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 you would prefer that your question/comment is not publicly visible, by email.

Gemelo 51

This puzzle is available at https://content-api.slowdownwiseup.co.uk/api/mobile/v1/puzzle-data/8e942aea-dccf-42ef-b938-ffe220ef4631/file/puzzle.pdf.

Solver difficulty rating

2.0 based on 37 votes (voting is now closed)

You gave last week’s ‘Anagram Act’ an average rating of 3.4, higher than any recent plain puzzle. I put it a bit lower at 2.9, but solving gimmicked clues becomes easier when you’ve written as many of them as I have; I suspect that the ‘old hands’ will have found it relatively more straightforward than those solvers who are less familiar with this general type of crossword. In any event, I think it’s fair to say that it got a thumbs-up from the majority of solvers.

Without in any way wishing to influence the jury, I would be very surprised if the rating for this puzzle got anywhere near to 3.4. I found that it offered a pleasant solve, made easier by the fact that (very unusually for Gemelo/Azed) it contained nothing unfamiliar to me at all (it’s probably not unusual that I have encountered all the words/senses before, but if I have then I’ve typically long since forgotten some of them). I had no problem deciding which clues to select for comment this week as I’d only marked sixteen in total.

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 31a, “Unbalanced thus, entering into cycling race (7)”.  The wordplay has a three-letter word meaning ‘unbalanced’ followed by a two-letter word for ‘thus’ contained by (‘entering’) a synonym of ‘into’, the result being a cycling race which is slightly less weird than the keirin. The point of interest is the word ‘into’. It is considered acceptable to transfer a word in a clue directly into the answer (as in 6a here), while a setter is not generally allowed to use one form of a word to indicate another, eg ‘a’ in a clue contributing AN to the answer. But what about the situation that we have here, where ‘into’ is used to indicate IN? The word ‘into’ is a compound of ‘in’ and ‘to’, so it is a very close relative of ‘in’, but they are listed as separate headwords in Chambers; then again, so are ‘a’ and ‘an’. I think the clincher is that ‘into’ is listed in Chambers as a meaning of ‘in’, which suggests that they are now two distinct words whose meanings have in some contexts merged. Personally, I’d try to avoid using, say, ‘into’ for IN and ‘upon’ for ON wherever possible, but there’s nothing to stop you doing such a thing if it seems to be the best available option.

Across

1a Cast tried keeping irrational, groundbreaking outcome in play? (7)
An anagram (‘cast’) of TRIED contains (‘keeping’) a two-letter irrational (number), one of only two that you are likely to encounter in a cryptic, the other being ‘e’, the base of natural logarithms. Even those whose memories are not what they once were (eg me) will recall that the (4-3) answer also featured in this month’s Azed (“What kids model with fell round messy pit”). I much prefer Gemelo’s version.

14a Absolutely veto government covering for members importing gold (12, 3 words)
A three-letter word answering to ‘veto’ is followed by the single-letter abbreviation for ‘Government’ and a six-letter word for a close-fitting garment, containing (‘importing’) the two-letter heraldic tincture (‘gold’) which has come to the aid of many a setter. The ‘members’ which are covered are the legs (nothing to do with that codpiece at 19d), and the answer is (4,2,6).

16a Source of Japanese art ignored by American nationalist (6)
A familiar type of Japanese art losing (‘ignored by’) a two-letter abbreviation for ‘American’ precedes the standard abbreviation for ‘nationalist’.

18a Bon vivant‘s drunk ales in more modest surroundings (9)
An anagram (‘drunk’) of ALES is contained by (‘in…surroundings’) a word meaning ‘more modest’ or ‘more chaste’.

21a Old and expecting to start late, previously certified unfit to work (9, 3 words)
The usual abbreviation for ‘old’ is followed by a (2,3,4) slang expression meaning ‘expecting [the patter of tiny feet]’ missing its first letter (‘to start late’), the result being another (2,3,4) phrase, this one being shown by Chambers as ‘old slang’.

25a Indiana Jones has his and theirs sadly cut from Raiders of the Lost…? (6)
An anagram (‘lost’) of RAIDERS OF THE with a jumble (‘sadly’) of the letters THEIRS removed (‘cut’) produces the name of an item of clothing, an iconic version of which was originally designed by costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis for Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark and produced in London by Herbert Johnson, based on their classic ‘Poet’ design. There is a grammatical issue here – the word ‘and’ links the definition with the wordplay, but the answer is the object, not the subject, of the definition; it would need to be something like ‘What Indiana Jones has’ in order to make the cryptic reading valid. Incidentally, the answer puts me (but almost certainly no-one else) in mind of a song which begins “He used to wear ??????s, but now he sports a fez / There’s cabalistic innuendo in everything he says”. If you can name that tune without googling, you will have earned my undying respect.

28a One’s going through watery beans and liver for this? (7)
A (1,2) phrase answering to “one’s” or ‘one is’ is contained by (‘going through’) a four-letter word meaning ‘watery’.

33a Headless chickens tore around back of the trap (7)
A four-letter word for ‘chickens’ missing its first letter (‘headless’) precedes a reversal (‘around’) of a three-letter word meaning ‘tore’ or ‘raced’, with the last letter (‘back’) of ‘the’ bringing up the rear.

Down

1d Briefly face uppercut in top entertainment? (7)
A four-letter word meaning ‘face’ (typically that of a watch or clock) deprived of its last letter (‘briefly’) is followed by a four-letter word (usually attached, in my experience, to the word ‘punch’) for an exaggerated uppercut, of the sort on occasion theatrically and memorably executed by Sugar Ray Leonard.

2d One with bad fake tan, perhaps – mostly backward, old, uninformed person (6)
The Roman numeral representing ‘one’ combines with a reversal (‘backward’) of a word which might describe the hue of someone ‘with bad fake tan’ (once exemplified by David Dickinson, now by Donald Trump) without its last letter (‘mostly’).

4d Deadly addition to mortar stopped by international doctrine? (9)
The item that any cook or old-style pharmacist would need in order to get full value from their mortar contains (‘is stopped by’) the single-letter abbreviation for ‘international’, the whole lot being followed by a two-letter abbreviation for something that represents a (Christian) doctrine in the sense of ‘a body of religious, political, etc teaching’.

5d Like heaven that may be seen if surrendering cross (7)
An eight-letter word meaning ‘that may be seen’ or ‘lying outside’ loses (‘surrendering’) the letter of the alphabet that has the form of a cross.

8d Uncertainty over tank, including who emptied or maybe who filled it? (11)
A reversal (‘over’) of a two-letter word for an uncertainty (oft repeated by Mr Kipling) precedes the seven-letter name of a type of tank (officially, ‘Medium Tank, M4’) which contains the outer letters of the word ‘who’ (ie ‘who emptied’). The definition refers back to the ‘tank’ in the wordplay, but in a different sense.

20d Potato bread containing arsenic tablet (7)
A four-letter type of unleavened bread containing the chemical symbol for arsenic is followed by the single-letter abbreviation for a tablet of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

23d Expert supporting sides of Kasper Schmeichel might spend these (6)
A four-letter word for an expert is put underneath (‘supporting’) the first and last letters (‘sides’) of ‘Kasper’.

24d Shooter’s setting affected dandy across street (5)
A three-letter word for an affected dandy contains (‘across’) the two-letter abbreviation for ‘street’, the result being a (1-4) photographic term.

(definitions are underlined)