Thursday, January 27, 2022, Bruce Venzke

A word ladder puzzle starts with a word at the bottom of the ladder and ends with a word at the top.  Or, in this case, vice versa.  You must form a sequence of words (a word ladder).  On every rung of the ladder you must place a new word that only differs from the previous word by a single letter. 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee here with today's puzzle by Bruce Venzke.  The Xwordinfo site lists nineteen puzzles attributed to him and he had an LAT puzzle reviewed here on January 3rd of this recently-commenced year.  Boomer refers to him as "the legend" and today's word ladder construction does not diminish his reputation in any manner.

A couple of introductory thoughts:  GOAT is old-time slang for the person who messes up and thereby costs the team a win.  These days, though, it also has another, almost opposite meaning as the acronym for Greatest Of All Time.  Of course it can also mean, well, a goat.  This could have been a bit confusing theme-wise if, as I did, you solved 17 Across first among the #'ed clues having, at that point, no idea of where this was all headed.  Also confusing is the fact that, other than that they are all "marked" with the # sign (suggesting that they are related to each other in some way) there are no clues for the answers on the eight rungs of the ladder.   We are forced to "perp" one or more of those answers and then we must also recognize what it going on - i.e. that we are in the midst of solving a Word Ladder Puzzle.  Those unfamiliar with this type of construction may have felt like our friends above . . . or below.  Here are the steps on the ladder:

17 Across:  #1: GOAT  Commence at rung #1

20 Across:  #2: GOAD  Change the T to a D

26 Across:  #3: LOAD  Change the G to an L

30 Across:  #4: LORD  Change the A to an R

44 Across:  #5: LARD  Change the O to an A

51 Across:  #6: HARD  Change the L to an H

55 Across:  #7: HERD  Change the A to an E

58 Across:  #8: HERO  Change the D to an O, et voila! You've gone from being a GOAT to being a HERO in eight easy steps

The "reveal" comes at 36 Across:  What takes place in eight puzzle answers when read in sequence: CHANGE OF FORTUNE.

Here is how it appears in the grid:

The placement of the eight "rungs" within two sets of successive lines, both spanning the width of the puzzle, is quite impressive.

. . . and now for the rest of the story:

Across:

1. "The Divine Comedy," e.g.: EPIC.  In the traditional sense.

5. Bubbly brand: ASTI.   Franciacorta  è superiore.  How does a manatee know this, I hear you ask?  Our resident sommelier.

9. They're not gentlemen: CADS.  The etymology of CADS is a bit complicated.

13. Robusto! sauce maker: RAGU.

14. Letter on a dreidel: SHIN.  There are four letters on a dreidel.  Nun, Gimel, Hey and SHIN.  They are the first letters of  the Hebrew words Ness Gadol Hayah Sham which translates as A Great Miracle Happened There.

15. Archaeological site: RUINS.

Agrigento, Sicily Photo by MM

18. Continues despite hardship: SOLDIERS ON.  Idiomatic.

22. Common lot size: ONE ACRE. 1/640 of a square mile.

23. Go up: ASCEND.

27. __ & Perrins: Worcestershire sauce brand: LEA.

28. Terse memo from the boss: SEE ME.  We have seen this one before.

29. What Phobos orbits: MARS.  Our name for the the larger, and innermost, of the two natural satellites of MARS although the locals likely have a different name for it.

31. UFO passengers: ETS.  Unidentified Flying Objects are supposedly occupied by Extra TerrestrialS.  Perhaps they come from MARS.

32. Billiards backspin: DRAW.  Jargon.

34. School auxiliaries, for short: PTAS.  "For short" suggests abbrv.

41. Some reddish deer: ROES.  Roe, a deer, a reddish deer.

42. Like granola bars: OATY.  Not ricey or wheaty.

43. Hot __: ROD.

Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen - 1974

46. What many leaves do in autumn: TURN.  This muddled marine mammal first tried to make things work with FALL (which seemed like a nice bit of word play when paired with Autumn).

48. Part of la famille: FRERE.  Today's French lesson.  Brother.

50. Bonding and binding words: I DO.  For those into bondage, I suppose.

52. Wears out: DOES IN.  If a female deer strays is that a DOE SIN?

53. Ones who belong: MEMBERS.

56. Spies: OPERATIVES.

62. Barbershop accessory: STROP.

The Barber on the Left Is Stropping a Straight Razor

63. Final critical moment: NICK.  In the NICK of time.  From the Latin nictare.  To wink.

64. Jump that's often a triple: AXEL.  Not to be confused with AXLE.

Midori Ito - 1992

65. Farm females: SOWS.  Often, EWES.  Sometimes HENS.

66. Comic book shrieks: EEKS.  Not to be confused with EKES.

67. Take care of: TEND.

Down:

1. Bit of work: ERG.  Equal to the work done by a force of one dyne acting through a distance of one centimeter.  Got it?

