George Jasper’s Wall Street Journal crossword, “Reverse Angle”—Jim P’s evaluation

Our revealer is BACKUP CAMERAS (35a, [Standard equipment on some new vehicles, and a hint to the circled letters]). Said circled letters spell well-known digicam manufacturers going backwards and turning up.

Wall St Journal crossword resolution · “Reverse Angle” · George Jasper · Wed., 9.28.22

The digicam manufacturers are Canon, Nikon, Leica, and Sony. I primarily know Leica as a result of my dad was an expert photographer, and he all the time wished a Leica, however they have been a lot too costly. As for Sony, it’s recognized for making much more than cameras, so I might have gone with one thing else—Go Pro, perhaps (it’s 5 letters lengthy, too, like all of the others). But that’s a nit. Solid theme and execution.

As for the remainder of the fill, it solves like a themeless, and a pleasant one at that. We have two 9-stacks (ARBORETUM/GRACE NOTE and SOCCER FAN/SPIELBERG) in addition to the lengthy crossings of TAKE A HIKE/FRESH CREAM and SETH ROGEN/SALT SHAKER. Plus the track RUNAWAY thrown in for good measure. Those NE/SW stacks are particularly spectacular given their dimension and the presence of two theme entries.

Clues of be aware:

• 6a. [The suicide king, for one]. HEART. Never heard this time period, and I needed to guess (accurately, because it turned out) that we’re speaking enjoying playing cards right here. Further, at this time I discovered that the 4 kings are all based mostly on 4 historic rulers. The King of Hearts is Charles VII of France who fairly gruesomely dedicated suicide.
• 18a. [Composer’s embellishment]. GRACE NOTE. I solely know this time period from the music firm which maintains a database of details about compact discs and vinyl information.
• 28a. [1966 debut album from a British band]. FRESH CREAM. Got the latter half principally by crossings then inferred the primary half.

Solid grid with a pleasant theme and beautiful lengthy fill. 3.75 stars.