Tennis winner's declaration / MON 4-18-11 / Distance on Erie Canal in song / Conqueror of Valencia in 1094 / Theater backdrop / Rod-shaped bacteria

Constructor: James Tuttle

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium

THEME: GAME SET MATCH (57A: Tennis winner's declaration)— theme answers begin with tennis scores: LOVE, FIFTEEN, THIRTY, FORTY, ending with GAME SET MATCH!


Word of the Day: SIVA (58D: One of the Hindu trinity) —

Shiva ([...] meaning "auspicious one" ) is a major Hindu deity, and the Destroyer or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. In the Shaiva tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is seen as the Supreme God. In the Smarta tradition, he is regarded as one of the five primary forms of God. Followers of Hinduism who focus their worship upon Shiva are called Shaivites or Shaivas (Sanskrit Śaiva). Shaivism, along with Vaiṣṇava traditions that focus on Vishnu and Śākta traditions that focus on the goddess Shakti, is one of the most influential denominations in Hinduism. (wikipedia)

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Did this untimed on the couch during commercials while watching DVR'd Thursday sitcoms. Felt easier than usual, but with a handful of specialized answers and a couple odd theme answers to give it a tiny bit of bite. It's a cute little theme, though FIFTEEN MILES isn't great as a stand-alone answers. FIFTEEN MINUTES (unit of fame) or FIFTEEN PERCENT (common tip) would've been great, but those are both 14, and 14s are Hard to make work, especially in a five-theme-answer grid. Other answers seem fine, and FIFTEEN MILES is certainly gettable (if you know the old song), so no big loss. STELA (23A: Inscribed pillar), SIVA (58D: One of the Hindu trinity), and SCRIM (55D: Theater backdrop) are slightly advanced, as Monday fare goes, and THANE was clued in such a way (56D: Feudal baron) that I needed several crosses to see it (no "Macbeth" clue today). Think of Hasbro and Fisher-Price as TOY companies or TOY brands. Think of elves as TOY MAKERs (speaking of elves, Will Ferrell was in "Elf," and Will Ferrell was in the episode of "The Office" I was watching while solving this puzzle—top that for meaningless coincidences!).



Theme answers:

• 20A: Tricky romantic relationship (LOVE TRIANGLE) — I think of a TRIANGLE as involving at least two relationships, plural.
  
• 28A: Distance on the Erie Canal, in song (FIFTEEN MILES)
  
• 38A: One approaching middle age (THIRTY-SOMETHING) — how in the World was this not clued as the '80s/'90s TV show???
  
• 46A: "Arabian Nights" band (FORTY THIEVES) — clue makes it sound like we're looking for a musical group that had a hit with the song "Arabian Nights"
  

Bullets:

• 9A: Karate schools (DOJOS) — Yes. Yes. Not TAI chi schools (21D: ___ chi (martial art)). Karate schools. Glad that's clear now.
  
• 19A: English P.M. William and others (PITTS) — this seems a slightly advanced Monday clue as well. This one is Pitt the Younger.
  
• 25D: Conqueror of Valencia in 1094 (EL CID) — had -LCI- and filled it in without looking. Risky? Not very.
  
• 31D: Rod-shaped bacteria (E. COLI) — I did not know rodlikeness was its distinguishing characteristic.
  

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]

Minor despot / MON 1-10-11 / Scottish hillside / Highway route through Whitehorse Yukon / Ancient Asia Minor region

Constructor: James Tuttle

Relative difficulty: Challenging

THEME: Follow THE BOUNCING BALL — two 13-letter answers (KARAOKE SCREEN, PING PONG TABLE) are clued as places "to follow the object named in the circled letters"—circled letters spell out THE BOUNCING BALL, and form a series of arcs that looks vaguely like the path of said ball


Word of the Day: SATRAP (52D: Minor despot) —

Satrap (Persian: ساتراپ) was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid (Persian) Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires. // The word satrap is also often used in modern literature to refer to world leaders or governors who are heavily influenced by larger world superpowers or hegemonies and act as their surrogates. (wikipedia)

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***

This one played out like a slightly toughish Tuesday or a very easy Wednesday puzzle. Quick glance at the early times at the NYT puzzle site suggests that I wasn't alone in taking longer than usual. You don't normally see gimmick puzzles like this on a Monday, and it's possible that the gimmick (specifically, getting the bouncing ball pattern to work out), forced the fill into somewhat tougher-than-usual territory—and yet there's not really much in the way of non-Monday fill here. SATRAP, sure, and maybe ALCAN (40A: ___ Highway (route through Whitehorse, Yukon)), and maybe (depending on your purchase on popular culture) THE SIMS (49A: Computer game with virtual people). But everything else seems easy. The cluing seemed vaguer or tougher than usual. But then again I started by falling flat on my face with SERBS for SLAVS (1A: Many Eastern Europeans), which I erased after I realized that Pierre's state had to be ÉTAT at 1D: Pierre's state: Abbr. (S. DAK.) (I just ignored that "Abbr." notation, apparently). So I was way behind before I ever left the gate. But elsewhere, PICNIC ... what? Needed crosses to see AREA (11D: Outdoor eating place where you might lay a blanket). Couldn't remember SANTANA despite how massive that 1999 album was (29A: Artist whose 1999 hit "Smooth" was #1 for 12 weeks). GEEKS for TECHS (31D: Computer whizzes). No hope for IONIA on first pass (44A: Ancient Asia Minor region). Tough to get to HOG TIE from the vague clue 50D: Immobilize. SATRAP is a word I know, but certainly didn't get straight away from the clue 52D: Minor despot. All of this made for a time in the high 3s, Very high for a Monday.

[Warning: there's some profanity in here]
As for the theme, it's cute, but supremely thin (even counting the circled letters). As for KARAOKE SCREENs (odd phrase, not nearly as in-the-language as, say, KARAOKE BAR) ... do their balls bounce that way? That is, does the height of the ball change as much as it does in this grid's rendering? Just a question, not a criticism of the concept. Pics I'm seeing online feature text that changes color, not text with a bouncing ball. Never having participated in KARAOKE, I can't comment on the finer points of the tech involved. This puzzle feels a bit like editorial kissing-up, as Will Shortz is well known as a PING PONG enthusiast (not just in a rec room kind of way—he competes at a pretty high level, as I understand it). At any rate, it's nice to have a gimmick puzzle to shake things up on a Monday. Wasn't crazy about it, but it's at least far more memorable than a lot of early-week fare.

Bullets:

• 6A: Air passage (DUCT) — botched this one too. Had VENT.
  
• 24A: Hannibal ___, vice president under Abraham Lincoln (HAMLIN) — brain went immediately to LECTER. That's a mildly tough trivia clue. Pied piper clue deemed too remedial, Harry HAMLIN clue deemed too dated, apparently.
  
• 54A: Old-fashioned paper copies (DITTOS) — whoa, I don't think I've seen or heard that word since elementary school.
  
• 60D: WXY, on a phone (NINE) — my favorite number! And it's a telephone keypad clue?! Ted Williams is rolling over in his grave.

[Number nine ... Number nine ...]
Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]