Mediocre Trotsky of Russia?

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Danny Glasser and Jim has asked me to guest blog about today's Tuesday puzzle (answers) by David Kwong and Emily Halpern. I'm not sure why, as whenever Jim and I engage in a Peer-to-Peer Voice Chat Over Ambient Air Network — what in pre-Interweb days was called a "conversation" — about the daily NY Times puzzle, I express my disdain for this style of puzzle. Furthermore, my active days as a NY Times puzzle-solver are in the distant past, dating roughly from 1978 through 1984. But those are both stories for another day.

I did indeed finish this puzzle and was able to complete all but one letter in one go. For a solver of my modest abilities, this is quite good, even for a Tuesday. I suspect that I was able to do this because I was tired; generally instinct triumphs over deep thought at this sort of puzzle solving. Case in point: When I read 66 Down, "Arthur of Maude", I thought of the character of her neighbor, played by Conrad Bain, and wondered how he could fit into three letters. Of course the correct answer is far more straightforward: The actress who played the title role is BEA Arthur. While we're on the subject of Bea Arthur, I note that she was mentioned in the NY Times last week in Estelle Getty's obituary: "In The Golden Girls, Sophia [Getty's character] was the mother of Dorothy Zbornak, played by Bea Arthur who, in real life, was older than Ms. Getty." I also feel compelled to put in a plug for her brief but stunning cameo as Larry David's mother on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

64 Down has to be my least favorite clue in the entire puzzle. "Trotsky of Russia?" Of Russia?! Is that all you can say about one of the most influential and controversial political operatives of the 20th Century? I think he deserves at least "Lenin ally" or "Bolshevik leader" in the clue; being mortally wounded by having an axe buried in your head should merit some measure of posthumous respect. Or you could go in a completely different direction for this clue and use "Retro singer Redbone."

I am trying to imagine the celebrity poker game that the answers to this puzzle conjures. Of course Arthur is holding court, telling incredibly filthy jokes and goading Trotsky about what a putz he was for letting Stalin take charge. For his part, Trotsky and ITALO Calvino (70 Across) are trading shots of vodka and grappa and commiserating about how "true Communism" went awry when the wrong people took charge. GREG Kinnear (3 Down) tries to keep up on both fronts but is hopelessly outmatched. LEEZA Gibbons (21 Across) flirts with Kinnear but keeps getting interrupted by Arthur's zingers and Trotsky's advances. ARLO Guthrie (63 Down) tells IONE Skye (7 Down) about all the crazy stuff he and her dad did before she was born; none of it is true, and she knows it. Who walks off with the big pot at the end? "Barbie's beau" KEN Carson (69 Across) -- What? You didn't know he has a last name? -- courtesy of the perfect poker face. And he takes Leeza Gibbons home, but sadly nothing happens due to their mutual lack of genitalia.

You may still be wondering how I could complete all but one letter of a puzzle. Well, I didn't know the answers to two intersecting clues: 37 Across and 31 Down. I had S-K-E-_-N and R-_-A_T_A. There aren't many options for this box, and I guessed the correct answer on the first try, but it was the one letter where the guess was based completely on linguistic probability and not at all on the meanings of the words.

Comments

[CrossEyedBear]

This puzzle is more than decent, not bad, and okay. It made me smile but the poker story made me laugh.

[KarmaSartre of Russia]

I enjoyed the theme very much, but I had long been thinking that the Great Wall of China would ultimately be found to be just so-so, so I was ready for all the mediocrity. Very good job guest-blogging, Danny Glasser.

I usu. don't abbreviate this much, if at all.

[john farmer]

Nice write-up, Glasser of Brooklyn. I think we get that "Trotsky of Russia" clue so that we're not confused by all those other Trotskys, like the Trotsky of Liechtenstein (the barber) and the Trotsky of Uruguay (the gardener). Maybe they're not quite as famous as the Trotsky of Russia, but on Tuesday you can't leave anything to doubt. Following those handy links that JimH provides, I see there have been clues for a "Bolshevik Trotsky" and a "Revolutionary Trotsky." LEON again, both times, in case you were wondering. Then, way back in '95, there was a Thursday clue for "Mr. Trotsky." That was all. See how things get more difficult later in the week.

[ArtLvr]

I was waiting for a So-So something or someone, like Houdini, but the theme answers were indeed adequate -- if one may praise with faint damns? Cute enough for a Tuesday anyway.

I too got everything right fairly quickly, but there seemed to be an inordinate number of proper names... Most I knew, or got from crosses, or at least somehow recognized from prior puzzles, but there were a few that crossed and required thoughtful guesses: e.g. IONE/LEEZA and RITA/ERICA. The small corners at NW and SE alone had three each: BETH/BOGIE/GREG and ITALO/ARLO/LEON.

As for the clue of UPN ["It merged with the WB to form the CW"] -- pardon my WTF?

∑;)

[jannieb]

Very nice commentary - especially the "definition" of a conversation and the surreal poker game. Oh to be a fly on that wall!!!

@artlvr - those are all TV networks.

Nice puzzle, good theme. There are so many other options, it could probably work on a much larger grid - but for a Tuesday, a really nice entry.

[Wendy Laubach]

I'm lost in thought, considering Bea Arthur as Larry David's mother. I'm sorry I missed that.

[joon]

jim, if you like GEB and self-reference and all things meta (as i do), you absolutely must read some ITALO calvino. if on a winter's night a traveler would be an excellent start. it's one of my, oh, let's say, five favorite books.

[JimH]

Wow, joon, I have a feeling that if you endorse a book, I'll love it to. Based only on that, I ordered it from Amazon.com.