Was able to restore from a save at entry to the cave and redo it -- got the key,
from there, it was a linear path to the beginning of the new game where I am now. Glad to finally get through all the bugs -- seems some of the patches were essential to get me through them. Fortunately the save I made at the beginning of that cave involved no loss of levels...
Thanks for the help -- it was VERY frustrating to be stuck and no way to move forward.
-A
