"Put A Little Spin On The Ball" March 21, 2025

[JoeFlanders]

Made the first page, with "ashore, surprisingly". I surprised myself because I literally had 3 strikes against me:

1) started late due to teen pick-up logistics
2) I generally have more trouble with Matt Gaffney puzzles than Mike Shenk
3) I know less than nothing about sports in general, especially baseball

FORTUNATELY, I saw the ADNE variations right away, reminiscent of the KARMA CHAMELEON puzzle ( https://xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=280 ). Was pretty sure that there was a pitcher--or was it a comedian?--named Dane.

Looking at the list of Hall of Fame pitchers, couldn't find anyone, but saw DEAN, and realized DIZZY DEAN was the solution.

1) Newfound respect for Matt Gaffney; clever construction with all the baseball-themed long answers providing misdirection
2) Newfound respect for Matt Gaffney 2: DIZZY 'd', 'e', 'a', 'n', and SPIN on the ball, like 'k', 'a', 'r', 'm', 'a' CHAMELEON
3) Not sure if the hint is from Mike or Matt, but "Hall of Fame" is key, since there *IS* another pitcher named "Dane" (thanks, Google). Reminds me of the puzzle a while back where the answer was an actor that was a homophone for RUSTLE ( https://xword-muggles.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=260 ) so could have been KURT RUSSELL or RUSSELL BRAND except for the additional detail that the actor was Oscar-winning, implying RUSSELL CROWE. MUCH, much better title and hint than "Sail on, O Ship of State" which could have just been "Ship of State."

[auee89]

Ugh! I saw the AND's but didn't add another D. Next time . . .

[altosax]

I thought it had to be Sandy Koufax. He fit all 4 of the themers. Here’s why:
1. Sandy Koufax was left-handed.
2. He tossed a no-hitter -- 4 in fact.
3. He played for the University of Cincinnati, whose teams are known as the Bearcats.
4. He pitched in the largest attended World Series game in history -- October 6, 1959, with 92,706 people in attendance.
The “official” answer fit the title better, though. So is this a proper alternate answer?

[eagle1279]

I also found the ANDs and spent way too much time trying to make something of them. My desperation effort was over an hour on the internet looking for Hall of Fame pitchers who were left-handed, had pitched a no-hitter, played for the Cubs (BEARS), and wore number 10 (from ATTENDANCE). I did see Dizzy Dean on one of the lists, but he was right-handed. You'd be amazed at how many Hall of Fame Cubs pitchers were right-handed.

[Commodore]

Ford? Dean? Aye, flip the coin and toss the anchor!
This lucky crew's still Dizzy.

[pddigi]

My son and I have been away from the meta for no particular reason for several months, but he suggested we get back on the horse this past week.

...and I am reminded of the frustrations of meta solving: while technically not an error, using "left handed" as an answer to a key entry seems underhanded, as Dizzy Dean threw right-handed. As a big baseball fan, I immediately restricted myself to left-handed pitchers in Cooperstown, so I had zero chance of solving. Sigh.

[Nlobb]

Dean retired to Wiggins, Mississippi, his wife’s hometown.
He became quite a popular character there with his witty style. He was buried in nearby Bond Mississippi.
The Dizzy Dean rest area on Hwy 49 is our favorite on our way home from all points north of…
Perhaps a Mississippian should win the mug…
Oh well…

[mntlblok]

Enjoyed reading up on Dean Chance (and Bo Belinsky) even after quickly learning that Chance hadn't made the Hall of Fame. Grew up watching Ole Diz and Pee Wee every Saturday in the early sixties. My mother claimed to have double dated with Pee Wee Reese.

[Aragorn]

I wasn’t even in the right ocean. I saw “DANCE” prominently in the final them answer, and “Ball” and “Spin” in the title and went looking for dance related words. “Gala” features prominently in the answers, as does “Twist”, but that’s as far as I got paddling away from shore.

[Magistra]

I went with Greg Maddux. He is in the Hall of Fame, pitched left-handed, played for the Padres and the Cubs, pitched a near no-hitter, and did not attend college (he was accepted but chose to sign with the Cubs instead). A bunch of grid answers - Padre, Near (above no-hitter), Greg, Bears, and Attendance) led me down this rabbit hole. I learned a lot about Greg Maddux.

[Faust]

I went with Greg Maddux. He is in the Hall of Fame, pitched left-handed, played for the Padres and the Cubs, pitched a near no-hitter, and did not attend college (he was accepted but chose to sign with the Cubs instead). A bunch of grid answers - Padre, Near (above no-hitter), Greg, Bears, and Attendance) led me down this rabbit hole. I learned a lot about Greg Maddux.

I was very close to submitting Greg Maddux as well, for the same reasons, but ‘attendance’ wasn’t sitting right with me so I kept searching.

[Joe Ross]

I thought it had to be Sandy Koufax. He fit all 4 of the themers. Here’s why:
1. Sandy Koufax was left-handed.
2. He tossed a no-hitter -- 4 in fact.
3. He played for the University of Cincinnati, whose teams are known as the Bearcats.
4. He pitched in the largest attended World Series game in history -- October 6, 1959, with 92,706 people in attendance.
The “official” answer fit the title better, though. So is this a proper alternate answer?

It could have been, had you included your logic with your entry & you were selected.

Regardless of WSJ, it makes a great entry for @The XWord Rabbit's Golden Rabbit Award!

[mangyplatypus]

I’m with you all the way. Per the interwebs, Koufax also had a non-credited bit as a baseball expert in the Bad News Bears.

