any event, that entry seemed kinda blah to me (could also be because I'm not much of a Hemingway fan) and THE GREEN LANTERN (51A: Justice League member) — weren't we just talking about him the other day? Oh no, that was the Green Hornet. I have trouble keeping up with the comic book characters. Maybe I'm not as much of as dork as people think I am.
Anyway … what I was trying to get to was TRUE DAILY DOUBLE (17A: Risky thing to try for on "Jeopardy!"). Now that's an awesome entry. Here at the PuzzleHouse when we watch Jeopardy! we make fun of the contestants when they don't bet very much. "Come on! Bet it all!" we yell gleefully at the TV. Love that show.What else:
- 5A: Bob of stand-up comedy (SAGET). PuzzleKids have taken to watching reruns of "Full House" lately. Every time I hear Bob Saget's voice coming from the television set, all I can think of is his appearance in "The Aristocrats." How is it possible that Bob Saget is the filthiest person in that movie? He's so darn wholesome in "Full House"!
- 23A: Heat unit? (LAP). I thought for sure this was going to be gun-related, not track-related.
- 24A: Player of Sethe in "Beloved" (OPRAH). I read the book, but can't say that I saw the movie. I bet it was weird.
- 42A: Midgets of the 1960s-'70s, e.g. (MGS). This is a car, right?
- 47A: Image on Connecticut's state quarter (OAK). I tried elm first. Hey, I knew it was a tree!
- 9D: It might include check boxes (TO-DO LIST). I'm sorry but, "might"? If it doesn't have check boxes … how do you check the things off? I'm confused. And possibly a control freak.
- 12D: Fit (HALE). With the L in place, I tried able at first.
- 18D: Brunswick, e.g., once (DUCHY). I'm thinking about including a video of Musical Youth here. What? You'd rather pull your fingernails out one by one? Okay, I'll skip it. You're welcome.
- 30D: Crushed corn creation (CROP CIRCLE). This is an awesome clue. Everybody was thinking food, right? It wasn't just me?
- 31D: Total hottie (TEN). I tried to find a video of Roseanne Roseannadanna singing Santana's "Evil Ways," but no luck. ("You've got change your evil way, Bo Derek ….")
- 34D: Martinez of the diamond (TINO). I admit, my first thought was Pedro, but when I saw it was only four letters, my next thought was TINO.
- 37D: Disney doe (ENA). Sometimes I'm just grateful for a little crosswordese. Ya know, just to give me a little toehold.
- 49D: Lara's son, in DC Comics (KAL-EL). Again with the comic book stuff. I started out with Kel-al which is … wrong. Also, I thought Kal-el was Superman's father but it turns out it's actually Superman. His father is Jor-el. His mother, as we know from this clue, is Lara. We wouldn't know that from Superman's Wikipedia page, however, as it doesn't even mention Lara. Not once. Interesting.
Love, PuzzleGirl
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