I love women’s hockey (Solution No. 3,314)

The solution to The Nation puzzle #3,314 is below the fold.

That was an excellent hockey game this morning in Sochi.  Team USA put on a clinic, at least for the first two periods, after which both teams called off the dogs and started thinking about their respective next games (gold for USA and bronze for Sweden).

It was not short on physical play either: the moment I thought exemplified that aspect of the women’s game came when one of the Americans was bringing the puck into the offensive corner and her Swedish opponent tried to squeeze her off the play.  If you’ve played hockey, you’d recognize the lower body strength both players were exerting to try and push the other off the line to the puck.  Eventually both players tumbled down to the ice; call it a stalemate. 

That game was the manifestation of how much women’s hockey has improved in the last decade.  The girls who played pee-wee with the boys and skated stride for stride with them back then are now in college and some of them accomplished their dream of pulling on a Team USA sweater.  

Tune in at noon Thursday for the next installment of the USA/Canada grudge match, where USA tries to avenge their preliminary-round loss and win the gold.

Solution to The Nation cryptic crossword No. 3,314

Across

1a	AB(BEY) ROAD	ABROAD (“in another country”) containing (“hiding”)   BEY (“Turkish title”). Bey is very unusual but the album title is distinctive enough to keep it solvable.
6a	PRO(U)D	PROD (“reminder”) containing (“about”) U (“university”)
9a	_T *OOLS	trumpe^T^ (last letter indicated by “end”) + *SOLO (anagram indicated by “ruined”)
10a	*SHORELINE	*HERONS LIE (anagram indicated by “all over the place”) Exclamation point since the entire clue is both definition and wordplay.
11a	SPINAL (T)AP	SPIN (“turn”) A (†) LAP (“circuit”) containing (“keeping”) T (“time”)
12a	TREES	See 7d
13a	<SAGA<	<A GAS< (“fun,” reversal indicated by “if you read it backward”)
14a	PRO DIG IOUS	IOUS (“debts”) following (†) PRO (“expert”) + DIG (“archaeological site”)
18a	AS PERS(I)ONS	I (“one”) contained in (“among”) AS (“like”) + PERSONS (“people”)
19a	PLU_S	PLU_g_S (“promotes,” omission of ^G^ermany [first letter indicated by “leader of”) indicated by “ousting”)
22a	~RIGHT	~RITE (“celebration,” homophone indicated by “broadcast”) “Broadcast” is a two-way indicator…
24a	_PARENTING_	grou_P AREN’T IN G_eneral (hidden word indicated by “members of”) …and “members of” can indicate an anagram, a letter bank, or a hidden word.
26a	<_CROS<dSWORD	<^SORC^erer< (first four letters indicated by “half,” reversal indicated by “looking back”) + SWORD (“weapon”)
27a	_EATEN	_b_EATEN (“vanquished,” omission of first letter indicated by “having lost first place”)
28a	TUNI_S	TUNI_c_S (“clothes,” omission of ^C^ia [“first letter indicated by “head of”) indicated by “abandoning”)

Down

1a	*ARTISTS	*IT STARS (anagram indicated by “rent”)
2d	BLO(WIN)G U_P	BLOG (“internet writing”) containing (“about”) WIN (“victory”) followed by (“over”) U_m_P (“ref,” omission of middle letter indicated by “gutless”)
3d	Y *ES MAN	Y (“health club”) + *NAMES (anagram indicated by “mixed up”)
4d	*ONSET	*STONE (anagram indicated by “rolling”)
5d	*DROPPED IN	*DID NO PREP (anagram indicated by “unfortunately”)
6d	*PRESTIGE	*PRIEST EG (anagram indicated by “dissolute”)
7d, 12a	*O(LIVE) TREES	LIVE (“exist”) contained in (“in”) *STEREO (anagram indicated by “strangely”)
8d	_DRESSES	_ad_DRESSES (“location,” omission of AD [“a bit of publicity”] indicated by “without”)
15d	RA(IN)P ROOF	RAP (“talk”) containing (“about”) IN (“fashionable”) + ROOF (“top”)
16d	*OIL F(I)LTER	I (“one”) contained in (“enters”) *TO REFILL (anagram indicated by “damaged”)
17d	PROTESTS	PRO (“in support of”) TESTS (“taxes”)
18d	A *PRI(CO)T	CO (“company”) contained in (“invested in”) A (†) + *TRIP (anagram indicated by “whirlwind”)
20d	S(A GIN)AW	A (†) + GIN (“trap”) contained in (“inside”) SAW (“detected”)
21d	~IN JEST	~INGES (“swallow,” homophone indicated by “said”)
23d	*GROAN	*ORGAN (anagram indicated by “out of tune”)
25d	_RIDGE	_b_RIDGE (“overpass,” omission of first letter indicated by “facing away”)