Stamp has provided a puzzle with a festive ghost theme to keep us entertained between the presents and the turkey this Christmas Day.
I found this to be quite a challenging crossword, although spotting the ghost theme helped me to predict what some of my missing answers might be.
The completed grid contains allusions to the gifts mentioned in the Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas, mostly in their singular form: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, twelve drummers drumming.
In addition to the pleasure that I experienced in spotting the various gifts, I also appreciated the following clues: 1A, for the well-hidden definition, spotted only because of the ghost theme; 2, 4 and 9, all for smoothness of surface; 19, for making me smile; and 24, for the clever use of “rugby forward”. Incidentally, the entry at 31 was new to me but could easily be worked out from the wordplay.
I hope solvers, setter and bloggers alike have an enjoyable Christmas Day, and that they find at least some time for crosswording amid the festive proceedings.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | TURTLE | Being shelled, company ultimately surrendered, utterly beaten
*(UTTERL<y>); “company ultimately (=last letter) surrendered” means letter “y” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “beaten”; a turtle has a shell, hence is a “being shelled”! |
| 04 | ADDING UP | Reckoning opener’s out, preparing to bat
<p>ADDING UP (=preparing to bat, in cricket); “opener’s out” means first letter is dropped |
| 09 | LUANDA | University’s invested in property attracting American capital
[U (=university) in LAND (=property)] + A (=American); Luanda is the capital of Angola |
| 10 | OUTSLEEP | Snooze more than refreshed upset Leo
*(UPSET LEO); “refreshed” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | THEN | Greek goddess rejecting wings immediately
<a>THEN<a> (=Greek goddess; “rejecting wings” means first and last letters are dropped |
| 13 | COMMANDEER | When podcasting, usual browser is appropriate
Homophone (“when podcasting”) of “common (=usual) + deer (= “browser”, i.e. animal feeding on high vegetation)”; to commandeer is to requisition, appropriate |
| 15 | OLD BIRD | Passenger pigeon or dodo? Certainly no spring chicken!
The passenger pigeon and dodo are both examples of “old (=extinct)” birds |
| 16 | REMAPS | Prolific poster heartlessly lying about plans again
SPA<m>MER (=prolific poster; “heartlessly” means middle letter is dropped); “lying about” indicates reversal |
| 20 | ADVERT | Daughter hiding inside to avoid notice
D (=daughter) in AVERT (=avoid, ward off) |
| 22 | STIRRER | Troublemaker out of prison finally for impeccable behaviour
STIR (=prison, clink) + <fo>R <impeccabl>E <behaviou>R (“finally” means last letter only of each word is used) |
| 24 | RUPERT BEAR | Rugby forward caught naked in daily strip
RU (=rugby, i.e. rugby union) + PERT (=forward, cheeky) + homophone (“caught”) of “bare (=naked)”; Rupert Bear is a daily cartoon strip in the Daily Express |
| 27 | TREE | Cadet wanting adult in plane?
TR<ain>EE (=cadet; “wanting adult (=A) in) means letters “ain” are dropped; the plane is a species of tree |
| 29 | NEATNESS | Dine with head following name order
N (=name) + EAT (=dine) + NESS (=head, promontory) |
| 30 | GOLDEN | Turn 50 with day at space fair
GO (=turn, i.e. to do something) + L (=50, in Roman numerals) + D (=day) + EN (=space, in printing); fair hair could be golden in colour |
| 31 | HELISTOP | Hard base pilot’s exploited as landing pad
H (=hard, as in HB pencil) + E (=base, in mathematics) + *(PILOT’S); “exploited” is anagram indicator; Chambers lists a helistop as a landing-place for a helicopter, while Google reveals that, in the US, a helispot is a designated location near the site of a fire when firefighters’ helicopters can land! |
| 32 | RECESS | Note saints when checking church alcove
CE (=church, as in Church of England) in [RE (=note, in music) + SS (=saints, where S=saint)] |
| Down | ||
| 01 | TELETHON | Charity event on the tiles is cancelled unfortunately
*(ON THE T<i>LE<s>); “is cancelled” means letters “is” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “unfortunately” |
| 02 | REAMENDED | Paper finished with further edits
REAM (=paper, i.e. 500 sheets) + ENDED (=finished) |
| 03 | LADY | Male variant of chromosome or female?
