Pioneering photojournalist Jacob / FRI 6-22-18 / Polish-language film that won 2014 Oscar / Big espresso purveyor since 2001

Constructor: Andrew Kingsley

Relative difficulty: Medium (5:53) (I'm tired and I've had a bit to drink, so it might be slightly easier)

THEME: none

Word of the Day: Jacob RIIS (8D: Pioneering photojournalist Jacob) —

Jacob August Riis (/riːs/; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, Georgist, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He is known for using his photographic and journalistic talents to help the impoverished in New York City; those impoverished New Yorkers were the subject of most of his prolific writings and photography. He endorsed the implementation of "model tenements" in New York with the help of humanitarianLawrence Veiller. Additionally, as one of the most famous proponents of the newly practicable casual photography, he is considered one of the fathers of photography due to his very early adoption of flash in photography.

While living in New York, Riis experienced poverty and became a police reporter writing about the quality of life in the slums. He attempted to alleviate the bad living conditions of poor people by exposing their living conditions to the middle and upper classes. (wikipedia)

• • •

in a purple state

Did an infuriating crossword just before this one, so wasn't in the best frame of mind. Also feel very, very tired—late dinner, late drinking. So I just pushed through this one; didn't enjoy or disenjoy it. I think the thing I like most is the grid shape. The arrangement of longer answers is interesting. Leaves the center all isolated and full of short fill (not great), but also gives us not just the (pretty standard) long answers in the four quadrants, but also these long Downs (four of 'em) that shoot through the puzzle (TELEPROMPTER, POSTRACIAL, DRAFT KINGS, PURPLE STATES). We poor for it in short fill, of which there is a Lot, but I think the trade-off might be worth it. None of the longer answers are that noteworthy. I just saw HOMOEROTIC in a New Yorker crossword last week, so that one didn't have the novelty impact that it was probably designed to have. Interesting to have that answer appear hot on the heels of yesterday's Pride-themed puzzle. But then, not that interesting. Gayness exists, homoerotic content exist, and the puzzle should and does regularly note this; it's no longer shocking or even surprising to see LGBTQ stuff in puzzles, and this is a good thing. A welcome turn of events. I mean, it's not like we've cured bigotry here, but the more ordinary, visible, and everyday queerness becomes, the better off we all are.


LAPEL LIZARDS sounds like a band. A band that might open for SAPIENT FUTON. I had a bunch of trouble witih short answers during he first half of the solve, and then virtually no trouble with the second half. Just couldn't get RODE or SOAR, even after a couple of crosses, so the NW took longer to fill in than it should've. Wrote in MPAA for RIAA (15D: Pirate-fighting org.). RIAA remains an initialism that I routinely forget. Biggest hang-up of the day by far was, weirdly, ATE IT (10D: Wiped out). Had that final "T" and wanted only SPENT (perhaps because that was how I was feeling and continue to feel, man I can't wait to be asleep...). And the "E" from SPENT worked for EDIE, which I *knew* was right (18A: Actress Sedgwick of Warhol films). Wanted SAPIENT (a word you learn in high school and promptly never use again), but couldn't figure out how a word could end -EIT. Much later, I found out it was not a word. It was two words. After that, not a hitch, except for UZIS (57A: Action film weapons). I got it easily enough, I just hate it. Ironically, I also hate UNARM. But I hate the latter as a word (the word is "disarm"), whereas I hate UZIS because guns suck. Good night.

Signed, Rex Parker, King of CrossWorld

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