{"id":5910,"date":"2025-10-19T12:06:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T11:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clueclinic.com\/?p=5910"},"modified":"2025-11-09T13:09:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T13:09:39","slug":"notes-for-gemelo-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/19\/notes-for-gemelo-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes for Gemelo 12"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Gemelo 12 ‘For a change’<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Solver difficulty rating\r\n

4.8 based on 45 votes (voting is now closed)<\/p>\r\n

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). If you accidentally select the wrong star, you can change your vote by simply clicking on a different one. Note that hovering over the ‘graph’ icon will show you the full breakdown of votes for the current puzzle.<\/p>\r\n

You reckoned that the difficulty of last week’s puzzle was very similar to that of its predecessor, the majority of the ratings being 4’s; no-one assessed it as being less than a 3. I fully agree, having rated it as a 4 myself, the same as G10.<\/p>\r\n

Those of you who have felt starved of the sort of ‘special’ that places demands on the solver as well as the setter will have cried ‘Huzzah and hurrah’ when they looked at today’s puzzle. Azed used to give us ‘definition of anagram’ crosswords where the wordplay led to an anagram of the defined answer, but Gemelo has kindly provided us with a definition of the anagram to boot. That, however, is balanced out by some pretty tricky wordplays, such that in many instances you are likely to find yourself getting the answer from the ‘real’ definition plus checkers and then working back to parse the remainder of the clue. You should certainly allow yourself a ‘Huzzah and hurrah’ (as well as a good stiff drink) when you cross the finishing line. Be careful if you solve 25a before 3d (as I did) – the entry could be either of two variant spellings, but the correct one ends in a vowel.<\/p>\r\n

I’m not sure that there is any special technique for a puzzle of this sort, other than starting with the shorter entries and examining the clues to identify what looks like a wordplay, such that you can then isolate the definitions. I initially got a foothold in the NE corner and worked from there.<\/p>\r\n

I have provided notes on a selection of clues, followed by a breakdown of the components of each clue.\u00a0 Just ask if you need further clarification on any of the clues that I haven’t covered.<\/p>\r\n

Setters’ Corner<\/em><\/strong>: It is still a source of amazement to me how Azed was able to construct puzzles like this so quickly by hand, and without electronic assistance. These days, though, the task of grid filling has been made considerably easier by the availability of various computer applications, none better when it comes to ‘special’ fills like this than the free tool from Quinapalus, Qxw<\/a>. This has some extraordinarily powerful features which mean that, for instance, filling a grid where the entries are all anagrams of other dictionary words suddenly becomes a pretty straightforward task. But it can do all manner of other clever stuff besides. If you are looking to set themed puzzles, then Qxw should undoubtedly form part of your armoury.<\/p>\r\n

Incidentally, for anyone who isn’t aware of it (as I wasn’t until a kind correspondent pointed me in its direction) there is a very nice video on YouTube<\/a> featuring Azed and Gemelo.<\/p>\r\n

Across<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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1a<\/strong> I\u2019m restricted by no longer devoting land to assessing<\/em><\/span> sphinx<\/span> (10)<\/span>
The letters IM (from the clue) are contained (‘restricted’) by an archaic (‘no longer’) word for ‘devoting land to’ or ‘bestowing property upon’. The answer will strike a chord with anyone who regularly solves blocked crosswords in The Guardian<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n

10a<\/strong> Malayan fruit<\/span> tree from S Asia<\/em><\/span> to expose to light Indian millet (7)<\/span>
A three-letter word meaning ‘to expose to light’ (particularly of the natural kind) is followed by one spelling of a word for Indian millet, the more usual spelling being durra<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n

17a<\/strong> Add new colour to<\/span> hard exterior<\/span><\/em> in French vineyard headquarters (12)<\/span>
The two-letter French word for ‘in’ is followed by a three-letter word for a vineyard (or vintage) and a seven-letter word for a headquarters or a fixed stopping-place (in particular for trains).<\/p>\r\n

20a<\/strong> Regret hosting casual evening around suite<\/span><\/em> with a common parent<\/span> (7)<\/span>
A three-letter word meaning ‘[to] regret’ contains (‘hosting’) the reversal (‘around’) of an ‘informal’ four-letter word for an evening, such as might be seen in posters announcing ‘Party ????’ or ’70s Disco ????’.<\/p>\r\n

21a<\/strong> Special envoy ignoring one who cleanses<\/span><\/em> masses of blood<\/span> (7)<\/span>
The usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘special’ is followed by a seven-letter word for an envoy or a person doing urgent deliveries (or the font in which the clue appears above) deprived of (‘ignoring’) the Roman numeral representing ‘one’. The word ‘one’ is almost doing double duty, since the definition of the anagram requires a ‘one’ (or a ‘someone’) to be inferred at the beginning.<\/p>\r\n

24a<\/strong> Union member<\/span> in due course allowed at institute on request<\/span><\/em> (12)<\/span>
A two-letter word meaning (among many other things) ‘in due course’ is followed by a five-letter adjective meaning ‘allowed’, the letters AT (from the clue), the single-letter abbreviation of ‘institute’, and the letters ON (again from the clue).<\/p>\r\n