2. Kung __ chicken: PAO.

3. Market chain with a red oval logo: IGA.

4. Jewelry piece that's been cleaved or shaped: CUT GEM.  A bit of a punt.

5. Long-time Syrian president: ASSAD.  First Hafez al-Asaad and then Bashar al-Assad.

6. Wearing wingtips, say: SHOD.  Not a bird reference.

7. Up to, in ads: TIL.  UnTIL

8. Like some pools: INDOOR.  This could have several answers.  Thanks, perps.

9. Belief: CREED.

10. Subtle glow: AURA.

11. Real estate transaction requirements: DISCLOSURES.

12. One might keep you up: SNORER.   A snoring person might keep you awake.

16. Golf's Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD.  Decades ago someone came up with the idea to resolve all of the strife in the Middle East by holding a winner-take-all golf tournament.  One of the countries decided to cheat and imported Slammin' Sammy to play for them under the alias of Sheikh SNEAD.  Afterwards, when asked to explain his disappointing second place finish, Sheikh Snead replied "I just could not beat Rabbi Palmer."

19. Behind the eight ball: IN A SPOT.  Idiomatic.

21. Tense: ON EDGE.  Idiomatic.

23. "Wait __!": A SEC.  Wait!  Wait!  Don't tell Me!

24. Green of Austin Powers films: SETH.  #1 of four proper nouns in a row (the first three are actors).

25. He was The Joker on TV's "Batman": CESAR ROMERO.  #2

26. London-born Rat Packer: LAWFORD.  #3

29. Chinese chairman: MAO.  #4  Not to be confused with our own Chairman Moe.

30. Map line: Abbr.: LAT.  LATitude

33. Remedy for a freeze: RESTART.  A computer reference.  The technique cannot be applied here with any success:

Elk Avenue, Crested Butte, Colorado

35. Attempt to get: TRY FOR.

37. Doze: NOD.  This mindless marine mammal first tried to make NAP work.

38. Devotee: FAN.

39. Negative words of agreement?: NOR I.  What to reply when asked if  you, also, do not want some dried edible seaweed.

40. Biblical plot: EDEN.  Ah, a parcel of land rather than a conspiracy.

44. Long rides?: LIMOS.  Nice word play.

45. Masters: ADEPTS.  Noun or verb?  Noun.

47. Bearish: URSINE.  Tautological.

49. Cardinal's headgear: RED HAT.  Not a reference to the College of Cardinals.  Or, perhaps, it is.

St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Cap

51. A lot more than a little: HEAPS.  Slang.

52. Classroom furniture: DESKS.

54. Sweat spot: BROW.   "By the sweat of your brow you will produce food to eat . . ."  Genesis 3:19  

55. "Dang!": HECK.  DRAT  DARN  RATS  DAMN 

57. Compete: VIE.  Solver:  "What's a three-letter word for compete?"  Dracula:  "VIE"  Solver:  "It's for a crossword."

59. Application file suffix: EXE.  Another computer reference.

60. Cartoon canine: REN.

61. Overdone: OLD.  Used too often.  Like OREO?

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Thursday, January 13, 2022, George Jasper

Straighten Up And Fly Right

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists, from high altitude.  Well, perhaps not as high as our friends above, but at 9,375 feet the weather has been cold and snowy and goggles do come in handy.

Today's puzzle setter is George Jasper.  The earliest puzzle by George that I was able to find on the Corner website was from 2017 with something like a half-dozen others also recapped here between 2019 and 2021.

Similar to the puzzle this marine mammal recapped a couple of weeks ago, there are no topically-defined theme answers but, rather, four places marked with asterisks where adjoining scrambled letters spanning two words can be found in circles.  When unscrambled, the letters all spell GATE.  The unifier appears at:

56 Across:  Airport annoyance, and a literal hint to the answers to starred clues: GATE CHANGE.  By today's standards, a minor annoyance indeed.

Here are the asterisked clues and answers:

17 Across:  *It's hard to put down: PAGE TURNER.  A book that one cannot stop reading.

23 Across:  *Bond, for one: SECRET AGENT.  Bond, James Bond.

36 Across:  *One of about 50 orbiting the Milky Way: SATELLITE GALAXY.  A smaller companion galaxy that is in orbit around a larger "host" galaxy

47 Across:  *Put the pedal to the metal: GO GREAT GUNS.  

. . . . and here is how this all appears in the grid:

There are many polysemous words used in the cluing today.  They keep us on our toes.

Across:

1. Assurance on some menus: NO MSG.

6. Current event: EDDY.  Clever cluing.  Not the news of the day but a current in the water or atmosphere that runs contrary to the main current.

10. Crawled?: SWAM.  The crawl is a type of swimming stroke.

14. Have the floor: ORATE.

15. Outback option: RARE.  Outback, in this case is the name of a chain of steakhouse restaurants.  A clue that riffs on the fact that all crossword clues start with a capital letter.

16. Head light: HALO.  Not an automobile reference in this case.  A religious reference.

19. Like much cheese: AGED.  I really like a well-aged Gouda with those crystals.

20. Middle of Cannes?: ENS.  We have seen this type of clue before and are less likely than in the past to be significantly delayed by it.  CANNES.  Two ENS in the middle of the word.

