Notes for Gemelo 20
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.
Previous Puzzle – Gemelo 19 First Things First
The necessarily unnatural phrasing of many clues clearly made things trickier for solvers; I did, though, feel that this was counterbalanced by a reduced misdirection factor, so my own rating for the puzzle was 3.
Gemelo 20 Plain
This puzzle is available at https://cdn.slowdownwiseup.co.uk/media/documents/obs.GEMELO.20260111.pdf.
Solver difficulty rating
3.1 based on 32 votes (voting is now closed)
Please give your own G-rating for this Gemelo puzzle by clicking on the relevant star above, with one star representing a very straightforward solve by your own standards (Gentle) and five stars indicating a seriously tough one (Ghastly). Note that hovering over the ‘graph’ icon will show you the full breakdown of votes for the current puzzle.
Good to see Gemelo ‘unconstrained’, albeit it would still be nice before too long to see a ‘special’ which provides us with a different challenge. That said, this was a puzzle of high quality with some very nice clues and an excellent level of soundness.
Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 27d, “Difficulty with sailors below deck”. This is not a complex clue, the abbreviation for ‘Royal Navy’ following a familiar word for ‘difficulty’, but it highlights two key weapons in the setter’s armoury which Gemelo frequently uses to good effect. The first is disguising the break between the wordplay and the definition – the surface reading makes it appear that ‘below deck’ is a single phrase and the break is between ‘sailors’ and below’, when in fact it comes between ‘below’ and ‘deck’. The second is the deceptive use of different parts of speech in the surface and cryptic readings – here most obviously with reference to the role of ‘deck’, which is a noun in the former and a verb in the latter, but also that of ‘with’, which is a preposition in the surface reading (hence it appears to be ‘bound’ to deck) and an adverb in the cryptic reading. The clue “Dress sailors following difficulty” would come to much the same thing, but would be greatly inferior.
Across
5a Latin adopted in smart joint (6)
The usual abbreviation for Latin is contained by (‘adopted in’) a dialect word for ‘smart’ or ‘spruce’, producing the sort of joint that would be smoked rather than roasted on a Sunday.
10a Provider of fruit course dropping one after argument (9, 2 words)
I spent a minute trying to work out how ‘entreé’ fitted into the wordplay, before I twigged that it is the name of an English racecourse which must lose (‘dropping’) the Roman numeral representing ‘one’ and be placed after a three-letter word for an argument, the resulting answer being divided (5,4).
11a It can represent college experience (3)
The first part of this double definition clue relates to the name of the letter which is an abbreviation for ‘college’, ie ‘it can represent college’.
13a New material abridged in wake of language tool (7)
The usual abbreviation for ‘new’ and the name of a fibre produced by moth larvae, when deprived of its last letter (‘abridged’), follow (‘in the wake of’) the three-letter language of a particular Native American people – or an antipodean pick-up truck.
17a Drink brought back general knowledge at first (5)
A four-letter word for ‘general’ or ‘prevalent’ and the first letter of ‘knowledge’ are reversed (‘brought back’) to yield ‘a tangy, fermented milk drink, similar to thin yogurt but with a wider range of beneficial bacteria and yeasts, known for supporting gut health and immunity.’ Sounds yummy.
20a Elon Musk’s party cups put on Grok? (5)
The three-letter foundation garment often indicated in cryptics by ‘cups’ (with ‘at least four cups’ being an Azed favourite for the plural form) is joined by the abbreviated name for the technology exemplified by Grok. When used as a geographical qualifier, Elon Musk is pretty flexible, given that he holds South African, Canadian and American citizenship (unless of course Grok has recently stripped him of them), but it is the first of these which Gemelo is referencing here.
23a Dead cat bounce, ultimately with successes going west (4)
Another cleverly-constructed clue, the last letter (‘ultimately’) of ‘bounce’ and a three-letter word for ‘successes’ being reversed (‘going west’) to deliver an archaic (‘dead’) spelling of a word meaning ‘vomit’ (‘cat’).
31a Thick noblemen eschewing books (7)
A nine-letter word for noblemen who are a single rung down the aristocratic ladder from earls is shorn of one of that pair of two-letters abbreviations frequently indicated in cryptic clues by ‘books’; I can’t say that I much like this usage (the abbreviations seem far removed from ‘books’), but they are deeply rooted in the cruciverbal language.
33a What might tempt better class of people sounded harsh (9)
A crafty definition of an answer which is produced from a four-letter word for a class of people (or a group of descendants of a common ancestor) followed by a homophone for a word meaning ‘harsh’ or ‘throaty’.
35a Indian army planting northern and southern shrubs (6)
A four-letter Indian word for “an army, especially used of paramilitary political organizations representing various castes”, containing (‘planting’) the usual abbreviation for ‘northern’, precedes the usual abbreviation for ‘southern’. The shrubs in question produce pods which can bring relief to the costive.
Down
1d Canned salad, or…? (12, 4 words)
A self-referencing answer where the first word of the (5, 2, 1, 4) solution, when interpreted as an anagram indicator, can turn the remaining words into SALAD OR. Given the number of synonyms for the state described, the setter was unlucky that nothing which fitted better with ‘salad’ than ‘canned’ was available (‘stewed’, ‘pickled’, ‘bottled’ being no better) – if I were him, I would have felt very disappointed.
