All fairly straightforward this week from Everyman – which, to be fair, is usually the case. It was only the famous (mis)quote that I couldn’t see for ages.
Observer
Gemelo No. 50
Gemelo marks his 50th puzzle with a new device.
Everyman 4,172
What has now become a typically good and sound Everyman crossword with generally nice surfaces. Some of the answers are quite easy to find, so I think he is becoming more user-friendly for those who are not yet all that familiar with things.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.
Azed 2784
This puzzle was published in the Observer on the first Sunday of October, so that means it is an Azed puzzle rather than a Gemelo puzzle.
Everyman 4,171
The puzzle may be found in interactive form (behind a paywall or as a limited free trial) at https://observer.co.uk/puzzles/everyman/article/everyman-no-4171 or openly as a pdf at https://tinyurl.com/Everyman4171.
Gemelo No. 49
Another well-crafted puzzle from Gemelo. I managed only a few solutions on my first pass, and I really felt stymied, but then one by one the clues suddenly seemed almost obvious.
Everyman 4,170/20 September 2026
I found this quite tough going for an Everyman
Gemelo No. 48
The original puzzle may be found here.
Gemelo 47
A plain puzzle from Gemelo, with the usual collection of unfamiliar words to add to our vocabularies (and, at least in my case, to forget shortly afterwards). Thanks to Gemelo.
Everyman 4,169/13 September
All the usual features of an Everyman puzzle in this one.
Everyman 4,168
I thought this was on the easy side for Everyman, but everything is good and sound (apart from one or two small criticisms). There are some excellent clues with convincing surfaces and the usual Everyman trademarks indicated in colour below.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.
Azed No. 2,783
Several clues where I’m not 100% sure, and one that at the time of writing quite defeats me. However, I’m sure that all will be explained.
My guess is that anyone who does these crosswords will have a copy of Chambers to hand and so won’t need everything to be spelled out. In the parsing I have confined myself to explaining when the wordplay is not immediately clear.
Everyman 4,167
The original puzzle may be found here or as a pdf at https://tinyurl.com/Everyman4167.
Gemelo No. 46
Some brilliant clues in this week’s plain puzzle.
Everyman 4,166/23 August 2026
Another solid Everyman, with everything in its proper place.