13 minutes for this one, slowed down a little as I was expecting Christmas references and taking my time to look for them. I found some but not necessarily all and this setter often has other tricks up his sleeve, so if there’s anything I’ve missed please don’t hesitate to point it out. Many thanks to Noel for this seasonal treat, and a Merry Christmas to all!
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Spanish hero holding up boy with arrow (5) |
| CUPID – CID (Spanish hero) containing [holding] UP. Our first special Christmas reference as CUPID was one of Santa’s reindeer. Not sure if it’s valid to omit ‘El’ from the Spaniard’s nickname but it’s Christmas Day so who cares? | |
| 8 | Hateful, earthborn eccentric (9) |
| ABHORRENT – Anagram [eccentric] of EARTHBORN | |
| 9 | Spiteful woman from NE14 returned (5) |
| VIXEN – NE + XIV (14) reversed [returned]. A second member of Santa’s team of reindeer. I think NE14 is intended to look like a London postal district, but although there’s NW1-NW10, SW1-SW20, SE1-SE30, there are no NE districts at all, and the areas that might have qualified are designated either as N or E. | |
| 10 | In furniture store, stop arranging one’s bloomers! (7) |
| IKEBANA – BAN (stop) contained by [in] IKEA (furniture store), the art of Japanese flower arrangement | |
| 11 | Waves you might have in your hair? (7) |
| ROLLERS – A straight definition and a cryptic hint | |
| 12 | Country’s voters for 4? Hardly! (7) |
| TURKEY’S – A straight definition with a cryptic hint cross-referenced to the long answer at 4dn and alluding to the saying about turkeys not voting for Christmas | |
| 16 | Yonder is a woman (7) |
| THERESA – THERE’S (yonder is), A. ‘Yonder’ being Chequers today, presumably. | |
| 17 | Sadly, pulpit’s come apart (5,2) |
| SPLIT UP – Anagram [sadly] of PULPIT’S | |
| 20 | Stuff above re-attempted in part (7) |
| OVEREAT – hidden [in part] in {ab}OVE RE-AT{tempted}. Another seasonal reference, I fear! | |
| 22 | Soldier in charge encountered traveller in space (5) |
| COMET – CO (soldier in charge – Commanding Officer), MET (encountered). I’m not sure whether Santa’s annual orbit of the earth qualifies as space-travel but COMET is the third of his reindeer team to turn out for crossword duty after a busy night. | |
| 23 | Schedule for lightweight: yours truly! (9) |
| PROGRAMME – PRO (for), GRAM (lightweight), ME (yours truly) | |
| 24 | An agreement to return to see girl (5) |
| DONNA – AN + NOD (agreement) reversed [to return]. The fourth and final reindeer in the Across answers. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Insurance, perhaps, about ended (5) |
| COVER – C (about), OVER (ended) | |
| 2 | Disguise picture of exile, apt to stray (8) |
| PIXELATE – Anagram [to stray] of EXILE APT | |
| 3 | Martial arts expert going to church ball (5) |
| DANCE – DAN (martial arts expert), CE (church). If we take this answer and tack on the first letter of the next word in this column, there’s a fifth reindeer to be seen lurking in the grid: Dancer. | |
| 4 | This season’s match? Er, miss it, unfortunately (9-4) |
| CHRISTMAS-TIME – Anagram [unfortunately] of MATCH ER MISS IT | |
| 5 | A Romeo brings up something outstanding (7) |
| ARREARS – A, R (Romeo – NATO aphabet), REARS (brings up) | |
| 6 | Greek character turning up in temperate zones (4) |
| ZETA – Hidden and reversed [turning up] in {temper)ATE Z{ones} | |
| 7 | Composer’s art’s reflected by American symphony primarily (7) |
| STRAUSS – S’TRA (reversed) [reflected], US (American), S{ymphony} [primarily] | |
| 13 | No aliens could get near them (8) |
| EARTHMEN – Anagram [could get] of NEAR THEM. A negative definition. | |
| 14 | Cross, see, after drinking port up (7) |
| STROPPY – SPY (see) containing [drinking] PORT reversed [up]. This is the third consecutive puzzle on my blogging day to include STROP or STROPPY. | |
| 15 | Celebrations as vicar goes on the Spanish railway (7) |
| REVELRY – REV (vicar), EL (the, Spanish – displaced from 1ac!), RY (railway) and party-time continues! | |
| 18 | Doctor and duke tied up (5) |
| LACED – LACE (doctor), D (duke). Secretly lacing people’s drinks is not a good idea but sadly it’s a feature of the party season in some circles. | |
| 19 | Bread is mine: thanks! (5) |
| PITTA – PIT (mine), TA (thanks) | |
| 21 | Heads of European governments with outsize conceits (4) |
|
EGOS – First letters [heads] of E{uropean} G{overnments}, OS (outsize)
The reindeer absent from parade this morning were Dasher, Prancer and Blitzen, Not forgetting Rudolph! |
|
21:47. Did not see the reindeer references. Good easy one for Christmas Day. Merry Christmas to Setters, Bloggers, Solvers & Lurkers.
I found this quite tricky with 13d, 14d (LOI) and 20a proving particularly troublesome. Eventually completed in 28 minutes. COD 16a
Tried ikebara and ikecapa first !
COD cupid.
Never mind, happy christmas 🎄
Happy Christmas everyone!
Paul G