Tuesday, February 13, 2024, Peter Gordon

Sports don't score very high on my list of interests, but today's theme of team name combinations resulted in a couple of big ROIs for this solver. Even though I don't know much about the Phoenix Suns - and I've never even heard of the Sacramento Kings - I know enough about Louis XIV, aka the SUNKING, to cause people I'm conversing with to call a time out if ever I get going on the topic. And, no offense to Cleveland or LA, but its the clued version of GUARDIANANGEL ("*Clarence in 'It's a Wonderful Life," e.g. [M.L.B.]") that I like - that's one of my all-time favorite holiday movies! In general, it was the combo TEAMPLAYERS answers that appealed to me more than the team name references. I do give the constructor points, however, for coming up with a common name or phrase for four of the major U.S. sport associations. 

While perhaps not the goal of the puzzle, there was some additional sports-related material to be found on the sidelines like KNEEPAD, AROD, and ESPN, not to mention the very amusing C/AP "Bird with a lot of stuffing?" (LARRY) - ha! 

In addition to the BULK of sports material, there was a wide range of other topic areas including "Office note" (MEMO), "Friend of Thumper and Flower" (BAMBI), and the interesting "Therapy whose name is Japanese for 'finger pressure'" (SHIATSU). That latter also falls into the category of interesting fill along with teammates SPAWN, CALYPSO, and DUMDUMS. 

Other top players in today's grid include "'All rise' undoer" for BESEATED, "No longer a minor" (OFAGE), "Legitimate object of attack" (FAIRGAME), and the math clue "27, for 3" (CUBE). All in all, I declare this puzzle to be a real winner.

~Frannie.