This was a submission to Defector. The feedback was:

Hi Jake,

Thanks for the submission, and great job even getting to this point. A lot of people don't even get this far, so kudos to you for putting this together.

Unfortunately, we're going to pass on this one as presently constructed. The theme is both a little lighter and a little heavier than we'd prefer. Which is to say, having just the two trick plays, means that the a-ha only really happens for one instance of clue swapping, which is a little light; but even with the helper clue on THE OL SWITCHEROO, it's still a stretch to have the clues be flip-flopped (like it sorta makes sense that the clues are switched, but also that's not exactly what the hidden ball trick entails, so it's just not quite 100% fitting).

The idea of a tricky puzzle with trick plays as themers, is interesting to us, especially if there is additional mechanic (e.g. the word ball moving through the grid, perhaps the clues switched up but with three or four trick similar hidden ball entries (e.g. FUMBLEROOSKI) and a stronger revealer), so if you do come up with something else, we'd be happy to consider it.

Lastly, in terms of other construction feedback, kudos on relatively smooth fill, especially for a first timer; and be sure to check out our spec sheet for instructions on cluing (i.e. we'd like to avoid Defector-centric cluing so the crossword has wider applicability).

Hope this helps, and hope to see more from you in the future!

Defector Crosswords