In the never ending world of Friday puzzles looking for new ways to bamboozle and entertain the solvers, two items from the games page, Crossword Puzzles and Word Ladders, are combined. The Miami Herald runs a word ladder daily, which if you are unfamiliar is a series of words where you go from word A (the first word) to word Z (the last word) by changing only one letter in each successive word. TEN to PIN would be ten-tin-pin. In this instance we also get a reveal of sorts, commenting on the joy of going from Geek to Chic. Obviously lots depends on the perps since there are no independent clues for the ladder words, though once you get a couple, you know you have a very limited choice for the next step. Some Friday difficulty, but since the theme words are only only four letters long there is room for some fun fill like GLUTEUS in addition to toughies like OCELLI, so lets climb down the ladder and see what Daniel used for the remaining fill.
1A. Start of a word ladder : GEEK. (4).
5A. Word ladder, part 2 : PEEK. (4).
9A. Word ladder, part 3 : PEEN. (4).
22A. Word ladder, part 4 : TEEN. (4).
52A. Word ladder, part 5 : THEN. (4).
64A. Word ladder, part 6 : THIN. (4).
65A. Word ladder, part 7 : CHIN. (4).
66A. End of the word ladder : CHIC. (4).
37A. "West Side Story" song, or a hoped-for response after experiencing the transition in this puzzle's word ladder : I FEEL PRETTY. (11). CLASSIC. (3:43).
Across:
13. Muscat native : OMANI. This very common fill saved me from the initial frustration of knowing nothing.
15. Rough words : OR SO. Rough as in estimate.
16. "A Death in the Family" author : AGEE. James Agee is a regular answer, and if you are interested, he did a lot in a short life. LINK.
17. Tech giant : GATES. Interesting, as initially trying for a company name not Bill from Microsoft.
18. Alienated : ESTRANGED. Women left at the altar, or left after marriage used to sue their fiances' (husbands') new love interest for Alienation of Affection. The law still exists in 7 or 8 states.
20. Parts of wedding scenes : AISLES. Perfect juxtaposition for our cheating husband.
23. Buttocks muscle : GLUTEUS. There are actually FOUR, not just our friend Maximus.
25. Clothing : RAIMENT. Related to the concept of ARRAY. A nice old word.
30. Deadly biter : ASP. Cleopatra anyone?
31. Bites playfully : NIPS. The lesson, do not play with an asp.
33. Touch-y service company? : MIDAS.
34. It might be twisted : ANKLE. A very common problem in the NBA where the giant people are forever landing on each other's feet.
36. "!" on a road sign : DANGER. Hmm...
39. Positive particle : PROTON.
41. Advertising target : SALES. Target/ Goal?
42. Like some cereals : OATEN.
43. Filter : SIFT. Sometime, you have to let your brain sift through many choices before entering fill.
44. Political initials since 1884 : GOP. I think the initials have been used since 1874, though the Republican Party itself began in 1854. LINK.
47. Tut, e.g. : PHARAOH. Most memorable TUT (2:39)?
49. Pudding starch : TAPIOCA. So confusing...
54. Picnic downer : SHOWER. The rains fall down? A pun?
55. Get-together request : CAN WE MEET?
60. Blue dyes : ANILS.
61. Word of dismissal : SHOO. Kitty, kitty.
62. "__ kidding?" : IS HE.
63. Part of an address, maybe : TITLE. What do you say to a Duke? LINK.
Down:
1. Be extremely excited : GO GAGA. While this was a perfectly fine clue/fill, the absence of any crossing words, made starting out very tricky. Great set of letters, like COO COO for Cocoa Puffs.
2. Modern messages : EMAILS. Is it one word, or E-Mail?
3. Devours : EATS UP. Do not parse E-atsup.
4. Showed reverence, in a way : KNELT. Just before you are knighted by the King, his majesty.
5. "The Gold-Bug" author : POE. Not my favorite of his short stories, but he won a $100.00 prize for it, which was probably the most he earned for any writing in his lifetime.
6. Once, old-style : ERST. Another old word.
7. Fragrant compounds : ESTERS.
8. North or South follower : KOREA. With all the North/South combos, this is the only 5 letter one I could think of.
9. God of shepherds : PAN. There was a wonderful movie called PAN's LABYRINTH.(1:04), sorry about the 15 second ad.
10. Whisking target : EGG. That clue should stir things up around here. No beating around the bush.
11. Broad size : EEE. None of the broads I know are triple Es.
12. "The Simpsons" character who says "Okily-dokily!" : NED. For all the non-Simpson fans...you should last 7 seconds
14. "Got it!" : I SEE.
19. Bring to life : ANIMATE. Just like Ned Flanders; I see, it all fits together and makes sense.
21. Submerged : SUNKEN.
24. Cat's perch, perhaps : SILL. I will let CED do his cat magic for cat's on sills, though my challenge will be to find a video of a feline with Beverly Sills.
26. Diner freebies : MINTS. When I was a baby in the crib, my parents said they would give me the mints the restaurants gave out, and I would just fall asleep holding them in my hand.
27. Anxious : EDGY. The sugar rush never made me edgy.
28. Glaswegian's negative : NAE. One from Glasgow is a Glaswegian for the same logical (?) reason someone from Norway is a Norwegian.
29. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR. Interesting I heard on the radio that this is the 40th anniversary of D&D which was created by people who called themselves TACTICAL STUDIES RULES. The first of the modern complicated role playing games, left in the dust by WOW and Magic the Gathering.
32. Brand originally named Brad's Drink : PEPSI. Oddly, I recently linked this piece of bubbly history.
34. "__ you" : AFTER. A part of vaudeville and silent movie HISTORY. (1:11).
35. One just born : NEONATE.
36. Change symbols, in math : DELTAS. If I were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire I would use Fermat as my lifeline, and have Bill G. ready. In the meantime LINK.
37. Wee bit : IOTA. Another Greek letter doing double duty.
38. It may be inflatable : RAFT. So was George's ego, I heard.
39. Father : POP. My youngest is currently calling me Pop or Pops.
40. Cheerleader's shout : RAH. Rah ree, kick'em in the knee. Rah rah rass, kick'em in the other knee.
43. "Holy cow!" : SHEESH. They say this is a euphemism progression from Jesus. LINK. I wonder about the Lebanese, Sheesha, or shish.
44. Accompany : GO WITH. Will you accompany me to the senior prom?
45. Spots on a peacock train : OCELLI. From the Latin, diminutive of OCULUS, an eye, because they look like little eyes.
46. Astronomical distance : PARSEC. Another area where I have little KNOWLEDGE. Followed immediately by....
48. Resistance-related : OHMIC. OHM (symbolized by the Greek Omega!) is a measure of resistance named after Georg Ohm.
50. Slangy "Superb!" : PHAT. You can learn about BACKRONYMS.
51. Corinthian cousin : IONIC. Doric being his brother?
53. 90-year-old soft drink : NEHI. Go Radar.
55. Missouri hrs. : CST. Central Standard Time, and the official time of the Corner.
56. Sound at a spa : AHH.
57. "There's __ in 'team'" : NO I. Nor an O or U...
58. Prevailed : WON. (almost looks like wonton, wonten and of course then to the wanton).
59. Sign of perfection : TEN. still classic?
Well with Bo in your view, running toward you, I am going away for another week. I do not recall if we have ever had a ladder puzzle in the LAT, though they appear in the NYT often. It looks like Daniel was busy as this was his second LAT barely 2 weeks after his maiden. Look forward to hearing the response from all; I wish you all a wonderful final week end in January 2014. Lemonade out.
