A Puzzle by Jeemz
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
Jeemz makes a welcome return to the NTSPP spot with a very entertaining seasonal puzzle with the usual wit and ingenuity on show so thanks to him.
Happy Christmas to all from me.
Across
1a Dad's veteran clan re-assembled: their days are numbered! (6,9)
ADVENT CALENDARS: DAD’S VETERAN CLAN* (reassembled). I don't think we need a hyphen in the anagram indicator? Great start.
8a Originally Angel's prayer recitals offered natural sort of protection (5)
APRON: Acrostic clue (originally)
9a Barely funds minimum of tissue wrapping paper quantity - true (8)
UNDREAMT: Inner letters of fUNDs and initial letter of Tissue “wrap” a quantity of paper
11a Abandoned motel site indicates place to get smack? (9)
MISTLETOE: MOTEL SITE* (abandoned)
12a Open up United Nations over Boxing Day (4)
UNDO: Initials of United Nations and the abbreviation for Over “boxing” the abbreviation for Day
14a Spray to smell good primarily at the start of yuletide (7)
NOSEGAY: (To) smell/scent, the abbreviation for Good plus the initial letter of At and the initial letter of Yuletide
15a Disorderly socialist is kicked out - i.e "resigned" (7)
STOICAL: SOCIALisT* (disorderly)
16a Headgear sported by Santa's team? (7)
ANTLERS: Cryptic definition, the team being animals
19a Race-meeting held in winter e.g. at Taplow… (7)
REGATTA: Hidden (held in)
21a ...maybe a three-day one, timeless yet unvarying (4)
EVEN: A horse meeting involving three disciplines minus the abbreviation for Time.
22a Cracking crosswords, ones seasonally produced by 26! (3,6)
BAH HUMBUG: Cryptic definition
24a Timeline of Slough Christmas broadcast (8)
SCHEDULE: Homophones (broadcast) of slough/discard and a shorter word for Christmas
25a Variety of tapas served in Trattoria? (5)
PASTA: TAPAS* (Variety of)
26a He was habitually tight - spirits really affected him (8,7)
EBENEZER SCROOGE Cryptic definition, the spirits being Christmas ones not booze. Lovely.
Down
1d Sky-high fees for members? (2,3,3,1,3)
AN ARM AND A LEG: Cryptic definition, the members here being body parts
2d Six scams with which one could catch a cold (7)
VIRUSES: Roman numeral for six plus scams/cunning plans
3d Not straight - not with Putin, Trump nor anyone else (3-7)
NON-ALIGNED: Double definition/cryptic
4d Rural area matter: verges of railway (7)
COUNTRY: Matter/carry weight and the outer letters of RailwaY
5d Scales of large reptiles (7)
LADDERS: The abbreviation for Large and some snakes
6d Notably Trotsky turned up for festive period (4)
NOEL: The given name of Trotsky reversed. Notably is in here as a DBE indicator
7d Penned by local man a carols yearly publication (7)
ALMANAC: Hidden (penned by)
10d Heard talk of what might be turkey abuse (4,8)
FOUL LANGUAGE: A sort of cryptic/homophone definition with the homophone element being something of which a turkey is an example. Very funny
13d Big woolly kangaroo? (4,6)
LONG JUMPER: Cryptic/double definition.
17d European joins cartel mixed up in dark tacky stuff (7)
TREACLE: CARTEL* mixed up with an insertion of the abbreviation for European
18d Take in flightless birds raised by reserve (7)
SUBSUME: The usual flightless birds reversed (raised in a down clue) placed next to an abbreviated reserve
19d Elevated small shelter that woman repairs at last (7)
REHEELS: The abbreviation for Small, a geographical shelter and a third person pronoun/determiner all reversed (elevated). Very neat and well-disguised definition. Maybe a question mark would be appropriate here.
20d Much appreciated when company bottles British spicy condiment (7)
TABASCO: Much appreciated/thanks plus a synonym of when, and the usual COmpany “bottles” the abbreviation for British
23d Foremost in fashion - Parisian summer gala (4)
FETE: Initial letter of Fashion and the French word for summer.
A cracking topical puzzle – many thanks to Jeemz.
I’ve ticked lots of clues including 9a, 12a, 22a, 1d and 19d.
Thanks Jeemz for a very enjoyable seasonal puzzle – no caffeine required!
Big smiles for 19a, 22a, 1d, 16d, and 19d.
Thanks again and thanks in advance to Stephen L.
This was light and great fun, perfectly pitched for the season.
For me, “true” is too much of a stretch for the answer to 9a. For 3d, “not straight” appears to be the definition but I can’t make any sense at all out of the wordplay in the rest of the clue.
I had plenty of ticks with 1d my favourite, closely followed by 24a & 26a.
Many thanks to Jeemz.
RD, thanks for the comment glad you found it fun.
For the 3d definition BRB provides this comprehensive illumination: “not taking sides in in international politics, esp not supporting either of the main international blocs, ie the former Warsaw pact counties or the USA and the W European democracies”
Thanks, Jeemz. That is a remarkable definition and must presumably win the prize for the most verbose entry in the BRB.
☺️☺️
Some nice seasonal touches here which went well with our snowflakes. I was ridiculously slow to twig 19d given how often we’ve encountered its constituent parts but no problems encountered anywhere else. My ticks went to the fun 16a along with 26a&1d.
Many thanks and festive greetings to Jeemz.
19d my last in too & the only real head scratch 🤔 At last was an apt description of the delayed coin drop.
Lovely stuff Jeemz. Many thanks.
A most enjoyable seasonal treat. Last in was 19d and favourite was 9a.
Thanks Jeemz.
Thanks all for your observations and general approval. Season’s greetings to everyone here and to all those behind the scenes keeping this wonderful site up and running.
Really enjoyed this seasonal crossword. Thank you Jeemz. Favourites were 1a and 10d. We look forward to your next one. Thanks in advance to StephenL.
Many thanks Stephen for your expert review and comments. Hope to be back next year!
Many thanks for the review, Stephen, all good wishes for Christmas and New Year.
Thanks Jane and the same to you.
We enjoyed an early family Christmas get-together over the weekend, so this was a very appropriately themed puzzle for my Sunday night post-celebration wind-down. I was obviously in very good humour (something to do with the amount of wine consumed, perhaps?) as my printout is lettered with ticks; my selections being 1a, 11a, 12a, 22a, 24a, 26a, 18d & 19d. 22a was my last to parse and received a tick after I figured out the significance of ‘Cracking’ in the wordplay – very smart!
This was indeed a cracking crossword from Jeemz, my thanks to him and to StephenL for the review; and a very Merry Christmas to all.
Merry Christmas to you too Spartacus. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind comments. I toyed with using cracker for 22a in line with the seasonal theme but couldn’t quite make it work!