29a<\/strong> One getting trained<\/span> followers to go through content of steel shrines<\/span><\/em> (6)<\/span>
A three-letter word for ‘followers’ (or ‘chess pieces’) is contained by (‘to go through’) the word ‘steel’ without its first and last letters (ie ‘content of steel’). I don’t like ‘content’ as a ‘remove wrapper’ indicator – I think that ‘contents’ is much more accurate, and i don’t know why Gemelo didn’t use it here.<\/p>\r\n

33a<\/strong> Bully, you might say<\/span><\/em>, once destroyed<\/span> much appreciated water (7)<\/span>
A two-letter interjection meaning ‘much appreciated’ or ‘thanks’ is followed by the sort of water that may be passed by humans (I’m not thinking of an ornamental lake here). The whimsical definition of the anagram is something of an old chestnut.<\/p>\r\n

Down<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

5d<\/strong> Craving<\/span><\/em> top<\/span> US taxman to replace answer from whom? (1-5)<\/span>
A four-letter relative pronoun which can often be interchangeable with ‘whom’ (eg in ‘The person whom I saw doing the crossword’) has the three-letter abbreviation for the Internal Revenue Service (‘US taxman’) replacing the single-letter abbreviation for ‘answer’ within it.<\/p>\r\n

13d<\/strong> Buddhist desires such<\/span> relations<\/span><\/em> to sing triumphant cries (6)<\/span>
The wordplay is a charade of a word meaning ‘to sing’ as a grass or a snitch might and the plural form for a classical ‘interjection of invocation, or expressing joy or triumph or grief’.<\/p>\r\n

15d<\/strong> Temporarily takes over<\/span><\/em> banks after backing most of Bob Norton\u2019s family?<\/span> (9)<\/span>
The one clue where the anagram and the entry share an etymology. A four-letter word for ‘banks’ (such as cannons might be in) follows (‘after’) a reversal (‘backing’) of all but the last letter (‘most of’) a name for which ‘Bob’ is a diminutive. The ‘Norton’ in the definition of the entry is Mary of that ilk.<\/p>\r\n

16d<\/strong> Abandoning<\/span> support for bands<\/em><\/span> outside, covering good Eminem song (9)<\/span>
A four-letter word for the sort of ‘outside’ that a lemon or a cheese might have contains (‘covering’) the usual abbreviation for good and the four-letter title of one of Eminem’s most famous songs, which extensively samples Dido’s Thank You<\/em> and concerns his (former) ‘number one fan’.<\/p>\r\n

22d<\/strong> Hour in 5 seconds? Numbers<\/span><\/em>, numbers<\/span> (6)<\/span>
The two-letter abbreviation for ‘hour’ is contained by (‘in’) an ‘informal’ three-letter word for the entry at 5d (‘5’), the combination being followed by the usual abbreviation for ‘seconds’. Since the two definitions are the same (one being another old cryptic chestnut), it doesn’t matter which relates to the anagram and which to the entry.<\/p>\r\n

(definitions of grid entries are underlined<\/span>, while definitions of anagrams are shown in red italics<\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\r\n

Composition of clues<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Example: in 1a, the wordplay (W) consists of the first eight words, the definition of the anagram (DA) is the ninth word, and the definition of the entry (DE) is the tenth word – so it is (W8,DA1,DE1).<\/p>\r\n

Across<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1: (W8,DA1,DE1); 10: (DE2,DA4,W6); 11 :(DE1,DA5,W4); 12: (DA5,DE1,W2); 14: (W3,DE3,DA2); 16: (W2,DE3,DA1); 17: (DE4,DA2,W4); 20: (W5,DA1,DE4); 21: (W4,DA2,DE3); 24: (DE2,W7,DA1); 25: (DA1,DE2,W2); 29: (DE3,W7,DA1); 31: (DA1,W5,DE2); 32: (DE1,DA6,W3); 33: (DA4,DE2,W3); 34: (DA2,W5,DE5).<\/p>\r\n

Down<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1: (W3,DA2,DE2); 2: (DA2,DE1,W7); 3: (DA2,W5,DE1); 4: (DA1,W4,DE1); 5: (DA1,DE1,W7); 6: (DE2,DA3,W2); 7: (DA2,DE1,W2); 8: (DA1,W7,DE1); 9: (DA1,W4,DE2); 13: (DE3,DA1,W4); 15: (DA3,W6,DE2); 16: (DE1,DA3,W5); 18: (DE1,DA2,W3); 19: (DE3,DA\/W1,DA\/W1); 22: (W4,DA\/DE1,DA\/DE1); 23: (DA4,W5,DE5); 26: (DA1,W2,DE4); 27: (DE2,DA\/W1,DA\/W1); 28: (DE1,DA1,W4); 30: (DE2,DA1,W1).<\/p>\r\n

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Gemelo’s first true ‘special’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5717,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":3.899999999999999911182158029987476766109466552734375,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gemelo-notes"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":45,"sum_votes":216},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5910"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5951,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5910\/revisions\/5951"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}