2d One bound to work around weak and faint in Holyrood (5)
A four-letter word for “a person in modified slavery, especially one bound to work on the land” contains (‘around’) the usual abbreviation for ‘weak’. The ‘Holyrood’ is there to indicate that the answer is Scottish.
3d Brisk northern language repeated in auction (4)
Three definitions for the price of two, referring to the fourth, first and third headwords in Chambers for the entry. I wonder what the second one has done to upset Gemelo?
4d At hail Mary, unwise people recalled sign of the cross? (8)
The letters AT (from the clue), the two-letter abbreviation of the Latin for ‘hail Mary’, and a four-letter word for people who are foolish (or just plain unpleasant) are reversed (‘recalled’). Since Gemelo also sets for the Church Times, I feel confident that his definition is accurate.
7d Short lesson about lake with extra craft (7)
An uncommon four-letter word (one of four available flavours) for a lesson, missing its last letter (‘short’), contains (‘about’) the four-letter name of a lake which could (see 20a) reasonably be described as “Elon Musk’s”. The particular craft here is cunning of the low variety.
8d Badly directed Inside Man? (4)
A six-letter word for ‘badly directed’ is stripped of its outer letters (ie ‘inside’) to produce a term for the sort of thing whereof ‘Man’ is an example.
21d About to embrace sinister member? (7)
That two-letter piece of commercial jargon meaning ‘concerning’ or ‘about’ is followed by a word meaning ‘to embrace’, the result being a (4-3) equestrian term.
(definitions are underlined)
Do you see 1D as Ximenean? I had always assumed that clues of this type were beyond the pale because the wordplay does not fully define the answer.
Hi Tim
While I don’t think it’s the best clue in the puzzle, I don’t think it’s unfair either. It’s unfortunate that the entire answer and its first word (the ‘built-in’ anagram indicator) have similar meanings (unlike, say, “Clear shot at basket worth…?” for FREE THROW), but that doesn’t make it unsound per se; it does though raise the question of whether ‘canned’ is sufficient definition of the phrase, rather than just the first word thereof, and I would say that it probably isn’t – something like ‘seriously canned’ or ‘wasted’ would be preferable. Likewise the indication that OR SALAD is the result of interpreting the answer cryptically isn’t as clear as I’d like, but “Canned salad or, conceivably?” doesn’t make any sense. Like certain Azed clues, it’s probably best not subjected to close scrutiny.
I think that it’s Ximenean to the extent that it contains both a definition and an alternative route (of sorts) to the answer, and it strikes me as quite Azedean, which is no bad thing. If one believes that the only thing that ‘No cat, or…?” for ANIMATED CARTOON is missing is a definition, then Gemelo’s clue seems broadly allowable.
I was prompted by your comment to revisit the ‘Improvised Clues’ section of Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword, where I found this “simple one” (his words not mine!):
When the clouds inside outside, inside it (6)
Click for answer
BROLLY, ‘inside’ = ROLL ‘outside’ = BY
The difficult one, by the way, was “Mowers which are this sound as more than half: if not, the rest follows” for AUTOMOBILE. That I would consider Ximenean but unacceptable by today’s standards.
I didn’t intend to suggest it was unfair or unsound, but I can’t (for example) think of any Azed instances, or Azed prizewinners/VHCs that have used this device. My impression is that Gemelo interprets the more detailed guidelines more liberally, notably on capital letters, which have often been misleading. I have found the results refreshing.
Apologies, I could perhaps have structured my reply better – I wasn’t intending to read more into your comment than was stated, rather I wanted to walk through my own analysis of the clue and its elements. I think that individual setters tend to explore different ‘grey areas’ while still complying with the basic Ximenean tenets, viz (i) grammatical accuracy in surface and cryptic reading, (ii) at least two fairly signposted routes to the answer, including a definition, and (iii) no superfluous words that actively interfere with the cryptic sense of the clue.
As you say, Gemelo often adds capitals where they are not required in the cryptic reading – Ximenes considered this allowable specifically where nouns were concerned. Azed has always had a tendency towards the quirky, as in his “Following I have that’s slightly mad about me!” for FIVE and his ‘signature’ put-the-answer-in-the wordplay clues such as “Tot? Literally that renders one boozer!” for TASS. Plus, of course, the composite anagram, which is something I don’t believe that we’ve seen from Gemelo yet – there may be those who hope that we never do…
I feel that there should be a level of consistency in any puzzle series, which is exactly what the editors of the UK back-pagers aim to achieve while not unduly cramping the style of the various setters; solvers tend to stick to the same puzzles, and this gives them a chance to get a feel for what they might encounter in any particular series and what they almost certainly will not have to deal with. Where the puzzles are all, or nearly all, set by the same person, as with Azed for the last 53 years and now with Gemelo, the solver can surprisingly quickly get accustomed to that setter’s cryptic palette, which tends to increase enjoyment of their output. In puzzles such as the Listener, with its many setters, it is particularly important that the editors keep a tight rein on those setters’ eccentricities – which they generally do!