[woozy]

Oh interesting. I did actually see that right away but it never occurred to me to turn that into a name. I could’ve wrapped that up on Thursday. Oh well I had fun at the bar.

Well, I saw the letter DNEA (or whatever order you like) and the title's "spin" made me think you had to spin them into a name.

The first name I thought of was EDNA so I googled "National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Edna" and got Edna H. Scheer. I thought that could very well be it (Women's History month and all) but it didn't feel 100% (barely 70%) so went to discord and posed a "This it or not" question. Answer came back "not". So tried "Dane" and found Dane Ilertsen but realized he wasn't a pitcher. (And now that I type this, it wasn't the National Baseball Hall of Fame but the Point Loma Sea Lions Hall of fame [stupid google!].

I eventually realized rather than trying to guess the actual name a list of all pitchers in the HOF wouldn't be too long to scan. And with the standard google table "'Dizzy' Dean" jumped right out.

[woozy]

I thought it had to be Sandy Koufax. He fit all 4 of the themers. Here’s why:
1. Sandy Koufax was left-handed.
2. He tossed a no-hitter -- 4 in fact.
3. He played for the University of Cincinnati, whose teams are known as the Bearcats.
4. He pitched in the largest attended World Series game in history -- October 6, 1959, with 92,706 people in attendance.
The “official” answer fit the title better, though. So is this a proper alternate answer?

In my opinion, yes, (although the title makes little sense-- but that's not a requirement). Not being a baseball fan I just assumed all the four themers were intentially meant to fit (with "Bad News Bears" refering to the Cubs and the goat curse). I was a little bit shocked when I was told *none* of them fit.

To find an actual player that the all fit can not be dismissed, I think. ( Except for the Bad News Bears which is so subjective it can be forced to nearly anyone. )

[chocoholic]

I was hunting wabbits this week.
https://tenor.com/search/elmer-fudd-gifs

1st rabbit) with the four themers, I found I could insert letters and make bases:
le f-IRS-t handed
tosse-CON-d a no-hitter
th-IRD-e bad news bears
PLattEndance -
I could have spun on this one for a while, but thankfully I was redirected.

2nd rabbit) 41D is a model of a FORD
and there are no MLB teams named the bears, but the NFL bears are in Chicago which has two MLB teams, the cubs and the WHITE Sox
--> Whitey Ford seemed like a reasonable answer. He is a lefthanded pitcher. However, he never pitched a no-hitter.

3) The zoomers really liked this rabbit hole:
Put a little spin on the ball
25D Twist
34A Rotor
50A Stir

TRS—> TRiS Speaker, famous baseball player who I associated with the St Louis Cardinals
I know of two LH pitchers in the hall of fame who played for the Cardinals, Steve Carlton and the recently inducted Jim Kaat. Both threw no hitters.

Looking at the bottom left of the grid, (61A) K, A, spin up to the right, A, spin straight down, T
—> KAAT
The recently inducted Jim Kaat

Thankful to the zoomers who enjoyed hearing these, let me know that the answer was not a left-handed pitcher who threw a no-hitter, and redirected my efforts elsewhere. Otherwise, I'd still be spinning...

[Gman]

I wasn’t even in the right ocean. I saw “DANCE” prominently in the final them answer, and “Ball” and “Spin” in the title and went looking for dance related words. “Gala” features prominently in the answers, as does “Twist”, but that’s as far as I got paddling away from shore.

I saw DANCE, and the DANE + another letter and kept thinking it was the substitute letter in DANCE for the longest time. I slept on it, and "Doh" head slap, there it was, jumbled DEAN was the common pattern!

[Kas]

I submitted "Ken Holtzman," as a left-handed pitcher in the NL HoF. Sandy Koufax was arguably a better guess on stats alone...but Holtzman was the only name I saw with a "Z," and I thought the "Zuck" clue was a bit forced, so...well, I took a swing at it, if you'll excuse the pun.

My baseball knowledge is essentially nil, and my submission was so far out in left field (Oy, again?! LOL!) that I would've been embarrassed to accept a mug. (To be clear, I would *absolutely* have accepted...but yikno--sheepishly.)

[MikeMillerwsj]

The contest answer is DIZZY DEAN. The letters D-E-A-N can be found in a random order (i.e., “dizzy”) in each of the four theme answers, suggesting the contest answer.

The answer to this one was hiding in plain sight, but a lot of solvers missed it. We had 1,075 entries, with just 58% correct, below our usual rate of about 75%. Meanwhile, left-handers who threw no-hitters drew big votes, starting with Sandy Koufax (120), plus Warren Spahn (54), Babe Ruth (41), Randy Johnson (31), Jim Abbott (15), plus righties Nolan Ryan (12) and Greg Maddux (8).

And speaking of Hall of Famers, our random draw this week selected a winner who also won just six months ago. Congrats to Joe Speyer of Washington DC!

[Colin]

I thought it had to be Sandy Koufax. He fit all 4 of the themers. Here’s why:
1. Sandy Koufax was left-handed.
2. He tossed a no-hitter -- 4 in fact.
3. He played for the University of Cincinnati, whose teams are known as the Bearcats.
4. He pitched in the largest attended World Series game in history -- October 6, 1959, with 92,706 people in attendance.
The “official” answer fit the title better, though. So is this a proper alternate answer?

Definitely in my book! But then I am hardly impartial, since I also submitted Sandy Koufax (with my reasoning). Also, his first name, Sandy, is a perfect description of a successful solution for us Muggles!