Owl Chatter has just learned that the glove recovered by the side of the road in the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping is the same glove OJ Simpson could not get to fit in his famous trial. And, as we all know, “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit!”

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Joe Klecko, 72, was a great defensive lineman for the Jets from 1977-1987. But don’t believe me. Hall of Fame center Dwight Stephenson considered him one of the two best interior linemen he ever faced. And Hall of Fame tackle Anthony Muñoz said: “In my 13 seasons, Joe is right there at the top of the defensive ends I had to block, up there with Fred Dean, Lee Roy Selmon and Bruce Smith. Joe was the strongest guy I ever faced. He had perfect technique — hands in tight, great leverage.” In 2023, Klecko was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he’s an Owl! (Played his college ball at Temple.)

As long-time Jet fans lovingly recall, when Klecko and Abdul Salaam were joined by Mark Gastineau and Marty Lyons in the early 1980s, they formed one of the top defensive lines in the NFL, known as the “New York Sack Exchange.” Get this — in November of 1981 the four of them were invited to ring the opening bell of the NY Stock Exchange. How cool is that!

Anyway, we’re not mentioning Joe K today because he died. Happily, he’s 72, kinehora, and lives in Jersey with wife Debbie with whom he has five kids, including Dan, who played in the NFL for a few years and won three more Super Bowl rings than his dad did, i.e., he won three. Nor is it Joe’s birthday, which is in October. He’s in the news because he joins the thousands of convicted criminals pardoned by Trump. Ouch! Yes, in 1993, Klecko was sentenced to three months in prison and penalized fifteen yards for perjury in an insurance fraud case. That stain is now gone. Whatever. Thanks for providing a bright spot in Jets history, Joe. But, you know, you were pardoned long ago by all of us fans.

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Before we take a look at today’s puzzle, here’s a steamy song shared by commenter tea73 on yesterday’s X and O theme.

Whoa! Quite a load of sexy guys in that video. I wouldn’t skip it if I were you, ladies. Anyway, as some of you may know, I’ve lost a bit of weight since I started taking those fat shots you see advertized on TV (Zepbound) a few months ago: 18 pounds. Dropped a size too: from double extra fat down to just extra fat. So I asked Phil to take a nice shot of the new me. Here it is:

Alright, so that’s not me. It’s William Powell who starred in “The Thin Man.” I’ve still got a long way to go.

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Lots of good stuff in today’s puzzle today, including a friendly nod to the state we’ve all been talkin’ about. At 34A the clue was “Polite, friendly stereotype from the Midwest,” and the answer was MINNESOTA NICE. The constructor was Even Mulvihill and he popped in with a comment. His concern was that Minnesota nice could be parsed as Minnesotan ICE, and it was not his intent to go there. Here’s what he said: “MINNESOTA NICE was a thing long before ICE was doing horrible things, and I made the puzzle way before the recent issues in MN. I also never had the intention to touch upon ICE and it’s just an unfortunate mirroring in the word NICE. Just to be clear, MINNESOTAN ICE is just a misguided parsing of it. I am sorry that the entry was a buzzkill but that’s more to do with our government than me or the NYT.”

JB noted: As a transplant to Minnesota, many of us view the term Minnesota nice as Minnesotans being cold, judgmental and unfriendly, but believing that they are nice.

Ouch!

Another commenter asked: Isn’t saying someone is MINNESOTANICE sort of a diss? I always think it implies fake niceness.

Beezer replied: I really don’t think so. I am from the Midwest and I think it’s probably the exemplar of the idea that people in the Midwest are generally nicer. Not sayin’ it’s as true as it used to be generally in Midwest but I think it is a compliment.

[Me too.]

Other neat clues:

At 41A: “Someone singing ‘Something.’” Answer: BEATLE. [“Something in the way she walks . . . “]

At 15A: “A red plastic one might be worn on Halloween.” Answer: FIREHAT. OMG, my Leon had one when he was three or four. Too cute.

13A: “Abso-freaking-lutely!” Answer: HELL YEAH.

How about this one, a day after his birthday: 11D: “Poem so beloved by Abraham Lincoln that he carried it in his pocket and memorized it.” Answer: THE RAVEN. Can’t believe it wasn’t one of Kooser’s.

But I think my favorite was at 32D: “Ones offering cheap shots?” Answer: DIVE BARS. Burp!

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Let’s close tonight with these pretty lasses doing Bruce’s great song justice. See you tomorrow. Thanks for dropping in!

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