21. Lend, informally, as money: SPOT.  Can you SPOT me a ten-spot until pay day?

22. Think the world of: ADORE.

26. Clothing buyer's pleased words: IT FITS.  If the shoe fits wear it.

29. Also-ran's terse summary: I LOST.

30. Buzzer beater?: SWAT.  Not a basketball reference.  As in to SWAT (or beat, apparently) a buzzing insect.

31. Low point: NADIR.

33. "Awesome, dude!": RAD.  Slang word.  Shortened form of "radical".  Popular in the 1980's.

40. Saddlebag carrier: ASS.  It's not yet as difficult to come up with new clues for ASS as it is to do so for OREO - but it's getting close.

41. Roof features: EAVES.

42. Qwirkle piece: TILE.  I do not know the game.  It looks a bit like Dominoes.

43. Colonial diplomat Silas: DEANE.  The first of six proper nouns in a row.

45. Julia of "Ozark": GARNER.

50. Toyota since 1982: CAMRY.

1982 Camry

51. 31-Down competitor: OLAY.

52. Anthem author: KEY.

55. Component of 53-Down: OBIE.  Is this an editing oversight?  The OBIE (Off Broadway Theater Award) is a "cousin" of a TONY but I do not believe that an OBIE is a part of the EGOT (see 53 Down) quartet.

59. Slips on: DONS.  Not mafia leaders.  Opposite of DOFF.

60. Appearance: MIEN.

Chow Mien?

61. Bagel flavor: ONION.  Poppy, Plain, and Bialy would have fit the allotted space.

62. Genesis grandson: ENOS.  Son of Seth.  Grandson of Adam and Eve.

63. Shaw's "__ and the Man": ARMS.

64. Units of power: WATTS.  What's the difference between WATTS and Ohms?  Watts are units of electrical energy.  Ohms are where British people live.

Down:

1. "Don't think so": NOPE.  We often see "I bet" as a similar quote.

2. Algerian coastal city: ORAN.  Frequently visited in xword  puzzles.

3. Time and Money, briefly: MAGS.  Clever clue.  Time is money, as they say but in this case they are both names of MAGazineS.

4. Abbr. in some vineyard names: STE.  Often clued as a French Holy Woman.

5. Prepare: GET SET.  On your mark . . .

6. Catcher's interference is charged as one in baseball: ERROR.  A somewhat obscure clue for this answer.

Do you know why baseball games are often played at night?  Because the bats sleep during the day.

7. Italy's "Supreme Poet": DANTE.  DANTE Alighieri (b. 1265 d. 1321)

8. Titled rapper: DRE.  Doctor DRE.

9. "__ Blues": "White Album" track: YER.  A Beatles reference.

10. Nuances: SHADES.

11. Old West traveling group: WAGON TRAIN.

12. Warn: ALERT.  Be A LERT.  The world needs more LERTS.

13. Rock's Depeche __: MODE.  More New Wave than Rock n' Roll. 

18. Lines at the checkout counter?: UPCS.  Universal Product CodeS

22. Greek marketplace: AGORA.

23. Something to build on: SITE.

24. Oceans' motions: TIDES.

25. Sacha Baron Cohen persona: ALI G.  Borat would not fit.

26. Rae of "Insecure": ISSA.

27. Christmas poem opener: TWAS.  . . . and all through the house . . .

28. Inaugural Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee: FATS DOMINO.  Along with Ray Charles, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Don & Phil Everly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke and Buddy Holly.

31. Skin care brand: NIVEA.

32. Bolted down: ATE.  Not a hardware reference.  To eat your food very quickly.

34. Bridge toll unit: AXLE.

35. One skilled at giving hints?: DYER.  Hints of color, I suppose.  One skilled at giving lints?  Dryer.

37. "Rescue Me" actor Denis: LEARY.  Had it been clued with Timothy I would have solved the clue more rapidly.

38. Road division: LANE.

39. USPS deliveries: LTRS.  LeTteRS  Abbreviated clue.  Abbreviated answer.  At least this one has some usage in the "real world" unlike some of the three-or-four-letters-plucked-out-of-a-word that we sometimes see.

44. Way out: EGRESS.  Not as in "That's way out, man."  The opposite of ingress.

45. Short dip?: GUAC.  Not a swim.  GUACamole

46. "As I was saying ... ": ANYHOW.

47. Cameroon neighbor: GABON.

48. __ pole: TOTEM.  Ski was too short.

49. Secluded locations: GLENS.  One of my favorites is GLENdronach.

50. Airport ID, e.g.: CODE.

52. Heal, in a way: KNIT.  As with broken bones.

53. Showbiz "grand slam" acronym: EGOT.  Emmy.  Grammy.  Oscar.  Tony.  EGOOT, anyone?

54. Itches: YENS.  Not the Japanese currency.

56. Morning TV fare, initially: GMA.  Good Morning America.

57. Word before France or Jordan: AIR.  Jordan's national airline is actually called Royal Jordanian Airlines.

Air Jordan Basketball Shoe

58. CNN anchor Cabrera: ANA.  For an interesting take on how the "news of the day" as presented on television stymies rational discussion and shapes the manner in which we process ideas, I recommend the book Amusing Ourselves to Death:  Public Discourse In The Age of Show Business by Neil Postman.

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