[SGVLUG] using SSH from a non-confirmable client -- how?

[Emerson, Tom]

I've got an odd sort of situation with my SSH setup -- I can't get there from here (with "there" being home, and "here" being specifically from Warner Brothers)  I can connect and I'm prompted for a user ID and password (and even to validate that I want to trust the given fingerprint that is returned), but all attempts to log on get "access denied" [even with correct passwords].  By bouncing off another host, I can log in and I see this when coming "directly" from work:

Nov  2 15:16:08 osnut sshd[25833]: reverse mapping checking getaddrinfo for h-64-236-243-16.twi.com failed - POSSIBLE BREAKIN ATTEMPT!

I suspect this means that the "gateway" here at work is misconfigured, or possibly that the actual "route" that packets take is different than advertised -- either way, this is something I have little control over (nor am I likely to get anyone to "fix" it...) so I'm considering the next alternative: how do I tell SSH to be a little less secure?  I know that "older" ssh servers accepted connections from work (and once "in" my network at home, I could bounce around the other hosts as needed) so this appears to be a recent addition to the ssh configuration/defaults.