Notes for Gemelo 4
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 4 Plain
Solver difficulty rating
4.2 based on 45 votes (voting is now closed)
Starting today, you have the opportunity to give your own G-rating for each 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. Each solver will be using their own yardstick, but by reflecting the average solver rating for the preceding puzzles I hope in the coming weeks to be able to give a good feel for the relative perceived difficulty of the latest offering.
This seemed to me a pretty challenging puzzle, and I was grateful for the three long anagrams (I chose to cheat on one of them, thus revealing a suitably reproachful answer). Once again, the proportion of obscure words was relatively low, but some devious definitions and wily wordplays proved a more than adequate counterbalance. The grammatical accuracy of the clueing in today’s puzzle struck me as being extremely high – a second look at a couple of things that didn’t look quite right at first glance confirmed that they were absolutely fine. If there are any clues which I haven’t covered below that you would like assistance or views on, just let me know.
Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 14d, “Take up stuffing duck, not having the sauce? (8)”. The wordplay here involves a reversal (‘up’) of a four-letter word meaning ‘take’ or ‘carry’ (often associated with ‘bag’) being put inside (‘stuffing’) the name of a particular kind of duck. The point of interest is the definition, the question being how far a setter can twist the words of an oblique definition to improve the surface reading. Chambers gives ‘the sauce’ as a US informal term for alcoholic drink, although I think it would be familiar to most UK solvers. I very much doubt whether in conversation we would refer to an abstainer as ‘not having the sauce’, rather something like ‘staying off the sauce’, but that doesn’t matter in the least. What is important in the cryptic reading of the definition is that what the setter has written could reasonably be interpreted as leading to the answer, not that it has to be a natural way of indicating it. Since ‘have’ has a wide variety of meanings, including ‘take’ and ‘accept’, someone ‘not having the sauce’ could surely be abstaining from alcoholic drink. Similarly with ‘never trying hard stuff’, but note that something like ‘never striking the bottle’ would not be acceptable – ‘hitting the bottle’ is the expression here, and replacing one word in it with a synonym destroys the figurative sense. Whether ‘never hitting the bottle’ would be a valid description of an abstainer is itself questionable, since the phrase refers to drinking alcohol excessively, not to having the odd dram.
Across
1a Lover of language cheers (8)
The sight of ‘cheers’ in a cryptic clue always make me think TA, but the interjection which follows the three-letter name of an international language developed from Esperanto does not mean ‘thanks!’ but ‘cheerio!’ or (for older readers) ‘TTFN’.
10a Teachers may use these unearned powers to ignore government (6)
A seven-letter word for powers which have been inherited rather than earned (or for the insignia of royalty) is deprived of (‘to ignore’) the single-letter abbreviation for ‘government’.
15a Move to and fro, avoiding hot light that’s been abandoned (6)
A seven-letter word for ‘move to and fro’ (originally from the world of weaving) loses (‘avoiding’) the usual abbreviation for ‘hot’. The answer is shown by Chambers as ‘obsolete’, hence the qualifier “that’s been abandoned”.
16a New rubber involving clubs, secondly diamonds, and hearts (6)
The wordplay yields the usual abbreviation for ‘new’, a three-letter type of rubber extracted from a central American tree containing the usual abbreviation for ‘clubs’, and the second letter (‘secondly’) of ‘diamonds’.
20a Fish that is out of time (4)
The (2,3) Latin phrase meaning ‘that is’ surrenders (‘out of’) the usual abbreviation for ‘time’.
21a Primate Mark losing south-east and half of London(4)
The nine-letter name of a particular punctuation mark loses both the usual abbreviation for ‘south-east’ and the first half of ‘London’.
24a Like notable lion’s old relative, swallowing another one? (6)
A three-letter ‘pet name for a grandmother'(‘old relative’) contains (‘swallowing’) an obsolete term for an uncle (‘another one’, ie another old relative, ‘old’ in this instance referring to the word’s obsoleteness). The answer comes from the name of the valley which the large and ferocious lion of Greek myth called home before it had the misfortune to meet up with Heracles. King Eurystheus had charged Heracles with the task of dispatching the said feline, which had become a scourge of the area; it was a labour which didn’t sound unduly challenging until it turned out that the enormous beast had an impenetrable golden hide, and that firing arrows at it simply made it angrier. And it was pretty angry to start with. Heracles blocked up one of the entrances to the lion’s cave before lobbing an early form of smoke bomb through the other one; when the lion duly emerged (by this time bordering on incandescence), Heracles (in the words of Ned Flanders) “gave its noggin a floggin'” and then throttled it. This feat of bare-handed lion-strangling put the wind up Eurystheus sufficiently that he communicated all future labours to Heracles through an intermediary, declining to meet him in person. The RSPCA’s response to the events is unknown.
29a Behold interior to clipped front claws (6)
One of those two-letter interjections meaning ‘behold!’ is contained by (‘interior to’) a word for ‘front’ (of the brass neck variety) which has been shorn of its last letter (‘clipped’).
