other Washington Post Sunday crossword, October 23 (contains answers)

Posted November 13, 2005 • Comments Off on Washington Post Sunday crossword, October 23 (contains answers)

Cw051023

Title: Exhibit A
Theme entries: common phrases with the letter A added at the start of the first word.

23A, When horsepower was developed?: AHEAD OF STEAM
37A, Saint Peter’s marbles?: AGATES OF HEAVEN
56A, Squirrel’s breakfast?: ACORN FLAKES
69A, Emerge from a red-eye?: ALIGHT IN THE DARK
87A, Cobbler of the year?: AWARD HEELER
104A, Lady’s assault on Everest?: ASCENT OF A WOMAN (haha)
125A, Astronomy major’s worry?: ASTEROID TEST

Things I learned, with web links so you can learn them too:

20A, Raga drum: TABLA
64A: “___ corny as Kansas…”: I’M AS
100A, Goya’s “The Duchess of ___”: ALBA
112A, Explorer Cabeza de ___: VACA
128A, Blue Eagle org.: NRA
131A, Burns title word: SYNE
11D, Antiaircraft arsenal: abbr.: SAMS
17D, City south of Moscow: OREL
39D, Obote‘s deposer: AMIN (I knew this, but only from crosswords, so it doesn’t really count until I actually read the history)
54D, Twosome: DUAD
82D, “Athena” artist: ERTE
88D, Strawberry ___: ROAN
101D, Worship of idols: BAALISM (I’m not sure if this is just a bad clue or if I’m wrong, but it seems to me Baal is one specific god and Baalism doesn’t refer to the entire practice of idol worship.)
112D, Brandy letters: VSO (I’ve seen this but didn’t know what it stood for)
113D, Quinella figures: ODDS
126D, Cath., e.g.: REL (Ohhhhhh, I see. Duh.)

Overall:
I messed up three squares in this one (I had “alight in the East” at first, which I still think makes more sense) and got one letter outright wrong (table/tabla and SEMs/SAMs). This was a surprisingly difficult theme, especially that “ward heeler” bullshit. Seven theme entries (low), and a whopping seventeen things I had to look up.