Interesting theme from Ms. Burnikel today. The POWERCOUPLE in question is AC/DC, the pair being found in each theme answer. It's a little odd that she chose Victoria and David Beckham as the example, as they are both foreign and, I would argue, not all that famous anymore. He's been retired for several years, and "Bend it Like Beckham" was released 15 years ago. What about picking a more current couple, like Beyoncé and Jay Z?
That quibble aside, the entries are all pretty good. As usual, there's one that's a little less scintillating than the others - ACTEDCOOL (47A: Stayed calm). Not terrible, just a little blah.
I like PAPAYA (1D: Fruit in som tam salad) and STANCH (3D: Stem the flow of) in the NW, and I was amused by the trio of multi-word answers in the NE, anchored by the answer INAWORD (12D: Briefly).
Lots of bonus non-theme today, actually. HEROINE (Katniss Everdeen, in "The Hunger Games") is lovely, AVOCADO (27D: California roll ingredient) is always welcome, and OPULENCE (37D: Luxury) was extravagant. :) I also enjoyed ASPECT (44D: Facet), HOARDS (34A: Stockpiles), PEATBOG (mmmm.... scotch), and, of course, AMES.
1A: Make the grade (PASS) - C. It's fine.
Favorite: NIECES (45D: "Uncle!" criers, maybe). Hah! Loved the misdirection there.
Least: PTSD. Nobody wants that.
- Horace
4:26. I agree about David and Posh Spice. How about Barack and Michelle? Now there's a true power couple, IMO. I definitely agree about NIECES. I needed almost all of the crosses to get that one. Beautifully done.
ReplyDeleteRight! They're so old I had actually forgotten that Victoria was once Posh Spice. Or, rather, I guess, is Posh Spice. I wonder if she has any credit cards with that name on them...
Delete8:21
ReplyDeleteOPTO? Whatever. I know people that met on JDATE. And as far as theme answers go, I liked SACREDCOW the best. I'm uninterested in celebrity POWERCOUPLEs, though, so I haven't much of an opinion on the choice of the constructor. Katniss is, indeed, lovely. Maybe the couple should have been Peeta and Katniss.