32a Perhaps olive stuffed with herb for amusement of a crowd? (8)
A four-letter word for something of which an olive is but one example contains (‘stuffed by’) the name of an umbelliferous herb related to the parsnip. My remarks in Setters’ Corner about the definition in 14d are equally applicable here, the ‘crowd’ being one more than the number of people constituting ‘company’ in a familiar saying.
Down
2d Irrational number had to follow round number (6)
A two-letter irrational number (slightly bigger than the crowd in 32a) and a three-letter word meaning ‘had’ in the sense of ‘consumed’ come after (‘to follow’) the letter of the alphabet which could be described as a ’round’. I remember a time when ETHER seemed to be invariably defined in cryptic clues by ‘number’, but I don’t remember seeing it for the answer here.
4d Card game’s mark is hedging so far (5)
A three-letter word for the cross on the ice at curling or the ‘hob’ at quoits (“game’s mark”) contains (‘is hedging’) a two-letter word meaning ‘so far’, often indicated in crosswords by ‘like’. The nicely-disguised definition is a verb in the cryptic reading.
5d Opposition means to expel peer for his costume? (6)
An eleven-letter word for ‘any means of counteraction’ (‘opposition means’) gives up a five-letter word for a noble equal in rank to an earl (‘peer’), the result being something which is traditionally used to trim the ceremonial robes of the aristocracy.
6d Short notch in willow plant (7)
A four-letter word for a notch (or police station) without its last letter (‘short’) is contained by an alternative spelling of a word for a willow, shown as obsolete by the OED, and derived from the Latin word for the tree (with which it shares the first three letters).
7d Choice of 200 monkeys no longer adopted (4)
A double definition clue, although I’m not sure that I much care for ‘of’ being used to link the two definitions, suggesting an asymmetry that doesn’t exist. The first definition is an adjective (and the nickname of PG Wodehouse), while the second requires the solver to work out what 200 monkeys would be, given that one ‘monkey’ is £500.
12d Ascendant prophet adjusting position of university theologians (6)
The name of an Old Testament prophet to be found sandwiched between Ruth and Kings is reversed (‘ascendant’) and the usual abbreviation for ‘university’ is relocated within it (‘adjusting position of university’).
23d Test circuit board (6)
The wordplay is a charade of a two-letter ‘circuit’ with a single binary output (the highest value of any of its inputs) and a word for a board in the wooden sense. Apparently in the British timber trade such a thing is understood to be 9 inches wide, not more than 3 inches thick, and at least 6 feet long. If shorter, it is a ???-end; if not more than 7 inches wide, it is a batten. I imagine that if it exceeds the stated dimensions, it is considered a big ????.
27d Keen to cut lines for Bollywood title? (4)
A six-letter word meaning ‘keen’ or ‘piercing’ loses (‘to cut’) the two-letter abbreviation for ‘lines’ to produce a title which I believe is bestowed on celebrated or revered figures (such as Bollywood stars) regardless of their gender.
(definitions are underlined)
I agree with comments on various excellence: 31a etc. Not so convinced by Doctor’s defence of misleading capitals in “surface reading”(21a, 13d) On the other hand I thought 28a was particularly good. Hmm. I think we complain about ones which caught us out, don’t we? Overall I prefer Gemelo’s use of unusual words/definitions to excess obsolescence/hyphens/Spenser/variant spellings of previous puzzles. One major complaint: 13d is dire. It belongs to the category of: this is in Chambers, therefore it’s fair… A double abbreviation plus hyphen? But then the letter sequence must have been enticing.
Awarding a score? What does that mean? How hard I found it? Or how good? Five and three.
Hi GH
My ‘defence’ of the misleading capitals in 21a and 13d is limited to the observation that adding an initial capital to words which do not require a capital in the cryptic reading is generally considered acceptable (although the reverse, deceptively removing a capital, as in “Victor is in nice undergarment” for VEST, where the cryptic reading requires ‘Nice’, is not allowed). The argument usually put forward is that words which do not normally warrant an initial capital (such as ‘sport’ in 13d) could on occasion be seen with one, eg at the start of a sentence or in a title (‘A Question of Sport’). I don’t condone the practice, since it seems to me that part of the setter’s art is to manoeuvre such words (eg ‘henry’ for H or ‘stokes’ for S) into a position in the clue where the capital is justified in both surface and cryptic readings, which is 100% crafty and 0% unfair.
The rating refers specifically to difficulty; although the absolute rating is subjective, I would expect one person’s ratings for several puzzles to be a pretty fair reflection of their relative toughness from that person’s perspective. I think enjoyment, absolute or relative, is very hard to assess. Sometimes it’s more akin to relief 😊.
Apologies Doctor. I read your criteria for stars more carefully after your reply. I see where you’re going re. capitals. Thanks as ever.
Definite “5” for me, but loved the use of “crowd” in 32A. Very clever!
Please help on 6A, where I have all 3 available letters but no idea of the solution!
