A word latter + anagram mashup? Love it! I knew what 1A had to be right off the bat, and I suspected where we'd end up at 40A, but wasn't quite confident enough to plunk it in there from the get-go. You hit on a really well-balanced difficulty level, since the anagramming meant I couldn't just guess my way down the ladder without some crossers first, but those crossers in turn came just easily enough after one or two of their own crossers. And I agree that reworking your grid to include 30A was absolutely worth it!
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I wanted to do a straight word ladder but wasn't going to get from EARTH -> SPACE that way (at least not in a midi) so I added the anagramming. Glad it worked!
This is your chance! You get to travel from ___ to 40A, without having to become a billionaire first. To make the trip, stop at 15A and 29A first. For each entry, change one letter and anagram the word to find another common word. Have fun!
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Horizontales
1A
This is your chance! You get to travel from ___ to 40A, without having to become a billionaire first. To make the trip, stop at 15A and 29A first. For each entry, change one letter and anagram the word to find another common word. Have fun!
6A
Microsoft cofounder
11A
Trap
12A
Awaken
13A
Stand-up performer
14A
Food for Eleven
15A
See 1A
17A
The 'Messiah' or 'Il Cannone' or the 'Lady Blunt'
19A
Corporate VIP
22A
Antiquated
23A
Bank offerings
25A
Use a ray gun
26A
Crosses off
27A
Diacritical dots
29A
See 1A
30A
About the most massively useful thing a person can have for a trip in 40A