Just a quick blog between wrapping, baking, drinking etc. Almost all the clues have a festive reference, and most are pretty simple – this was a very quick solve bar 13 down, which maddeningly held me up even though, once the penny dropped, I had a nagginG feeling I’ve come across it before. Down blog all in italic – why? Why not?!
ACROSS
5. STACKS. As in chimneys.
12. ALADDINS LAMP. CD.
15. APOCRYPHAL. Nice use of thematic material in anagram fodder.
19. TUN. Nut being what goes in the (nut)cracker.
20. W(ASS)AILING.
22. CHRISTMAS DAY. (HASTY CARDS I’M*).
26. ANKLET. Good CD with misleading Xmas content.
29. KITCHEN. (THICKEN*). Thematic ref here is turkey, which is stritly unnecessary.
DOWN:
1. (r)OAST(ing). 6. THRASH. 7. CUSTARD PIE. CD. 8. SNOWPLOUGH. Weaker CD. 12. SANTA CLAUS. Can’t believe I took so long over this – the key is to think of ‘filler’ as ‘person who fills’, not ‘thing used in filling’. 14. CORNCRAKES. (NO CRACKERS*). 16. P(SAL)M, S. 18. GIN AND IT. (DINING AT*). The only non-thematic clue. 25. AN ON. That An, she wrote a lot of hyms and stuff. MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL.