The clue in the New York Times crossword puzzle was “Tossing sport” and the answer was “Quoits.”

What the heck is quoits and where would we learn about it?

According to Wikipedia, which is the world’s leading authority for clueless people like myself, quoits is a traditional game which involves the throwing of metal, rope or rubber rings over a set distance to a spike.

Sometimes the spike is called a hob, although a ringer on the hob sounds like a medical emergency. Better call Blue Cross.

The origin of the sport is disputed by the quoits experts and how many of those can there be? They believe it started with the ancient Greeks as a game of horseshoes until Aristotle noticed too many horses were walking around barefoot.

In 1361 King Edward thought his subjects were spending too much time playing quoits and not honing their bow and arrow skills so King Ed outlawed quoits.

He had a good point as Robin Hood and his Merry Men wouldn’t have been much of a force in Sherwood Forest tossing rubber rings.

These days it seems the biggest concentration of quoiters is in eastern Pennsylvania where the locals say “soda” instead of “pop.”

The United States Quoiting Association is located in Pottstown and was established in 2003 and the USQA Quoit Grounds are located in Bethel Township behind the fire hall. Take a left at the dumpster and you can’t miss it.

Earlier this summer an event was held in Danville and the four-pound competition was won by the Luckenbill brothers. There’s a photo of the two guys on the website and they are two scary individuals. Did you ever see “Deliverance?”

The big quoits championship was held two weeks ago with a grand prize of $1,000 for the $80 entry fee. If you finish 32nd or higher you can at least break even. How hard can that be?

So here’s the plan for next year. We’ll head down to the Quoit Factory in Nazareth and obtain our rings from a wide selection of rubber, brass or steel.

I’d better get the rubber projectiles. I’m still adjusting to my new glasses.

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The well-documented quoits ban of 1361 reminded me of the fateful day in 1988 when the Consumer Product Safety Commission outlawed metal lawn darts.

I guess for good reason as 6,100 people were sent to the emergency room and four died in a span of eight years before the ban. Hey. Recreational hazards.

A CPSC spokesman once said, “One specific fatal incident involved beer. When played responsibly, the recreation of lawn darts is less dangerous than baseball.”

I’m not sure about that analogy. I’d rather be harpooned by a lawn dart than take one for the team with a Nolan Ryan fastball. If you get my drift.

In my prime, which was about the same time Vin Scully started announcing with the Brooklyn Dodgers, I was actually pretty good at lawn darts. You didn’t want to play me at a kegger because I had superior skills and I didn’t drink beer.

As kids we would set up the lawn darts in the yard and once my brother was impaled in the neck, but he was standing inside the ring so that counted as one point for the red.

I wondered if I still had an old set and I actually found them in the attic.

How about if you meet me this afternoon and we’ll play a rousing game of illegal lawn darts? You bring the bail money if we’re apprehended and I’ll call Judge Judy.

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Brazilian soccer star Neymar owes $16 million in back taxes.

We should all be that fortunate.

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Al Lacher, who is a legend at Roulette’s Friendly Inn but not much farther, has joined the sports department at The Bradford Era.

The former Potter Leader Enterprise sports editor will be a welcome addition at rainy football games when he holds my umbrella.