Puzzle 12: Split Squads
“Anyone who wants to know the heart and mind of America,” wrote Jacques Barzun, “had better learn baseball, the rules and realities of the game—and do it by watching first some high school or small-town teams.” He was wrong on the larger point — his essay doesn’t provide any good evidence that baseball explains America any better than football or soccer or ballet or municipal zoning codes or anything else would — but he was right that the best way to watch the game is to find a small-town team, or at least a minor league team. Sure, the quality of the play isn’t as good as what you’ll find on even the worst major league team, but the tickets are cheaper, the views are better, and the experience is just all around more fun and relaxing.
I got the idea for this puzzle while at a [42-Across] game (still my favorite team, even though I’ve spend the last five years moving further and further away from the stadium) and figured there must be a whole bunch of potential themers out there, but it turned out these (plus two that had non-matching lengths) were the only ones that worked. But I have a bunch of great (to me) theme ideas where I can only come up with one valid entry, so I’m not complaining.
The major league season is winding down and the minor league season is already over, but thankfully it’s always crossword season.