LAD (=male) + Y (=variant of chromosome) |
| 05 | DRUMMER | One beating master in gruesome murder
M (=master, as in MA) in *(MURDER); “gruesome” is anagram indicator |
| 06 | IBSEN | Identifier of books switching focus, collecting European playwright
E (=European) in IBSN (ISBN=identifier of books, i.e. International Standard Book Number: “switching focus” means middle two letters are switched around); the reference is to Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) |
| 07 | GEESE | They’re a-laying Easter eggs, oddly from the bottom
E<a>S<t>E<r> E<g>G<s>; “oddly” means odd letters only are used; “from the bottom” indicates vertical reversal |
| 08 | PIPERS | Scottish drone operators?
Cryptic definition: a drone is the bass pipe of a Scottish bagpipe |
| 11 | LORD | Ruler being lengthened at either end
“lengthened” at either end gives “(letter) l or (letter) d”! |
| 14 | FIVE | Without 4 iron making longest par on course
IV (=4, in Roman numerals) in FE (=iron, i.e. chemical symbol) |
| 17 | MAID | Dresser from Kentish Town discounted by nearly fifteen pounds
MAID<stone> (=Kentish town, i.e. town in Kent; “discounted by nearly fifteen pounds (=(a) stone”, in imperial measures) means letters “stone” are dropped; a maid would help her mistress to dress, hence “dresser” |
| 18 | PARTRIDGE | Game character atop Crib Goch?
PART (=character, part) + RIDGE (=Crib Goch, in the Snowdonia National Park) |
| 19 | ARDENNES | Cuckoo ensnared as source of pâté?
*(ENSNARED); “cuckoo (=mad)” is anagram indicator; Ardennes is a region in Belgium that is famed for its pâté |
| 21 | TABASCO | Dressing easy as ABC to nurses
*(AS ABC) in TO; “easy” is anagram indicator |
| 22 | SWAN | Where dam’s found scrubbing a pen?
<a>SWAN (=where dam’s found, i.e. in Egypt; “scrubbing a” means a letter “a” is dropped); a pen is a female swan |
| 23 | FRENCH | Ditch foxtrot for tango from Paris, perhaps
TRENCH (=ditch, channel); “foxtrot (=F in NATO alphabet) for tango (=T in NATO alphabet)” means letter “t” becomes “f” |
| 25 | PEARL | Small gem lettuce’s beginning to bear fruit
PEAR (=fruit) + L<ettuce> (“beginning” means first letter only) |
| 26 | RINGS | New charging equipment introducing special tolls
[N (=new, as in NT) in RIG (=equipment, kit)] + S (=special) |
| 28 | DOVE | One might want to settle in Andover
Hidden (“in”) in “anDOVEr”; a dove may wish to settle, perch somewhere |
My faves: TURTLE, ADDING UP, TREE, LADY, IBSEN, TABASCO and FRENCH.
Enjoyed the puzzle. Great blog.
Thanks Stamp and RR.
Thanks RR. I also had HELISPOT at 31, but turns out it should be HELISTOP.
Thanks to Stamp for providing a festive start to the day, and happy Christmas to all.
For once I got the theme after about 3 answers. That didn’t make it a write-in but it helped. I loved the pun in COMMANDEER.
It’s been a long celebratory day for my birthday so I’m tired and off to bed.
Thanks PM/Stamp and RatkojaRiku.
Setter popping in early to thank RR for the comprehensive blog and to wish a very Merry Christmas to all. (and a Happy Birthday to Tim C!)
