Deflections (Solution No. 3,360)

The solution and annotation to The Nation puzzle #3,360 is below the fold.

During the Caps-Islanders Game 7 last night, there was a goal set up by a perfectly-placed shot from the blue line.  Not perfect as in evading the goalie’s glove and finding the top corner of the net, but perfectly set up to be deflected into the goal.

When you see kids playing street hockey or a pick-up game at the rink, they often make a big deal over who can “lift” their shot: getting it up in the air and going towards the top of the goal.  Try a shot like that in a higher-level game against a good goalie, and he’ll glove the puck and say “thank you.”

The place you really want to put a point shot is 5 or 6 inches above the ice.  That’s where havoc can ensue.  The puck is off the ice, so there’s no sliding resistance and you have maximum velocity.  It’s also high enough to evade the defensemen’s sticks most of the time, but not high enough for an easy glove save.  And a shot just above the ice maximizes the chances of a deflection.  Not even NHL goalies are quick enough to react to a puck that changes direction at the last instant.

Were your brains quick enough to handle the challenges Hot and Trazom teed up this week?  Here’s the solution. 

Solution to The Nation puzzle #3,360 

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, “‡” Spoonerism

Across

1a	LOCO MOTION	LOCO (“crazy”) + MOTION (“proposal”)
6a	<PAGE<	<E-GAP< (“digital divide,” reversal indicated by “reversing”)
10a	<PAR TNER<	<RENT (“money for housing”) + RAP< (“strike,” reversal of the whole thing indicated by “sending back”)
11a	*EY(ELI)DS	ELI (“Yale student”) contained in (“invested in”) *DYES (anagram indicated by “plastic”) “Yale” just jumped out at me when I first glanced at the puzzle: everyone uses it to clue ELI.  Ripe for a misdirection.
12a	YE*ATS	YE (“you”) + *SAT (anagram indicated by “awkwardly”)
13a	*PRESCHOOL	*CROP HOLES (anagram indicated by “arrangement”)
14a	CON TEMP LATE	CON (“a swindle”) + TEMP (“employee”) + LATE (“behind schedule”)
17a, 18a	SUNDRY	SUN (“source of heat”) + DRY (“without liquid”) Using “without” in the fodder is a good piece of misdirection.  I thought at first it was going to be indicating an omission.
19a	CORNER STORE	CORN (“grain”) + ERST (“in the past”) + ORE (“raw material”)
21a	*ANTARCTIC	*TACTIC RAN (anagram indicated by “off the rails”)
24a	<BALSA<	<A SLAB< (“a plank,” reversal indicated by “turned over”) Not often that you see a vertical reversal indicator in an across clue.  It’s not unfair at all, but most constructors think it’s more aesthetically pleasing to use them in downs only.
25a	*REDBO OK	*BORED (anagram indicated by “terribly”) + OK (“sanction”)
26a	D(ROUGH)T	ROUGH (“severe”) contained in (“within”) ^D^etrio^T^ (first and last letters indicated by “boundary”)
27a	MAY O	April 30 would be the 0th day of May
28a	A NEST HE TIC	A (†) + NEST (“retreat”) + HE (“male”) + TIC (“jerk”)

Down

1d	LI(PSY)NC	PSY (“South Korean rapper”) contained in (“in”) LI (“Long Island”) + NC (“North Carolina”)
2d	*CERTAINTY	*TINY TRACE (anagram indicated by “surprisingly”)
3d	}M{ENUS	{V}ENUS (“a planet,” replacement of first letter (“face”) indicated by “is magnified by 200” [D–5, M–1,000])
4d	‡TERM PAPER	‡PERM (“style hair”) + TAPER (“candle”)
5d	_OBESE_	r_OBES E_vidently (hidden word indicated by “concealing”)
7d	ALIT O	ALIT (“came down”) + r^O^e (middle letter indicated by “essence”)
8d	_EPSI LON_	_p_EPSI (“soda,” omission of first letter indicated by “unopened”) + LON_g_ (“thirst,” omission of last letter indicated by “endless”)
9d	*TEACHERS	*SCARE THE (anagram indicated by “brutally”)
15d	ES(CARGO)T	CARGO (“load”) contained in (“in”) EST (“established”)
16d	ARE A C ODES	ARE (†) AC (“not DC”) + ODES (“poems”)
17d	S(POT)LIGHT	POT (“herb” [slang for marijuana]) contained in (“interrupts”) SLIGHT (“insult”)
18d	DI(AGRA)M	AGRA (“site of the Taj Mahal”) contained in (“seen in”) DIM (“poorly illuminated”)
20d	*ELASTIC	*LACIEST (anagram indicated by “shred”)
22d	TO(DA)Y	TOY (“diminutive”) containing (“cover for”) DA (“the state’s lawyer”)
23d	_TA_ KEN	s_TA_r (omission of first and last letters indicated by “naked”) + KEN (“a well-known doll”)
24d	BOOTH	Double definition Timely, coming on the sesquicentennial of the Lincoln assassination.