Not happy with the “cheers” substitution at 1A which I have only heard as a dismissive term meaning “go away”, “don’t bother me”, certainly not a cheery “cheerio” as you have suggested, unless it is preceded by “see you” – in which case it is not a full substitution. Is this meaning, as a solitary term, an imported Americanism?
As for 13D, I despair with “feud exposed” leading to “EU”; and why was “Sport” capitalised in the clue?
With all the vagueness in the wordplay, such as “Perhaps olive” at 32A, this has to score a 5 from me as it was an uphill struggle which left one with a distinct feeling of 8D!
Hi MP
6a – Retired campfire song was mad (4). The four-letter word that must be reversed (‘retired’) is the name of the campfire song that begins “Day is done. gone the sun / From the lake, from the hills, from the sky” – one that you either know or you don’t; the name was originally given to a bugle call sounded in the US to signal “lights out” at the end of a military day. The word could also be indicated by ‘gentle knocks’.
Since Chambers gives the ‘cheers’ word as “interjection (informal, chiefly US) See you ?????, goodbye (also ?????s)”, I don’t think Gemelo can be faulted. Collins gives the six-letter version, which is surely ok, but only gives the five-letter form when preceded by ‘see you’; however, the Chambers Slang Dictionary gives it as 1940s onwards US slang for ‘goodbye’.
‘Sport’ in 13d was capitalized for the benefit of the surface reading (being the name of a British tabloid ‘newspaper’, responsible for such headlines as “Aliens Turned Our Son Into A Fish Finger” and “Donkey Robs Bank”), but, like ‘Mark’ in 21a, needs to be de-capped in the cryptic reading.
It certainly wasn’t an easy solve.
In appreciate any pointers for 21a. I think I am confident in my first two letters and dubious in my last.
I noticed that I’d omitted this one (unintentionally) from the notes, so I added it earlier this evening. Two letters must be removed from the start of the nine-letter ‘mark’ (not ‘Mark’) and three from the end. What’s left is a marmoset.
Thanks for that. I was blinded by my struggle with 13d. I see that Chambers has that as a hyphenated entry, whereas I always think of the end of it as two separate letters.
You’re not alone – Collins gives it as two ‘words’ (but then gives an example of it with a hyphen under the entry for the prefix!), although OED shows it as being hyphenated. Of course, Chambers is the primary reference for Gemelo, so the ‘(6)’ enumeration is appropriate.
Started off well then slowed down a lot so I gave a G-rating of 4. Stuck though on just one clue 3d, where I have the first 3 letters but I can’t work out which part of the clue is the definition, let alone the word play.
Hi Steve
The definition is ‘air’, with two letters selected from ‘rifle’ being ‘carried’ by the two-letter abbreviation for a particular rank in the army (or that of Uhura in Star Trek).
Hope that helps
Yes it does help. Thanks.
I like the “G-rating”.
My first thought with monkey (and pony) is more often than not the monetary value especially if there are other numbers in the clue and I didn’t mind the ‘sauce’ phrasing reference.
I use TTFN to this day, and I dare say younger solvers might pluralise the term for cheers in the solution (and to my surprise, I see that is given in Chambers).
Thanks, as ever, for the detailed analysis.
Thanks, Jay
I thought the level of soundness was extremely high. The only thing that jarred with me was that ‘of’ linking the two definitions in 7d, but I’d be hard pressed to describe even that as ‘unsound’.
Thanks, Doctor! Just seen my silly spelling mistake!
Thank you for adding the rating function. On first read through, I was facetiously going to ask for a sixth star. As the caffeine started to work and various light bulbs flickered, I started to realise how well crafted this is. Time was wasted at 15 – the movement surely had to have two fs. By the time I finished, my rating was lowered to a three. As a Wodehouse fan, I kicked myself for not seeing 7 until coming here. All good fun.
Yes, very well – and deviously – crafted. I thought that 31a was a great example of a clue that looks a bit scary but which, once you start to unpick it, turns out to involve nothing unusual in terms of answer, definition or wordplay.
Hi DC, I’m unable to parse 31, any hints?
Bob
Hi Bob
The ‘ultimately’ needs to be applied to the four words preceding it, at which point a clue which looks pretty impenetrable should start to make sense (the definition comprises the first three words).
Hope that helps, but let me know if not!
I found difficulty rating a gentle 4*, apart from18a, ‘Part not initially on record’, which you don’t mention! I have biffed in AVER but can’t make full sense of it!
Hi Nicola
A bit of a biff indeed (and one which doesn’t fit with 12d)! A five-letter word meaning ‘[to] part’ loses its first letter (‘not initially’) to produce a word meaning ‘on record’, as in ‘the largest doughnut on record’.
Your introductory comment “ There are usually one or two points of interest in an Observer barred puzzle” drew my attention to the fact that your icon for these Gemelo puzzles is based on a blocked puzzle.
Hi Tony
fair point, well made. I asked ChatGPT to design an image for a crossword setter called Gemelo, but I didn’t specify the type of crossword. It just goes to show that accuracy is not only required when writing clues.