“No Look Al” (Solution no. 3,311)

Below the fold is the solution to The Nation cryptic crossword #3,311

One of my partners acquired a new nickname this weekend.  It came from his face-off technique, where he tries to keep the players from jumping the gun by dropping the puck when they don’t expect it.  He looks both ways to make sure the centers are properly lined up, and before he’s looking straight ahead again, the puck is down.  It’s kind of funny to watch from across the ice: like he’s throwing a no-look pass.

I think though that if he tried it with some of the centers in the Penn league, they’d figure out that move after the first few times and take his hand off the next time.  Dropping the puck in men’s league is like sticking your hand in a tank filled with piranhas.  NHL players are more predictable and disciplined, which is why their linesmen can get down so low for a draw.  I use the old setup with my weight back and my whistle hand near my thigh so I can fend off sticks if necessary.  If you watch the referees (orange armbands—not the linesmen who handle most of the face-offs) put the puck down at the beginning of each period and after goals, you’ll see most of them use the latter technique.

Solution to The Nation puzzle no. 3,311

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶“ letter bank

Across

1a	CRISP US A T TUCKS	CRISP (“sharp-edged”) + USA (†) + T (“shirt”) + TUCKS (“folds”), cross-reference to 28a
8a	MINER AL	AL (“aluminum”) following (“found by”) MINER (“one who goes underground”) Exclamation point because the entire clue works as definition.
9a	TO *WROPE	TO (†) + *POWER (anagram indicated by “distort”)
11a	A(C)RID	ARID (“dry”) containing (†) C (“carbon”)
12a	*ARMOR-CLAD	*CARLOAD MR (anagram indicated by “savage”)
13a	<SOMA<	<AMOS< (“prophet,” reversal indicated by “from the east”)
14a	S(MOOT)HOVER	SHOVER (“pushy type”) containing (“restraining”) MOOT (“academic”)
18a	*J D SALINGER	*JIG SNARLED (anagram indicated by “terribly”)
19a	A TOP	A (†) + TOP (“spinner”)
22a	~WAISTBAND	~WASTE BANNED (“an extravagance forbidden,” homonym indicated by “to be spoken of”)
25a	<_ALIEN<	<NEIL A_rmstrong_< (“moon lander,” first five letters indicated by “less than halfway,” reversal indicated by “returning”)
26a	*DIALECT	*CITADEL (anagram indicated by “is stormed”)
27a	A(CRY)LIC_	ALIC_e (“the housekeeper on The Brady Bunch,” omission of last letter indicated by “almost”) containing (“suppressing”) CRY (“sob”)
28a	BOSTON MASS ACRE	BOSTON MASS (“New England city and state”) + ACRE (“a piece of land”), cross-reference to 1a

Down

1d	~CYMBALS	~SYMBOLS (“they stand for something,” homophone indicated by “it sounds like”)
2d	_IGNORAMUS_	campa_IGN OR A MUS_ical (hidden word indicated by “featured in”)
3d	PA(ROD)Y	ROD (“punishment”) contained in (“interrupting”) PAY (“compensation”)
4d	SALS A	SAL’S (“Mineo’s) + A (†)
5d	_TO(TEM PO)LE	_s_TOLE (“crept around slowly,” omission of first letter indicated by “belatedly”) containing (“around”) TEMPO (“slowly, say”)
6d	*UNWORTHY	*WHY TO RUN (anagram indicated by “amok”)
7d	<_KNOLL_<	<waterfa_LL ON K_ilimanjaro< (hidden word indicated by “through,” reversal indicated by “go back”)
10d	<EI DER<	<RED (“communist”) + IE (“that is”)< (reversal of the whole thing indicated by “traveling up”)
15d	MAN HAT TAN	MAN (“masculine”) + HAT (“role”) + TAN (“to whip”)
16d	VI TRIO LI C	VI (“6”) + TRIO (“3”) + LI (“51”) + C (“Celsius”)
17d	FLAT FEET	Double definition
18d	JA WED	JA (“yes, in German”) + WED (“got married”)
20d	PAN ACHE	PAN (“criticize”) + ACHE (“pine”)
21d	*WALRUS	*URL WAS (anagram indicated by “tweaked”)
23d	IM AGO	I’M (†) + AGO (“past”)
24d	DR AMA	AMA (“professional organization”) following (“led by”) MD (“one of its members,” reference to a doctor being a member of the American Medical Association)