I have the honour of blogging Gemelo’s first puzzle in The Observer, and very nice it is too: fairly similar in difficulty to Azed and the clues are so far as I can see sound, with pleasantly convincing surfaces. The only apparent difference from Azed is that two of the answers have all their letters checked, something I don’t remember from Azed.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ARMOUR |
Rector opening loved one’s mail (6)
|
| a(r)mour | ||
| 5 | CARIBE |
Piranha caught by guy in A&E (6)
|
| c. A(rib)E — rib = guy in the tease sense | ||
| 9 | MOVIEOKE |
Walk around that is certainly overacting? (8)
|
| mov(i.e. OK)e — a new word to me on the principle of karaoke, providing dialogue to films whose sound is muted, so a sort of ‘over-acting’ | ||
| 11 | AFTERS |
Where I can be seen in conversion course? (6)
|
| I can be seen in converSIon, i.e. it comes after S —not sure of the need for a question mark here | ||
| 12 | SAPAN |
Southern nation originally cut Brazil-wood (5)
|
| S [J]apan | ||
| 13 | CAIRN |
Near 1ac: Rolling Stones (5)
|
| (nr iac)rev. — rolling = reversing | ||
| 15 | EMULGE |
Expired milk turned blue in the fridge, ultimately (6)
|
| [th]e(mulg)[fridg]e where the mulg = (glum)rev. — the definition ‘expired milk’ means that it’s an archaic word for milk, giving a very nice surface | ||
| 16 | DUCK SOUP |
1930s comedy eludes publisher (8, 2 words)
|
| ducks OUP — the Marx Brothers film | ||
| 19 | NAVICERT |
Nuclear craft hiding fault in maritime paperwork (8)
|
| N. a(vice)rt | ||
| 22 | CREAM BUN |
Treat from menu, with crab being off (8, 2 words)
|
| (menu crab)* | ||
| 23 | DEAD HEAT |
Academic fellow mostly hated funny tie (8, 2 words)
|
| dea[n] (hated)* | ||
| 26 | OWLERY |
In East London, mistake yard for where parliament sits? (6)
|
| ‘owler y — all cockneys/East Londoners in Crosswordland drop their aitches — in crosswords the word ‘parliament’ is a pretty sure sign that owls are involved (a parliament of owls) | ||
| 28 | SCUSE |
Pardon self-contained exercise (5)
|
| s/c use | ||
| 29 | PAEAN |
A eulogy, primarily, welcomed by god? (5)
|
| P(a e[ulogy])an, &lit. | ||
| 30 | ASHPAN |
Representation of Jesus’ heart replaced by high priest? Remains to be seen here (6)
|
| I’m unable to parse this: it seems to be something like as*an where the * (any length) is replaced by hp but I can’t think of or find any word as*an which means ‘representation of Jesus’ — Aswan or Asian look likely, but … — it looks as if this is the correct answer, though, and no doubt someone will explain — or is it as an = representation? Seems a bit thin, and it doesn’t really have a heart unless you regard the space as its heart, and in any case what then is Jesus doing? — in Chambers it is given as ash-pan not ashpan, so I may be wrong. [As several commenters mention, Aslan is in the Narnia books (which, if I was even aware of them, I disliked and have always avoided) as a representation of Jesus. Was completely unaware of this] | ||
| 31 | RAILCARD |
OAP might have this on track to banter with comic (8)
|
| rail card — why the OAP, who typically has a Freedom Pass (bus pass)? Can’t anyone of any age buy a railcard? | ||
| 32 | NELLIE |
Weakling’s life (6)
|
| 2 defs, one of them as in ‘not on your nellie/life’ | ||
| 33 | ERSATZ |
Substitute amongst defenders at Zagreb (6)
|
| Hidden in defendERS AT Zagreb | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ARACHNID |
Principal tackling a commotion, reversing tick? (8)
|
| ar(a)ch (din)rev. | ||
| 2 | MOTIF |
Adjust order to back up theme (5)
|
| (fit OM)rev. | ||
| 3 | OVERKIND |
Too nice about blood diamonds (8)
|
| over kin D — kin = blood | ||
| 4 | RESCUER |
I deliver surprisingly secure rule (7)
|
| *(secure) r | ||
| 5 | CODEC |
Mock executive committee’s electrical apparatus (5)
|
| cod EC | ||
| 6 | REAU |
The Emirates runs up temperature scale (4)
|
| (UAE R)rev. — Réau is short for Réaumur | ||
| 7 | BLAGUEURS |
Humbug merchants stirred blue sugar (9)
|
| *(blue sugar) | ||
| 8 | EINE |
Readers of old article from Hamburg (4)
|
| 2 defs, the first one referring to an obsolete word for eyes | ||
| 10 | APLOMB |
Coolness in A Level after dropping university for nothing (6)
|
| A plumb with the u (= U) dropped and replaced by o (= 0) | ||
| 14 | AGATEWARE |
People who’ve come to break up pottery (9)
|
| gate (people who’ve come) in aware (up: Chambers definition 31, well-informed, versed) | ||
| 17 | SO MUCH AS |
Somerset capital gets even (8, 3 words)
|
| Som[erset] uc has — uc = upper-case = capital | ||
| 18 | PINCENEZ |
Help to see king abandoning his son before religious uprising (8)
|
| P[r]ince (Zen)rev. | ||
| 20 | VEALER |
See medic dropping head a little lower to eat? (6)
|
| v [h]ealer — the cattle sense of lower, an animal that lows | ||
| 21 | REAL ALE |
Drink after getting left in Scottish enclosure (7, 2 words)
|
| re(à la L)e | ||
| 24 | EYRIE |
Heroine circling island’s inaccessible place (5)
|
| Eyr(i)e — the heroine is Jane Eyre | ||
| 25 | SUPRA |
Above page is found in chapter of the Koran (5)
|
| Su(p)ra | ||
| 26 | OPEN |
Obvious negative when cycling (4)
|
| nope cycling, i.e. it starts with the o and the first letter moves to the last | ||
| 27 | EARL |
Almost edged equal to count (4)
|
| A bit convenient this, because all the letters are there and I’m not all that confident of the parsing: I think it’s that in the hierarchy of the aristocracy an earl is equal to a count and the wordplay is earl[y], but is edged = early? |
For years I’ve printed Azed and solved it on paper, but I decided to try to solve this online. I was surprised that I managed to complete the grid without reference to Chambers, but I did check a few things after I had finished.
