There have been requests for a blog for the Christmas special crossword from Ludwig – which I found on the e-paper app on 23 December. It was in the printed Christmas supplement, some of which can be found online here, the puzzle is to be found here
This has been set by Ludwig, as was the crossword in 2024. Solving this at the time, I found it fairly straightforward, but coming back to blog it a week or more later and having to explain the parsing it is feeling a bit more complicated. Nor had I realised until I started blogging it that it’s not a 15 squared grid but 17 x 17.
Adding later – I started blogging this thinking it would be easy, because it’s online and I can just load the pdf into the utility, but the utility couldn’t read the pdf, so I then started working around producing the blog. By the time I started writing answers to the clues, it was much later than I’d meant to still be blogging. It’s also why nothing is highlighted on the grid.
There are a lot of Christmas themed words in the quiz – including two carols and various Christmas traditions.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | JOY TO THE WORLD |
Hymn conveying delights of fairground rides to listeners? (3,2,3,5)
|
| cryptic definition – JOY (delights) TO THE (conveying) WORLD (soundalike – so to the listeners – of “whirl”, fairground ride) – and one of the thematic answers | ||
| 10 | ACCUSTOMED |
Habituated to drop of merriment, getting charged about (10)
|
| insertion of (about) of TO (from the clue) + M (drop of Merriment) |
||
| 11 | VIRGO |
Potter’s chaste figure (5)
|
| cryptic/double definition referring to John Virgo, one of the snooker players who was most active when snooker was popular in the 1980s and referring to the chaste maiden in Roman tradition. Mary was traditionally a virgin / maiden | ||
| 12 | NORWEGIAN |
Royal Marines dropping warmonger in resort that’s European (9)
|
| subtractive anagram of (WArmONGER IN)* with RM (Royal Marines removed – dropping), and an anagrind of “resort” – which has to be seen as re-sort – to sort again. We have a tradition that the Norwegians present Britain with a Christmas Tree which stands in the centre of Trafalgar Square every Christmas. | ||
| 13 | MADONNA |
New Testament figure’s miraculous food inspiring party (7)
|
| insertion of (inspiring) DO (party) into MANNA (miraculous food) – inspiring as in breathing in – and lots of Biblical references in this. Mary, mother of Jesus, is often referred to as the MADONNA. | ||
| 14 | TAB |
Check-in: stable, after some characters turned away (3)
|
| hidden (in … after some characters turned away) in sTABle – to check on someone can mean to keep tabs on them – the surface refers to the nativity story, Mary and Joseph being turned away from the inns, before being allowed to stay in a stable. | ||
| 16 | TATTERS |
Eventually most giftwrap is knotted lace from these people (7)
|
| cryptic definition – the British multi-thread method of making lace is called tatting, so people who make lace could be tatters – and giftwrap after children have got into their presents is also in tatters. | ||
| 18 | NACHO |
Chip’s certainly not accepting German complaint (5)
|
| insertion of ACH (German complaint – sort of a sigh of disappointment) into NO (certainly not) for the corn chips from Mexican cuisine. | ||
| 19 | EAR-FLAPS |
Cold-weather protection – knitted pale scarf – but it’s not cold? (3-5)
|
| anagram of (PALE ScARF)* minus the C (it’s not cold) with an anagrind of “knitted”. | ||
| 21 | GIUSEPPE |
Good – nigh-on super – pie baked for Italian (8)
|
| anagram (baked) of (G + SUPE + PIE)* where G = good, and SUPE = nigh on SUPEr to give an Italian name. And adding, thanks to Quirister @5, this is another thematic clue as Giuseppe is the Italian for Joseph. | ||
| 23 | GRANT |
Gift missing, finally issue tirade (5)
|
| charade of G (missinG finally) + RANT (issue tirade) | ||
| 24 | ICE SHOW |
Reserve to appear in skating event (3,4)
|
| charade of ICE (reserve) + SHOW (to appear) – traditional Christmas offering along with pantomimes and the ballet (usually the Nutcracker). | ||
| 26 | AIL |
Some wassailing making you feel unwell … (3)
|
| hidden in (some) of wassAILing – wassailing often happens in the winter, sometimes as part of Christmas, but I connect it more with January and singing to orchards. | ||
| 27 | ADEPTLY |
… remarkably, played intro to Tannenbaum with skill (7)
|
| anagram of (PLAYED + T)* where T is the intro to Tannenbaum with anagrind of “remarkably” Tannenbaum is the German for the Christmas tree – and that song. | ||
