Thursday, November 16, 2023 Bruce Venzke

 Help Me,
I think I'm Falling!

Here veteran constructor Bruce Venzke is interviewed by C.C. in 2011 (note the number of puzzles already under his belt by then!).  Today he presents us with a classic word ladder, accelerating from zero to sixty in just eight STEPS.  I don't know about you, but I found this puzzle a tad crunchy for a Thursday.  But the easily identified 4 letter themers did help, because once you got the first one you knew that the next one differed by only one letter.  Here's the reveal which helped a lot ...

35A. Hurried, and what this puzzle's word ladder literally did in eight steps?: PICKED UP THE PACE.  -- from 16A SLOW to 57A FAST.

I'll just leave the themers in place, because listed here they don't tell you very much.  Here's the grid ...

I'm still a little wary of Bruce -- that his reveal may conceal an extra layer of meaning.  But if there is one, I couldn't find it.  Please feel free to chime in with comments if you spot any more layers.

Here's the rest ...

Across:

1. Smartphone software: APPS.

5. Air Force hotshot: ACE.

8. New Jersey city south of Paramus: LODI.  I visited Paramus for work several times, so I must have past the exit to LODI off of US 80, but I don't recall it ...

12. Take risks: DARE.

13. Club __: SODA.

15. "Climb aboard!": HOP IN.

16. #1: SLOW.

17. Forming a tight group: CLUSTERING.  Sort of the opposite to the Corner, which is a pretty LOOSE group ...😁

19. #2: SLOT.

21. One learning the ropes: TRAINEE.  We are forever TRAINEES.

22. Rebel, in a way: ACT OUT.

25. #3: SOOT.

26. E-file org.: IRS.

27. Roger Rabbit and Bugs Bunny: TOONS .  Both are members of the family Leporidae.  Here's some selected CELS from Who Framed Roger Rabbit ...

... and Bugs Outwits Rocky and Mugsy ...

28. Hindu sage: GURU.  Not an Indian HERB, but rather a teacher of the Vedanta or one of the other schools of Hindu philosophy.  A CSO to Vidwan to stop by and enlighten us further on this topic ...

29. #4: LOOT.

30. Home of the NCAA's Buckeyes: OSU.  Ohio State University.

31. Hamilton notes: TENS.

33. Smile that may be silly: GRIN. 😀

35. [Theme reveal].

40. Mata __: HARI.  A Dutch femme fatale who met her fate by a French firing squad after passing secrets to the Germans in WWI ...

Mata Hari
née Margaretha Geertruida Zelle

41. Get (into) carefully: EASE.

42. Wearable souvenir: TEE.

43. #5: LOST.

45. Careful phrasing, perhaps: TACT.

47. Feature of some 42-Acrosses: V NECK.

49. Flight coordinators: Abbr.: ATC.  Air Traffic Controller

50. #6: POST.

51. Crystal-lined stones: GEODES.  We saw one 2 weeks ago.

52. False testimony: PERJURY.

54. #7: PAST.

55. Metaphor for a fresh start: CLEAN SLATE.  Today's English lesson. The original Latin was TABULA RASA,  a philosophical position on nature vs. nurture.

57. #8: FAST.

61. All eyes and ears: ALERT.

62. North __ Sea: Kazakh lake: ARAL. Suffering from a lack of 63A - going, going, ...

63. Desierto's lack: AGUA.  Today's Spanish lesson: WATER.

64. Oodles: TONS.

65. Useful Scrabble tile: ESS.  Also useful to constructors and solvers.

66. Easy win: ROMP.  The Baltimore Ravens recently scored a 37 to 3 ROMP over the Seattle Seahawks, but then lost a 33 to 31 HEART BREAKER to the Cleveland Browns.

Down:

1. Pitches: ADS.

2. Intimate: PAL.  I guess it depends on how well you know her/him.

3. Debate side: PRO.  Not the PRO who hangs around the greens or the tennis courts (or around jets -- see 5A)

4. Attaches, as a button: SEWS ON.

5. Fancy neckwear: ASCOT.

6. Future stallion: COLT.  A future mare is called a FILLY.

7. Dean's email suffix: EDU.

8. Petty of "Orange Is the New Black": LORI. Lori Petty (born October 14, 1963) is an American actress, director, and screenwriter. She is noted for her roles in the films Point Break (1991), A League of Their Own (1992), Free Willy (1993), the title role in Tank Girl (1995), and Lolly in Orange is the New Black.  I think she hears voices ...