Many thanks for the detailed answer and reminder that all setters interpret the boundaries differently. I puzzled over TASS before remembering this Azed device and realising where it led.
Agreed this could almost have been set by Azed, but there are two poor definitions. A bishop is not ‘made’ when’s/he is ‘enthroned’, they are made bishop when they are consecrated. The next Bishop of Worcester prefers ‘installed’ to ‘enthroned’ – this is scheduled to happen this coming Saturday. Also, ‘stigmata’ is plural and means marks of the wounds, not ‘sign of the cross’. I was thrown by the fact that there were two indications of the length of each answer; Gemelo is so tricky, I wondered whether there were two answers for each clue.
Thanks, Stuart
I must confess that (as I suggested in the notes) I was not convinced by the ‘stigmata’ definition, but it is an area well outside my comfort zone. The ‘enthrone’ one is tricky – Chambers has ‘to install as bishop’, and while I understand the point that you are making, I think that solvers without specialist knowledge would probably see ‘to install as bishop’ and ‘to make bishop’ as being much the same thing, even if they aren’t. There are times as a solver of non-specialist puzzles which use Chambers as their primary reference when too much knowledge can be, if not a dangerous thing, then certainly not a recipe for satisfaction. Thankfully, it’s a situation that I rarely have to deal with!
Regarding the answer lengths, I see what you mean! Anyone who solved Gemelo’s remarkable Listener puzzle ‘Forever’ (set under the pseudonym ‘Twin’) will know that he is capable of producing a single set of clues which provide the entries for two identical grids containing completely different answers. But he didn’t do it here.
I hadn’t spotted the issue with the interactive version because I just print the PDF off – I wouldn’t want to get marmalade on my keyboard. When viewed in combination with Gemelo 19, where multi-word answers were treated as single words in the enumerations, it is clear that the bracketed numbers in this version demand a degree of manual intervention prior to publication. As things stand, I would recommend a quick check of the PDFs for future puzzles to confirm that there are no anomalies, with the PDF being treated as definitive.
Incidentally, I see that for ‘closed’ puzzles the explanation of each answer is now shown against the corresponding clue. It may always have been like that, but I hadn’t looked before.
27d impressed me as I was solving; a very satisfying clue.
Not difficult, but very neatly constructed.
It also made me think of perhaps the most devious clue I have ever managed to come up with, “Marine cross about chaps joining navy (6)”.
I’ve seen ‘chaps’ in your Containers and Contents list before, but that’s the first time I’ve seen it in action. Excellent clue.
Ah! I get it now, thanks to your post, Crossguesser – it refers to the last definition of the answer (in Chambers). Devious, right enough.
It’s a very tough clue to solve ‘blind’ – well done, both! In practice, letters 1,3,4 and 5 were checked, which made it a fairer battle.
Gemelo 20 was available at the above URL at or before 22.00 UK time Thurs. I know this ‘cos this was 08.00 Fri. in Oz when I downloaded it. Perhaps worth checking in future if you want an early start? No
sign of a paywall.
Hi Jim, yes, this has been the case for the past few weeks for both Gemelo/Azed and Everyman. The pdf’s are generally available late Thursday but they are not linked to the website until Sunday. There for those who want them early and are prepared to jemmy the url.
Thanks very much Jay. Some time ago I found Azed 2,772 early (and told the Doc; he mentioned this in the Notes) but I then didn’t try again till Gemelo 20. Let’s hope this lasts. I did Gemelo 20 on a wet Friday in Cairns and found it very good. And free!
Correction. Azed 2,773 was up early and when I told the Doc he mentioned this in his Azed 2,772 Notes. This was around the time we were all afraid of a paywall and some (including me) were giving the Observer a pound for a month’s access.
Of the half-dozen or so Gemelos I’ve done , this was the most enjoyable. Dare I say it could almost have passed as an Azed? 1 Down is very clever, I haven’t seen that sort of clue very often. ‘Tossed’ ( in the Urban Dictionary) would have worked instead of ‘canned’ but isn’t in Chambers. I had the answer to the ‘hidden’ clue and couldn’t parse it for ages, always makes me feel stupid!
Yes, I did check ‘tossed’ on the off-chance, although I felt sure that Gemelo would have used it if C had given it.
I agree about the puzzle as a whole – clever, fair, and pitched (it seemed to me) at the right level of difficulty for an Observer barred crossword.
It was with relief that I found ‘canned’ in the Doc’s anagrind list. One of 33 ‘advanced’ adjectival anagrinds. There are 291 ‘standard’ adjectival anagrinds.
Thanks. New word to me both singular and plural. I suppose connected to rire in French. We live and learn!
I have never encountered either form outside the cruciverbal world, and I think the plural (like those of, say, ‘piquancy’ and ‘constancy’) is more theoretical than practical.
Help with 19 down please
Hi Debbie
19d Good cheers and cries in a play (8). It’s an anagram (‘play’, plural verb) of CRIES IN A. The resulting plural of a six-letter singular noun (in Chambers) is somewhat questionable, but it could mean something along the lines of ‘multiple instances of good cheer’. Hope that helps.