| 28 | EAST-SIDER |
Shattered aides rest: one lives at end of 34th St? (4-5)
|
| anagram of (AIDES REST)* with anagrind of “shattered” – and the clue refers to the New York streets, where 34th St is on the East Side of New York – and the surface is referring to The Miracle on 34th Street – a Christmas movie.. | ||
| 31 | ELTON |
Intros from every last tune overplayed now – including mine? (5)
|
| acrostic (intros from) Every Last Tune Overplayed Now – referring to Elton John and suggesting that he’s overplayed – the setter may think that, I couldn’t possibly comment … | ||
| 32 | PEPPERMINT |
Pelt in pristine condition: sweet! (10)
|
| charade of PEPPER (pelt – verb – to pelt/pepper with shot) + MINT (pristine condition) | ||
| 33 | AWAY IN A MANGER |
Number of Americans welcoming opportunity to dine à la française (4,2,1,6)
|
| charade of A A (Americans – one A = American, AA = Americans) around (welcoming) WAY IN (opportunity) = AWAY IN A + MANGER (to dine à la française – to eat/dine translated into French) – and another traditional Christmas carol. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | OSCAR |
Old Mark getting award for White Christmas (5)
|
| charade of – O (old) + SCAR (mark) and the song White Christmas won an Oscar for the Best Original Song in 1943, famously awarded by Irving Berlin to Irving Berlin. | ||
| 3 | TAUTEST |
Starts to take actual umbrage over quiz, extremely tight … (7)
|
| acrostic + charade of (starts to) Take Actual Umbrage + TEST (quiz) – and I suspect that this will grate with some people because “extremely” suggests a comparative, not the superlative – which is what we get here | ||
| 4 | TUTTI |
… with all players getting nearly half of confection (5)
|
| double definition – ish TUTTI is a musical instruction for all the players to come in, and the confection is a TUTTI frutti – only half of which is needed. Both definitions come from the Italian for all, so it’s a bit self-referential. | ||
| 5 | EMMANUEL |
He may be brought by tired mule? Amen! (8)
|
| anagram of (MULE AMEN)* with an anagrind of “tired” – and the references in the clue are to the Bible stories of the pregnant Mary with Joseph travelling to Bethlehem by mule, plus Jesus processing into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a mule. (And referring back to the prophecies in Isaiah.) | ||
| 6 | ODD |
Strange, like 2025 (3)
|
| double definition something that is strange could be described as ODD, and the number 2025 is ODD. | ||
| 7 | LOVED ONES |
Nothing achieved by son and family? (5,4)
|
| charade of (LOVE (nothing – as in tennis scoring) + DONE (achieved) + S (son – abbreviation in genealogy) | ||
| 8 | FRANK CAPRA |
Mark, international artist who told of a Christmas angel (5,5)
|
| charade of FRANK (post mark on a stamp) + CAP (international – sportsmen/women who play for their country are capped to do so) + RA (artist – member of the Royal Academy). And the definition refers to Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life which many people watch as a Christmas tradition | ||
| 9 | POTATO PEELER |
I expose the flesh of King Edward (6,6)
|
| cryptic definition which relies on the solver knowing that King Edward is a potato variety. | ||
| 12 | NUTMEG GRATER |
Kick ball between legs of irritant that’s small with rough exterior (6,6)
|
| charade of NUTMEG (football manoeuvre where the ball is kicked between the legs of an opponent) + GRATER (irritant – as in someone that grates). A nutmeg is a small woody nut shape with a rough exterior, but I don’t see a definition that includes the GRATER – although see below, a NUTMEG GRATER is a smaller rough coated implement. Thematic as NUTMEG is a traditional Christmas spice. | ||
| 13 | MESSIAH |
Oratorio’s subject: footballer. Gosh! (7)
|
| charade of MESSI (footballer – referring to Lionel MESSI, the Argentinian) + AH (Gosh) – and the whole is referring to Handel’s MESSIAH, – there’s a play, called All the Angels which looks at the origins of the Oratorio (and was accompanied by the Sixteen when I saw it). It’s another tradition linked to Christmas. | ||
| 15 | BERNADETTE |
Little saint to destroy gas bill, did you say? (10)
|
| soundalike of (did you say) “burn a debt” (to destroy/burn the gas bill/debt). Saint Bernadette is traditionally linked to Christmas markets and services at Lourdes. | ||
| 17 | TIPSILY |
Lean over, daft, vacuous, in squiffy manner (7)
|
