burr, ball
毬 centers on a round, often prickly or fuzzy object: a burr or a ball. The two meanings are connected by the idea of a small, rounded, possibly spiky thing.
毬 combines 毛 (hair/fur) with 求, which likely contributes the sound. The character suggests a hairy or fuzzy round object, matching the burr/ball meanings.
The outer 毛 (fur/hair) wraps around 求, like a fuzzy ball or a prickly burr covered in tiny hairs.
For キュウ, imagine a cute, fuzzy ball that you want to keep: cue -> キュウ, and the ball is so round and soft.
cone (e.g. pine, hemlock)
burr (e.g. chestnut); bur; cupule; case
marimo (variety of algae, Cladophora aegagropila); round green algae; Cladophora ball; lake ball; moss ball
traditional Japanese handball game
chestnut in its burr
Japanese snowball; Viburnum plicatum
Reeve's spirea (Spiraea cantoniensis); May bush
temaribana; Japanese snowball (Viburnum plicatum)
dakyū; polo-like game
Pronodularia japanensis (species of freshwater mussel)
Japanese pinecone fish (Monocentris japonica)
playing catch
ball-and-mallet game played during New Year's celebrations
Paralomis histrix (species of king crab); porcupine crab
Viburnum plicatum var. plicatum