| Kind of defense | 15 |
| Basketball strategy | 19 |
| Intimate chat | 13 |
| In direct competition | 21 |
| Small game of b-ball | 20 |
| Private meeting | 15 |
| Without an intermediary | 23 |
| Up close and personal | 21 |
| Two-person basketball game | 26 |
| Mano a mano | 11 |
| Like most tutoring | 18 |
| Like many interviews | 20 |
| Court battle, of a sort | 23 |
| Court battle | 12 |
| Confrontational | 15 |
| Two-player hoops game | 21 |
| Two-player basketball game | 26 |
| Some court practice | 19 |
| Playground duel | 15 |
| Personal interview | 18 |
| Man-to-man, in basketball | 25 |
| Like tutoring | 13 |
| Like private lessons | 20 |
| Like many an oral exam | 22 |
| Like H.O.R.S.E. play, usually | 29 |
| Like an oral exam, often | 24 |
| Like a private tutoring session | 31 |
| Like a man-to-man defense | 25 |
| Jordan vs. Bird, e.g. | 21 |
| Intimate meeting | 16 |
| Exclusive meeting | 17 |
| Directly adversarial | 20 |
| Direct communication | 20 |
| Configuration of six places in this puzzle's answer | 55 |
| Blacktop basketball contest | 27 |
| Basketball game with no passing | 31 |
| SUNY college town | 17 |
| Soccer Hall of Fame city | 24 |
| City on the Susquehanna | 23 |
| New York city on the Susquehanna | 32 |
| National Soccer Hall of Fame city | 33 |
| City near Cooperstown | 21 |
| State University of New York campus site | 40 |
| Site of a SUNY campus | 21 |
| New York city nicknamed "City of the Hills" | 53 |
| New York city home to the National Soccer Hall of Fame | 54 |
| Home to Hartwick College | 24 |
| City SSW of Cooperstown | 23 |
| City south of Utica | 19 |
| Any | 3 |
| Any number | 10 |
| An unspecified number | 21 |
| A nonzero amount | 16 |
| Hardly any at all | 17 |
| A sprinkling | 12 |
| "Eh, not too many" | 28 |
| Sixteenth of a pound | 20 |
| Perfume quantity | 16 |
| Weight of a gold bullion coin, often | 36 |
| Inscription on some ingots | 26 |
| Sixth of an inning | 18 |
| Baseball situation | 18 |
| Early inning status | 19 |
| Common baseball situation | 25 |
| Status before an inning-ending double play | 42 |
| Situation before an inning-ending double play | 45 |
| Result of a third strike | 24 |
| Result of a leadoff whiff | 25 |
| Early inning statistic | 22 |
| Early inning situation | 22 |
| Early in the inning | 19 |
| Announcement early in an inning, maybe | 38 |
| "Two to go" situation | 31 |
| Bogey | 5 |
| It's not bad for a duffer | 29 |
| Great round for most | 20 |
| Disappointing course finish | 27 |
| Suggested résumé length | 29 |
| Short, as reports go | 20 |
| Short, as an article | 20 |
| Short, as a report | 18 |
| Résumé length, often | 26 |
| Like the Magna Carta | 20 |
| Like some company newsletters | 29 |
| Concise, as a report | 20 |
| Brief, in a way | 15 |
| Low hand | 8 |
| Average poker hand | 18 |
| Two jacks, e.g. | 15 |
| Not-so-great hand | 17 |
| Modest poker holding | 20 |
| Hold 'em holding | 20 |
| Hand holding | 12 |
| Good hole cards in Texas Hold 'em | 37 |
| Two tens, e.g. | 14 |
| Not-so-great poker holding | 26 |
| Not a great hand for raising | 28 |
| Lowly hand | 10 |
| Lowish poker holding | 20 |
| It's higher than an ace | 27 |