A surprisingly approachable offering from Gemelo this week.
Gemelo 31
Gemelo gives a special puzzle this week. We were presented with a set of clues that looked like this; It took me a while to get into this puzzle, as I didn’t see … Read more >>
Gemelo
Gemelo 29
I think I’m gradually getting the hang of this setter: a few tricky moments but less of a struggle than I’ve found some of his work. Thanks to Gemelo.
Gemelo No. 28 – Plain
After the brilliant Gemelo 27 with its Spoonerisms etc, we are now back to a plain Gemelo, and it seemed to me to be harder, possibly because I was solving at the computer (the software that I normally use has been tripped up by The Observer’s changes and this blog will look a bit different) with my reference books on my lap — I hadn’t learnt how to print a pdf, which thanks to The Observer I know now. There are two whose parsing is at present beyond me and which I hope to understand while I’m doing the blog. [Later: no].
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.
Definitions in some sort of red, underlined. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*
Gemelo No. 27 – Spooner or Letter
Arguably the best Gemelo yet, with devices that do not just display the setter’s ingenuity but also challenge the solver.
Gemelo 26
Gemelo is now well into his series of Observer puzzles.
Gemelo No. 25 – plain
Gemelo educates and entertains.
Gemelo 24
Another “constrained” puzzle, where Gemelo has enforced a rule that makes the setting harder for himself without making the solver’s job harder (or easier)…
Gemelo No. 23 – plain
Gemelo has again produced a nice crossword with some very good clues. I don’t think there will be any problem with his taking over fully from Azed in due course.
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.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*
Gemelo 22
Gemelo is settling down into an Observer routine and I am getting onto his wavelength a bit more.
Gemelo No. 21 – Half & Half
This is the first Gemelo “special” that calls upon the solver to manipulate the solutions in some unconventional fashion. The puzzle opens with these instructions:
Gemelo No. 20 – plain
I found this one on the tougher side.
Gemelo No. 19 – first things first
I’m writing this here with no fear that passers-by will get information that detracts from their enjoyment of the puzzle, because it is all quite open: nothing has to be discovered (except perhaps the hint from the first clue). Gemelo has quite brilliantly used the first letters in the words of a well-known poem (until there are no more clues) to restrict the words in the clues and he has achieved this with the minimum of strain, although it must have been incredibly difficult. In fact I solved it all before bothering to look at the preamble. It wouldn’t have helped me in my solving. No doubt because of the restrictions I found this rather harder than Gemelo’s usual.
Why Gemelo makes it so difficult for himself I’m not sure. I eagerly await the day when he produces a puzzle like one of Azed’s excellent Specials, where the solver has to discover something. He seems quite capable of doing so.
Gemelo 18
We have a plain puzzle form Gemelo this week in The Observer
Gemelo No. 17 – plain
A plain puzzle from Gemelo.