Our Christmas Eve cryptic challenge has been set by eimi, perhaps better known to many for his general knowledge puzzles in the i at the weekend. It has been a while since I have solved one of his cryptics, and I am wondering if there is any significance in his name being spelt with a lower-case “e”, both alongside the puzzle and in the clue at 6.
I found this to be a medium to hard puzzle on the Indy spectrum of difficulty. Despite solving a handful of clues fairly quickly, I soon came to a standstill and really needed to chip away at this one clue at a time, with the NW quadrant proving particularly troublesome. In the end, I needed to resort to searching Chambers to find the alloy at 2, which was unknown to me.
My favourite clues today were 5, for construction and it being & lit.; 12, for its treatment of “in the altogether”; and 24, for smoothness of surface. I would appreciate confirmation (or otherwise!) of my parsing of 9 (“way”), 18 (definition) and 23 (definition).
I haven’t spotted a theme today, other than the various clues that refer to 26, and certainly nothing Christmas-related. I am sure that eagle-eyed solvers will tell me if I have missed anything relevant. There is a ghost theme after all: the 1987 single, and ever-popular Christmas song Fairytale of New York by the Celtic punk band The Pogues.
Meanwhile, Christmas is almost upon us, so let me take this opportunity to wish fellow bloggers, solvers and setters all the best for the festive season. I wonder how many crosswords we’ll all squeeze in amid the turkey and the mince pies …
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
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||
| 6 | SOMEONE |
A person that really suits eimi, taking a stimulant drug (7)
|
| SO ME (=that really suits eimi, of clothes, say) + ON (=taking, e.g. a drug) + E (=stimulant drug, i.e. Ecstasy) | ||
| 8 | ANYONE |
No matter who is in first class going around 26 (6)
|
| NY (=entry at 26) in A ONE (=first class, i.e. A1) | ||
| 9 | GALWAY BAY |
Girl getting particular shade of brown somewhere in Ireland (6,3)
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| GAL (=girl, colloquially) + WAY (=particular, respect) + BAY (=shade of brown, used of horses) | ||
| 11 | LURE |
Reign changing hands, which has some attraction (4)
|
| RULE (=reign, of monarch); “changing hands” means that right (=R) and left (=L) change places in the word! | ||
| 12 | CROON |
Sing “The King is in the altogether” cryptically (5)
|
| CR (=the King, i.e. Charles Rex) + O ON (=in the altogether, cryptically, i.e. nothing on) | ||
| 13 | BROADWAY |
Lady in 26 with method to find theatre district (8)
|
| BROAD (=lady in New York (=entry at 26), i.e. US English slang for woman) + WAY (=method) | ||
| 15 | WHITE BLOOD CELLS |
Clothes billowed unfortunately revealing vital components (5,5,5)
|
| *(CLOTHES BILLOWED); “unexpectedly” is anagram indicator | ||
| 18 | REDOUBLE |
Call about large drink (8)
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| RE- (=about, regarding) + DOUBLE (=large drink, of spirits); redouble is a call in bridge | ||
| 20 | UTICA |
Somewhat nautical area of 26 (5)
|
| Hidden (“somewhat”) in “naUTICAl”; Utica is a city in the state of New York (=entry at 26) | ||
| 23 | APSE |
An opening perhaps education provides (4)
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| Hidden (“provides”) in “perhAPS Education”; an apse is an recess, opening at the end if a church choir, say | ||
| 24 | FAIRY TALE |
Note altered reality in this story (5,4)
|
| FA (=note, in music) + *(REALITY); “altered” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit. | ||
| 25 | PUMICE |
Stone fruit left out next to frozen water (6)
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| P<l>UM (=fruit; “left (=L) out” means letter “l” is dropped) + ICE (=frozen water) | ||
| 26 | NEW YORK |
City–state (3,4)
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| Double definition: New York is both a city and a state of the US! | ||
| DOWN
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||
| 1 | CODGER |
Eccentric chap, one working in programming, including games principally (6)
|
| G<ames> (“principally” means first letter only) in CODER (=one working in programming) | ||
| 2 | INVAR |
Alloy always only half finished (5)
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| INVAR<iably> (=always, constantly); “only half finished” means 5 out of 10 letters are dropped; according to Chambers, Invar is an alloy of iron and nickel that expands only slightly when heated, used in the making of scientific instruments | ||
| 3 | ANDY PANDY |
With Yard anticipating limits on policy, my friend and I will be waving goodbye (4,5)
|
| AND (=with) + Y (=yard, i.e. abbreviation) + P AND Y (=limits on policy, i.e. first and last letters of the word policy); the reference is to the BBC children’s programme Andy Pandy, originally aired in the 1950s, at the end of which Andy Pandy and a friend would wave goodbye to viewers | ||
| 4 | FOLLOW |
Dog track (6)
|