I worked out the answer to 30a quite early, but almost the last thing I did was remember that in Narnia the Lion ASLAN is the equivalent of Jesus.
For 27d, I think ‘almost’ is NEARLY and ‘edged’ means to remove the outer letters.
26a fooled me because I’ve come to expect that East London is the one in South Africa.
Very good I thought. Like Matthew@1 I had ASLAN as the representation of Jesus, Wiki confirms, with the L at heart moving to HP.
Note the “A Z” in opposite corners, surely no coincidence.
Thanks to Gemelo and John.
27d is [N]EARL[Y] “edged” (as Matthew says)
Really enjoyed this. Great debut.
By the way, not everyone can buy a railcard – there are nine categories of railcard, of which the Senior Railcard is one type. Isn’t the Freedom Pass an exclusively London thing?
I thought that this was a successful debut and I look forward to solving many more puzzles by Gemelo.
In addition to the AZ noted by Jay, the OUP in DUCK SOUP is perhaps no coincidence: Azed (Jonathan Crowther) worked for OUP as a lexicographer for many years.
I remember my parents solving the first Azed, and joking that one day this would be something to boast about to their grandchildren. Now here am I solving (just) the first of his successor Gemelo’s puzzles. Thanks to Gemelo and thanks also to Azed for arranging a suitable heir.
Although I was able to get ASHPAN I struggled with it. Unlike most of my contemporaries I never got on with the Narnia books. I had to deduce MOVIEOKE as my Chambers is a fairly old one.
My only quibble with this puzzle, and not just this one but a few others I have encountered lately, concerns capital letters. In 13 is it acceptable to mislead by using capitals for “rolling” and “stones” when the punctation of the clue doesn’t justify it? Am I being too pedantic?
Favourite clue was 16 (DUCK SOUP).
I found this very different from Azed and it took me a while to get on the wavelength. I don’t remember if there was a similar jerk when Azed took over from Ximenes, though I was around at the changeover. This was very enjoyable when I got the hang of it. More general knowledge required than is usual in Azed, eg 16 ac and 30 ac. We shall have to see if this is typical of Gemelo. I could not parse 30ac, though when it was explained I remembered Narnia.
Regarding rail cards and bus passes, bus passes give free bus travel but not train travel. They come free, are issued by local authorities, and have local differences. Mine is called a Gold Card, and it doubles as a library card and also authorises discounts at a number of local businesses.
I am looking forward to getting to grips with today’s Gemelo. thanks for the first one, and also for John’s blog. And all good wishes to Azed for semi-retirement.
Perhaps the use of Aslan (not in Chambers) needs to be remembered. It is a familiar word to readers of the Narnia books as an allegorical type of Christ, and to quite a few Christians (for want of a better word), of which Gemelo is one as he states in his recent setter’s blog on his Listener crossword based on Matthew 24 verse 35.
Didn’t finish this. Got stuck in the bottom left after a couple of bad guesses.
I have had a Senior Railcard for some years, after I retired but before I got my state pension. The Freedom Pass does seem to be a London thing.
I started well with this and thought it was not so different to Azed….but then I started to struggle. Naturally, all the clues I found hard crossed with each other! Got there eventually and was cross with myself over one or two. No real quibbles on the clues, but I thought AFTERS was a bit weak and also SAPAN (nation originally cut = Japan; well, it could have been any five-letter nation – one of those clues you can parse after solving, but not before). Overall, though, a very promising start.
Tim C: The Christian allegory of the Narnia books completely escaped me as a child and I became an atheist.
I think Gemelo might be slightly easier than Azed, based simply on the fact that I successfully solved it. Vlad once used Aslan (literary lion) in a clue for ASLANT.
Failed dismally on this one, but just completed number 2. Small numbers and all that, but a similar success rate to Azed so far!
Got there in the end. Some sorting out beyond me until I tried umpteen possibilities. I’d say quite different from Azed. Have finished number 2 which still has some obscure parsing. Any way it was a good workout. Just got to get into his thinking,!
Slowish solve for me but completed in the end – didn’t spot ASLAN despite loving the Narnia books when young, although at the time wasn’t aware of the Christian allegory – the AZ in opposite corners is a clever tribute which again I didn’t spot – thanks for pointing these out! Is it me or did it feel as though there were fewer references to obscure Spenserian / Scottish words?
I found the right hand side went in reasonably easily, but the left took a couple of sessions. I was unsure of a couple of parsings, but not troubled by that.
All in all an enjoyable puzzle so thanks and welcome to Gemelo.
Thanks Gemelo – I’m somewhat put out by the sudden change in style and I’m taking a while to dial into it. My wife commented that it was more like a harder version of Everyman! I still prefer the logical structure of AZED so hopefully things will settle down. I solved ASHPAN without knowing the religious reference but I think it’s unfair to assume religious knowledge especially as the non-devout comprise the majority of the population!
Aside from the above it’s been a good challenge so far.
Agree, some scrabbling around and the usual additions to the memory bank. Thanks to all.