9. Stubbornly clinging to preconceived notions: OPINIONATED.  MOI? Never!

10. Cabbage for tacos?: DINERO.  More Spanish: MONEY.  I've had shredded lettuce on tacos, but never cabbage. 😀

11. Gulp down: INGEST.

14. Wealthy New York family on HBO's "The Gilded Age": ASTOR.  The trailers for The Gilded Age were all pretty stuffy and the acting looks like it is no where near as good as Downton Abbey, to which it's a prequel.  IIRC the Brit series begins with the news of the sinking of the Titanic, the most famous casualty of which was John Jacob ASTOR IV.  Aside from Jack Dawson of course. 😀

15. Furnace output: HEAT.

18. Farm structures: TROUGHS.

20. Sheen: LUSTER.

22. On: ATOP.

23. Start of a Mozart opera title: COSI. As in Così fan tutte ("They all do it"), an opera that probably wouldn't get past the #METOO censors today.  The overture's not too controversial though ...

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
1756 - 1791

24. ATM feature: TOUCHSCREEN.

25. Questionable: SUSPECT. A "perp" in detective stories.  But the more perps we get in crosswords, the less SUSPECT potential fill becomes.

28. African grazer: GNU.  Also a free computer operating system.  A CSO to  -T -- he'll explain it.

GNU Logo
It's Not Unix!

29. Gloss recipient: LIP.

32. Copy cats?: EDITORS.

34. Keanu of "The Matrix": REEVES.  I've never seen The Matrix, but some people believe we live in one.  The trailer for this was so bizarre that I decided to skip it.

36. "WandaVision" actress Dennings: KAT.  Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as KAT Dennings, is an American actress. She is famous for her starring roles as Max Black in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls (2011–2017) and as Darcy Lewis in various Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films including the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021).  I suspect that if you're not a fan, none of the trailers I viewed would make any sense to you either.

Kat Dennings

37. Parlor art, informally: TAT.  A "tattoo parlor" that is.

38. Gospel singer Winans: CECE.  A CSO to our C.C.  Priscilla Marie Winans Love, known professionally as CeCe Winans (born October 8, 1964), is an American gospel singer. Winans has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards, the most for a female gospel singer; 31 GMA Dove Awards, 17 Stellar Awards, 7 NAACP Image Awards, along with many other awards and honors to her credit including being one of the inaugural inductees into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. Winans is one of the greatest gospel artists of all time, and is the most-awarded and best-selling gospel act of all time. Here she sings Alone in the Presence ...

Lyrics

39. Surprised cries: EEKS.

43. Purring snuggler: LAP CAT. 

44. Verdi opera set in Cyprus: OTELLO.  Verdi's penultimate opera.  A very sad story about jealousy, suspicion, and human evil.  The prelude paints a tone poem of this story ...

46. Safe havens: ASYLA.  These days millions of people all across the globe are seeking ASYLA.

48. Within walking distance, say: NOT FAR.

50. Pre-euro Irish coin: PUNT.  The Irish PUNT, worth one Irish pound (£1), was used in Ireland from 20 June 1990 until the formal adoption of euro currency in 2002. The last issue was minted in 2000.

1990 Irish Punt

51. Iona University athletes: GAELS.  Speaking of the Irish (hello Irish Miss!), the Iona Gaels are the athletics teams of Iona University, in New Rochelle, New York. They compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and participate in 21 NCAA Division I programs.

53. Disturbs: JARS.

54. K-12 fundraising gps.: PTAS.

56. "__ you for real?": ARE.  After meeting Nina, I know for sure she is.  I guess I shouldn't extrapolate from a sample of one, but I have to assume that the rest of you Cornerites are too -- although I'm still not so sure about CrossEyedDave.  😁

58. Before now: AGO.

59. Total: SUM.

60. Activate, as a 24-Down: TAP.  Or a dance made famous by this guy ...

Cheers,
Bill

And as always, thanks to Teri for proof reading and for her constructive criticism.

waseeley