SUNDAY PUZZLE — This is Katie Hale’s third Times grid and her first solo Sunday, after a Sunday debut this year that was in collaboration with Christina Iverson and concerned little kids — specifically, the way little kids would say “little kids.” Originally from Houston, Katie now lives in London, works as a full-time mom and runs an organization with a friend called the Reading Network that connects children who need books with books that need children. Everybody wins!

That reminds me: This puzzle is about sports, something I’m terrible with as a player and a solver. But this constructor set out to make a sports-themed puzzle that would be accessible to those who aren’t sports fans, and she has succeeded in a very jolly way. There might even be a handful of people who remain blissfully unaware that there’s an athletic angle to the theme.

Tricky Clues

The fill is very bright today, and this befuddled solver wondered for a bit which entries were theme entries. I know, the theme set is all questions, but YO-YO TRICK and RAISE HELL are themers looking for a puzzle, as far as I’m concerned. I missed on a couple of name clues — TOBIAS Menzies (I watched the Emmys, but not “The Crown”) and John Forbes NASH Jr. (Shame on me! I remember “A Beautiful Mind” well enough.)

30A: A cuboctahedron has 24 EDGES and sides, and it is one of the Archimedean solids, which tend to be stable and strong and include geodesic domes.

58A: This entry has a long history of fun clues; references to the “quotable catcher” and the “Jellystone resident” switch off with mystical puns for a YOGI. Did you know that “bending over backward” can actually be extremely empowering and cathartic?

92A: I fell for this for a minute. Would it help to add that these things can also be a jar? Har har. I’ll see myself out.

12D: This is another name factoid that could mystify people who never delved into the “Divine Comedy,” by DANTE Alighieri, which begins in the depths of hell and ends in paradise.

41D: This witchy Greek goddess takes a rarer but presumably more apt spelling here, one that’s appeared a couple of times in the puzzle: HEKATE, rather than “Hecate.” I looked sideways at the K at first (I probably took it personally, since my first name can take a K in a number of variations), but it’s a more direct transliteration from the Greek than “Hecate.” I also needed to ponder DEE for a moment, which crosses HEKATE, until I realized that a DEE is just above passing (as opposed to a failing F).

84D: A little bit of tennis trivia, cleverly presented: To Rafael Nadal, a score of “nada,” or zero, is actually LOVE (which in turn comes from the French word for egg, “l’oeuf”).

Today’s Theme

There are seven entries in the Acrosses today that are clued as questions whose answers have a second meaning. Weekend warriors, bleacher bums, tailgaters, armchair athletes, rejoice: You will catch on to that second meaning right away and connect with this puzzle’s title, “Sports Nuts.” (That title has a second meaning itself, by the way. I read it to myself as “Sports? … Nuts.”)

While solving, the first theme entry I got immediately was FLOOR EXERCISE, which is a pretty straightforward answer for “kegels.” It’s a common term that’s been a clue in the puzzle twice in the last few years, referring to actions to strengthen the pelvic floor. I didn’t ponder the gymnastic angle at first; a couple of entries later, it dawned on me. I was prompted to check the tape on a few routines and decided that I might be a bit of a sports fan after all.

I almost completed the entries for “Blackjack dealer?” and “‘I’ll be your waiter tonight,’ e.g.?” when they both struck at once, and with them the theme.

An especially nice touch in this theme’s execution, I think, is that seven sports are covered — basketball, bowling, golf and track and field finish the set. I thought that the clues were all wonderful (golf stumped me but is funny, and basketball is hilarious). I also thought that YO-YO TRICK should get a participation trophy. Those skills can be quite amazing.

Constructor Notes

I think this is the best puzzle that I’ve written so far. I’m a subscriber to Ade Koiki’s philosophy on Diary of a Crossword Fiend that “sports will make you smarter.” I know sports puzzles can be polarizing, but Ade has made some that are accessible to solvers who may be put off by the genre, and I wanted to do something similar. [Ed: Extra sports puzzle right here.]

My original idea for this puzzle was a bit too niche. It came from the phrase BAIT AND TACKLE, a fishing term that sounds to me like a football play. I thought of a bunch of phrases that could cross between different sports but quickly realized that the puzzle would have limited appeal. My brainstorming led me to OFFENSIVE REBOUND, which I thought was funny when clued as a dating term. From there I found many pun-worthy sports phrases, and it was just a matter of narrowing it down. I wanted a really wide range of sports and no repeats, so hopefully there is something in there for everyone.

Once I settled on the theme set, the grid and the fill fell into place quickly (only two drafts saved, a record for me as I usually have about 12). I was also determined that the rest of the puzzle not have any other sports trivia or references. I need to say a big thank you to my good friend Georgia for test solving this one.

Ladies, please let 34-Across serve as a reminder to do your kegels!

Benched?

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What did you think?