Yes, DuncT is right on HELISTOP – one of a few oddities forced by the themed entries in the grid. My Chambers doesn’t show HELISPOT: I didn’t know that word existed. Two minor tweaks on RR’s definitions: a DOVE is the opposite of the warmongering ‘hawk’ and thus more inclined to settle than fight but the birds do, indeed, settle so if that parse works … And a ‘dresser’ does appear in Chambers specifically as a ‘lady’s maid’. I tried hard to incorporate ‘calling’ in the grid, to go with ‘bird’ but, try as I might, it proved beyond my humble abilities.
My thanks to all who decide to give this a go on a day with plenty of other distractions
Lovely festive theme. Thanks Stamp. Used Chambers to check whether it was HELISTOP or HELISPOT, with only the former appearing, as you said. But what’s a couple of interchanged letters between friends. Hope Satan brought you some nice presents 😉 (Ok, I realise that doesn’t quite work, but what the hey.) RUPERT BEAR & GEESE my favourites.
I was held up somewhat in spotting the theme, largely because of my inveterate habit of working through the clues in order. I had thought that the geese ‘a-laying’ was just a nice festive touch – no other clues had rung any bells thus far – and then the Scottish drone operators and the partridge let in the light and made sense of the pesky 1ac, which I had spent a ridiculous amount of time on – a brilliantly disguised definition.
There were other clever clues that held me up for longer than they should have – I’m too embarrassed to name them: Stamp has a real knack for misdirection, making the eventual pdm a combination of admiration and chagrin.
I particularly liked TURTLE (eventually) COMMANDEER – for me, a faultless homophone, where I was helped by the discussion just yesterday on the Guardian blog re ‘podcast’ as an indicator, RUPERT BEAR, for the construction and surface and fond memories of Christmas annuals, GEESE, for opening up the theme, ARDENNES, for the smile, TABASCO (clever), and FRENCH – I like that kind of clue, and like all the others, it has an excellent surface.
Many thanks to Stamp for a most enjoyable puzzle and RR for a super blog. A lovely start to to the day, which I hope will be lovely for you all – and now I must make my chocolate roulade, my traditional contribution to the festivities. I
I can’t believe that I spent so long thinking about and writing my comment – there were only two when I started!
Many happy returns to Tim C and thanks to Stamp for the insights.
Nothing to add but wanted to wish everyone a merry Xmas. Needed the theme for some of the trickier ones.
Got theme early as my first three in were LADY, GEESE and DOVE but overall quite a mental workout even with the theme knowledge. Liked ARDENNES, COMMANDEER, IBSEN, PARTRIDGE and GOLDEN. Good festive fun, even if I needed a nap halfway through 🙂
Merry Christmas all (and happy birthday Tim)!
Missed the theme completely despite having spent some time this week wondering why the true love didn’t give twelve partridges in one pear tree on day twelve to save on courier charges instead of a bird and tree on each of the twelve days.
Thanks both and thanks Indy for putting a puzzle out there today.
Finally sent off the relatives, thanks Stamp grand ghost theme for today. I suspect most folks didn’t realise there was a puzzle today.
Thanks Stamp for the Christmas surprise. This was slow going & I missed RUPERT BEAR & ARDENNES but seeing the theme early really helped & it added immensely to the ‘fun factor’. Favourites included STIRRER, REMAPS, FRENCH, and TELETHON. Thanks RR for working on the holiday.
We started this late yesterday and only came back to finish it this evening – so apologies for late posting.
We completely missed the theme – had we picked up on it we may have finished it sooner! Maybe we can blame it on Bert not feeling well and Joyce trying to forget that it is Christmas. Also having a break in between didn’t help.
Our son was born on Christmas Day and we still celebrate his half birthdays on June 25th – hope you do the same TimC.
Congratulations to Stamp on including all the themed entries without resorting to a load of unusual words – we only had to check HELISTOP.
Thanks to S&B. A belated Happy Christmas to you all.