circus save
n.— «Particularly impressive was Sol Heligman, 130-pound goalie of the metropolitan outfit, who made a number of circus saves.» —“Mt. Washington’s Strong Attack Beats Princeton at Lacrosse, 8-3″ in Princeton, N.J. New York Times Apr. 4, 1937. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Carl in Sebastopol, California, was reminded of his childhood on New York’s Lower East Side while ready Harry Golden’s book For 2 Cents Plain (Amazon), the title referring to how customers ordered a plain glass of seltzer. For a little...