Big name in nail polish / TUE 7-11-17 / Matchmaking site since 1997 / Fruit in som tam salad / Nickname of Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman / Uncle criers

Constructor: Zhouqin Burnikel

Relative difficulty: Easy-Medium


THEME:POWER COUPLE (36A: Victoria and David Beckham, e.g. ... or what 17-, 26-, 47- and 57-Across each have, in a way)— the "couple"—"AC" and "DC"—both appear in each of the theme answers:

Theme answers:

• PEACHES AND CREAM (17A: Hunky-dory)
• SACRED COW (26A: Untouchable one)
• ACTED COOL (47A: Stayed calm)
• BACKGROUND CHECK (57A: Pre-employment screening) 

Word of the Day: Porter GOSS (64A: Former C.I.A. director Porter ___) —

Porter Johnston Goss (born November 26, 1938) is an American politician and government official who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1989 until 2004, when he became the last Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) and the first Director of the Central Intelligence Agency following the passage of the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, which abolished the DCI position. // Goss represented Florida's 14th congressional district from 1989 to 2004. His district, numbed as the 13th District from 1989 to 1993, included Fort Myers, Naples and part of Port Charlotte. He served as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence from 1997 to 2004, was a co-sponsor of the USA PATRIOT Act and was a co-chair of the Joint 9/11 Intelligence Inquiry. (wikipedia)

This works. I mean ... it does. It does its thing, and the revealer is cute (and apt) and the theme answers stand alone as pretty colorful entries, so (especially considering Tuesday's spectacularly terrible track record) I'm happy. Good enough! AC is one type of power, DC is another, together they are a couple of powers, or a POWER COUPLE. Shazam. ACTED COOL is a bit makeshift, as answers go, but the others are strong. I guess that, now that I think about it, I have heard PEACHES AND CREAM used in the way the clue suggests (17A: Hunky-dory), but at first, I had PEAC- and couldn't figure out how I was gonna make HYKEEN stretch out to eleven letters. I also quick-read (i.e. badly read) the clue on BACKGROUND CHECK (57A: Pre-employment screening). I had the CHECK, and then I read the [Pre-] part and somehow (perhaps because I just traveled by plane a couple weeks ago) I got TSA Pre-check in my head and everything got screwy. The areas around the front and middle of that answer were the toughest parts of the puzzle for me by far (though still not that tough).


I still can't spell AVOCADO. AVA- wins again. I eat them regularly; you'd think I'd have it by now, but no. I was super-duper proud of myself that I remembered the nail polish brand (51A: Big name in nail polish). Had the ES-, wrote in ESTEE and *immediately* thought, "Nope, nope, you know this one ... you've seen it ... you've thought about how crosswordy it looks ... what is it?! EPPIE? No ... ESSIE!!" Yessie! Had far more trouble with both PEAT BOG(38D: Natural fuel source) and EL CHAPO (39D: Nickname of the Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán) in the SW. And then really had trouble with OF OLD (50D: Long past) and CARPI, which is not a thing I can ever remember seeing before (49D: Wrist bones)—and perhaps for good reason. You see, the carpus is actually the whole damn set of bones in the wrist.

"Carpus" is the word for "carpal bones." So ... it doesn't really pluralize. On the "Carpal bones" wikipedia page, if you search "carpi," it comes up a lot, but as a genitive (i.e. "of the carpus"), not a plural. I guess you and I possess CARPI, OK, but ... I'm giving that one some anatomical side-eye, for sure.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter and Facebook]