| Double definition: to dog means to follow, to plague, as in to be dogged by ill health AND to track (down) means to follow, e.g. a criminal | ||
| 5 | BETRAYAL |
Pinter play involving three people: a woman and two men (8)
|
| BET (=a woman) + RAY (=a man) + AL (=a man); & lit.; the reference is to a 1978 play by English playwright Harold Pinter, also involving “a woman (=Emma) and two men (=Robert and Jerry)”! | ||
| 7 | EELPOUT |
Cockney’s to give assistance carrying last serving of gefilte fish (7)
|
| <gefilt>E (“last serving of” means last letter only) in <h>ELP OUT (=to give assistance; “Cockney’s” means letter “h” is dropped); according to Chambers, an eelpout is the burbot or viviparous blenny | ||
| 10 | BERNOULLI |
Mathematician from Swiss city university flipping unwell (9)
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| BERN (=Swiss city) + OU (=university, Oxford University) + LLI (ILL=unwell; “flipping” indicates vertical reversal): Daniel Bernoulli (1700-82) was a Swiss mathematician and physician | ||
| 14 | ABOUT-FACE |
A fight following one change of policy (5-4)
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| A + BOUT (=fight, in boxing) + F (=following) + ACE (=one, in cards) | ||
| 16 | HORNPIPE |
Little Jack briefly hugging Philip in dance (8)
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| PIP (=Philip, i.e. short form) in HORNE<r> (=Little Jack, in nursery rhyme; “briefly” means last letter is dropped) | ||
| 17 | ESTUARY |
A flower opening? (7)
|
| Cryptic definition: the “flow-er” of the definition is a river, not a bloom! | ||
| 19 | DREAMS |
West caught up in cricket review system fantasies (6)
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| EAM (MAE=West, i.e. Hollywood actress; “up” indicates vertical reversal) in DRS (=cricket review system, i.e. Decision Review System) | ||
| 21 | CHEERS |
Note hidden in singer’s toast (6)
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| E (=note, in music) in CHER’S (=singer’s) | ||
| 22 | HYPER |
Overstimulated PR person (5)
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| Double definition: a hyper(active) child is over-stimulated AND a hyper is a promoter, publicist, hence “PR person” |
Shane and Kirsty certainly come to mind as earworm. Most of the lyrics are in the grid
Thanks both. Yes, “the bells were ringing out” about the theme, although not ever so many relevant entries which I identified. Merry Christmas one & all.
One or two lyrics pointedly absent from the grid too. Probably just as well.
Thanks to Flashling@1 for pointing out what now seems obvious. I agree with PJ@3 about the omissions from the lyrics, though.
I did say most… Certainly the editor wouldn’t allow some even if he was the author. Anyway thanks Eimi and RR.
Thanks for the blog and the comments. The cupboard seemed a bit bare for Christmas-related content, so I decided to come out of daily cryptic semi-retirement and celebrate a much-loved hit single, and Kirsty, taken from us 25 years ago.
It also gives me a chance to thank all the great Indy setters and all the bloggers and solvers. I’ve just passed the 20th anniversary of my appointment as Indy crossword editor, and from the time I took over people were telling me that Indy wasn’t going to survive, but here we are still putting out entertaining puzzles every day, blooding the best new setters, including embryonic national newspaper puzzle and crossword editors. Hoping to bring you more of the same in 2026.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Great festive fun. FAIRYTALE and WHITE BLOOD CELLS were particulatly good. BETRAYAL is an absolute corker. Going back and solving SOMEONE after having first solved ANYONE beside it was a nice penny drop moment.
Thanks eimi & RR
Thanks eimi and thanks RR. Struggled with SOMEONE and had KNEAD for 2d unparsed. I’ve never heard of INVAR but its a good clue now I see it. Liked CROON. Looking forward to more Independent crosswords (and identifying themes) in 2026.
Missed the theme, but INVAR crops up regularly in the Indy General Knowledge crossword. Along with the 17th largest city in Hungary and the Croatian word for Croatia. Only INVAR has stuck in my memory.
Thanks both.
Nice to see a puzzle created by eimi himself instead and, for whatever it is worth to him, the Indie was the only paper I ever regularly bought, starting in the late 1980s. I believed in it and wanted to support it, though as this coincided with starting to attempt cryptic crosswords and I wasn’t good at them, the crossword was often as far as I got by the day’s end. I recall Spurius being a setter that I could only dream of tackling and I was sorry that he died long before I could come close to pitting my wits against him.
I applaud the Indie (and the i)’s support for new setters over the years. Filbert has been an amazing talent, to my mind, and I’ve always loved Phi’s work but the standard is consistently high. Although I can’t financially contribute to the organ’s future now, I applaud your ongoing endeavours, eimi, and thank you for your huge contribution to a great deal of happiness (and frustration, of course) for me, over such a long period.