Notes for Gemelo 23

There are usually one or two points of interest in an Observer barred puzzle, and here we pick them out for comment. Please feel free to add your own questions or observations on any aspect of the puzzle (including clues not listed below) either by using the comment form at the bottom of the page or, if would prefer that your question/comment is not publicly visible, by email.

Gemelo 23

This puzzle is available at https://cdn.slowdownwiseup.co.uk/media/documents/obs.GEMELO.20260208.pdf.

Solver difficulty rating

3.2 based on 38 votes (voting is now closed)

In the last few weeks I’ve felt that Gemelo was starting to pitch his puzzles well, the tricky wordplays and devious definitions which we have come to associate with him being balanced out by a  good helping of accessible clues for entries spread around the grid. This one seemed to me to present a significant but fair challenge. 

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 17a, “Cycling garment that’s wrapped around scratch (5)”. The wordplay here employs two devices which I don’t remember seeing in combination before – a five-letter word for a ‘garment that’s wrapped [around the waist and passed over the shoulder and head]’ has its last letter moved to the beginning (‘cycling’) before being reversed (‘around’). It’s not that unusual to see multiple manipulations applied to a single word that doesn’t itself appear in the clue, with deletion plus reversal being the most common, but this is something of a rarity. Is it unfair? No, as long as each successive manipulation is clearly signalled and the fabric of the source remains intact (so there are no random rearrangements, for instance), then it is reasonable to expect the solver to be able to work through to the answer; the number of manipulations does not in itself affect the validity of a clue.

Across

1a Lean muscles, we hear, cover for a multitude of sins (6)
A three-letter word meaning ‘[to] lean’ or ’tilt’ is followed by a homophone (‘we hear’) for a four-letter word informally applied to certain muscles in the chestal area. The answer is sometimes seen without punctuation marks, but is properly hyphenated, 4-2.

9a Eastern tailless moth, one that’s creamy-white? (8)
The usual abbreviation for ‘Eastern’ is followed by a six-letter moth missing its last letter (‘tailless’) and a two-letter word meaning ‘one’.

12a More work for religious in spun gold (6)
A two-letter word meaning (among many other things) ‘for’ and a two-letter informal word meaning ‘obtrusively religious’ (often indicated back in the day by ‘sanctimonious’) are contained by a reversal (‘spun’) of the chemical symbol for gold. The definition is of the crafty sort which we have come to expect from Gemelo.

19a One watches young son laughing internally (8)
The usual abbreviation for ‘son’ is followed by a nine-letter word meaning ‘laughing’ from which the first and last letters have been removed (‘internally’). The answer is hyphenated, 6-2.

21a Make mention of advance, after penny drops (5)
A six-letter word meaning ‘[to] advance’ (in terms of status, rank or fortune) loses the usual abbreviation for penny (‘after penny drops’).

25a Festival of gods just finishing early (6)
The two-letter plural form of the Latin word for ‘god’ precedes a word meaning ‘just’ or ‘sound’ without its last letter (‘finishing early’).

27a Priest dedicated 75% of dance (6)
The position of ‘dedicated’ makes this one tricky to parse. The first six letters of the eight-letter name of a wild dance which originated in Andalusia (‘75% of dance’) yield a term for a Roman priest who was devoted to a particular deity. I can’t help feeling that “Priest that’s dedicated” would be a little more sporting.

29a Star players initially dismissed touch of Eden Hazard (8)
One for the Chelsea fans, where a four-letter word for a group of actors (ie ‘players’) lacking its first letter (‘initially dismissed’) is followed by the first letter (‘touch’) of ‘Eden’ and a word meaning ‘hazard’.

Down

1d RIP – something often seen at funerals (4)
We know from past experience that Gemelo is no respecter of capital letters when it comes to the cryptic readings of his clues, and here he has disguised the first definition in this double-definition clue by making the whole word upper-case. The second definition is fairly broad, but the solver is left in little doubt about the correct answer.

3d Perhaps overcharge for sex, which former spouse accepts (9)
A three-letter word meaning ‘for’ or ‘in favour of’ precedes a two-letter euphemistic term for ‘sex’ contained by one four-letter spelling of an archaic word for a spouse or companion (ie ‘which former spouse accepts’).

4d Record from Scottish comedian on the way up (5)
The surname of a Scottish comedian is reversed (‘on the way up’) to produce the answer. The entertainer in question was born Hugh Corcoran in 1890; after performing as part of a dancing duo, he developed a style all his own for his solo act. This involved accentuating his tall gaunt figure by wearing white make-up, boots which were too large, a jacket which was too short, a glengarry, and a strikingly abbreviated kilt. Add to this a high-pitched voice, and you can see why people didn’t forget him in a hurry. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many who saw his act opined that it was not what he said but the way he said it that made him the funniest man of his day. His catchphrase “in the name of the wee man” entered the local vernacular, and is the title of a song by Scottish ban Biffy Clyro. Chambers suggests a derivational connection between the name of the entertainer and a  square of sausage meat, but in reality they are both named after an ancient province of Scotland.

5d Took risks to support tour, mostly unhealthy (9)
A five-letter word meaning ‘took risks’ (often with death) comes after (‘to support’) a five-letter word for a tour or excursion missing its last letter (‘mostly’).

7d Musical ultimately lost money, a burden for those on board (9, 2 words)
The (3,3) title of a musical based on the 1935 Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers film of the same name, without its last letter (‘ultimately lost’), is followed by the usual abbreviation for ‘money’ and the three-letter word often indicated in cryptics by ‘a’, in the sense of ‘for each’. The result is a (3,6) phrase.

13d Condition of bird’s tail, mounted on vegetables stuffed with cheese (9, 2 words)
A reversal (‘mounted’) of that familiar two-letter bit of commercial jargon for ‘concerning’ or ‘on’ and the three-letter informal shortening of ‘vegetables’ containing (‘stuffed with’) a crumbly cheese associated with Greece. The definition, which perhaps treads the thin line between the innovative and the unduly complex, refers to a condition associated with (‘of’) the imminent end of a long stint in prison, ie “[being at] bird’s tail”. The answer is (4,5).

14d Northerner’s chest gaining A grade – she can defend herself! (9)
A four-letter ‘Scot and N Eng’ word for a chest contains (‘gaining’) the letter A (from the clue) and a four-letter word for a grade. The ‘She’ could equally well be a ‘He’.

18d Unprotected below head, with not so much beneath top of shield (8)
A three-letter word for a headland (‘head’) which I associate particularly with Plymouth and a word meaning ‘not so much’ follow (‘beneath’) the first letter (‘top’) of ‘shield’.

(definitions are underlined)