| charade of TIP (lean over) + SILLY (daft – vacuous instructs to remove the central L – it usually means completely empty the word, but that doesn’t work here). And Christmas is an excuse for some family members to get drunk and behave badly. | ||
| 20 | LET IT SNOW |
Actively listen to beginning of wassailers’ festive refrain (3,2,4)
|
| anagram of (LISTEN TO)* + W (beginning of Wassailers) for this festive refrain | ||
| 22 | PETER PAN |
Safe to criticise one who’s never mature (5,3)
|
| charade of PETER (safe) + PAN (to criticise) – and PETER PAN is linked to Christmas by appearing in pantomimes across the country. | ||
| 25 | WISE MEN |
We’re after star anise, finally, for stuffing: sage and mint evenly chopped (4,3)
|
| charade of WISE (sage) + MiNt (evenly chopped) + E (anisE finally) inserted (stuffing) – and the Magi also appear in the Nativity Story (well, Matthew only) | ||
| 29 | STEAM |
Not half chaste, Mother’s boosted enthusiasm (5)
|
| charade of STE (half of chaSTE) + AM (MA < mother’s boosted) | ||
| 30 | DANCE |
Reel perhaps in party – empty Drambuie bottles (5)
|
| insertion of ANC (party – African National Congress, from South Africa) in (bottles) D E (empty DrambuiE) | ||
| 32 | PRY |
Peer that’s capable of a-leaping topless (3)
|
| decapitation (topless) from sPRY (capable of a-leaping) – and the surface refers to the Ten Lords A-leaping in the Twelve Days of Christmas. |
In 10a, the “to” is there in the clue.
ACCUSTOMED
TO (from the surface)+M(drop of merriment)
TOM in ACCUSED
Thanks Ludwig and Shanne.
Happy New Year to all.
In 12d nutmeg graters are fairly small cf a cheese grater or general kitchen grater for example so I think the last 5 words are the definition although a pretty vague one.
Thanks to blogger & setter.
Corrections done – added in the other suggestions. I’m sure I saw ACCUSTOMED when I solved it, but by the time I started blogging this, I wasn’t very awake – I got second wind for the later typing up the blog. (I wouldn’t have started this just before midnight around the fireworks if I’d thought it was going to take as long – the utility usually takes around 30 minutes to blog a puzzle.)
Thanks Shanne and Ludwig. I think we could possibly add GIUSEPPE as a thematic entry, because it’s the Italian form of Joseph (from the Christmas story).
Thanks Quirister – I meant to look that up last night, but was losing the will to live.
Thanks to Shanne for your efforts.
I didn’t complete the grid because I didn’t see a ‘gas bill’ as a debt. Surely a bill is a request to pay and only becomes a debt if missing the deadline? I haven’t looked in Chambers, I’m just saying that’s why I couldn’t solve BERNADETTE. Another obscurity was TATTERS, which is pretty loose as far as wrapping paper is concerned, and pretty whimsical – as well as obscure – with regard to lace knotting; I wrote it in but gave a large shrug to both definitions.
Ludwig is a setter I have yet to come to terms with, because of looseness and inconsistency. Also probably because I find David Mitchell’s screen persona so irritating. 🙂
Couldn’t parce VIRGO. And did think there were a few iffy clues! Nevertheless, I loved doing this crossword, which was set at exactly the right level for me – it took time but I achieved it. Thanks for doing a blog – and explaining Virgo!
Thanks Shane, your efforts are appreciated. I remember enjoying this at the time, but it felt a bit incomplete without the blog.
There were a few clues that I didn’t think worked “properly” – but what do I know? I’m only a beginner.
Anyway found the puzzle today from the front page here (many thanks) and (with the help of the check function on occasion) managed to finish it the same day. A Christmas miracle!
Thanks to Shanne for the blog which explained some of the [ahem] “subtleties” I’d missing when trying to parse the clues.
Thanks Shanne. Admire your ability to cite all of the Christmas references. I wonder how many other bloggers could have done that so well? Lucky you! I was raised as an Anglican, but I must have been asleep in Sunday School. HNY.
Thanks Shanne – very helpful blog and explanations. Bizarrely I found many of the clues in this puzzle harder to parse than Maskarade’s big jumbo, and it nearly took me as long. Perhaps because of some of the looser definitions that others have noted. I hadn’t come across “tired” as an anagrind before – presumably it’s in the sense of “worn out” (or “rough”)? It feels a little iffy to me somehow… Big groan when POTATO PEELER finally went in!
Thanks Shanne – got here eventually. Much appreciated (and Ludwig too).