Bumper Christmas PUZZLES
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1 ‘And since we’ve no
place to go, –––––––––’, lyrics from a Christmas song (3,2,4) 6 Type of fastener (5,4) 11 Roman god of love (5) 14 Tim, actor who played Scott Calvin in The Santa Clause trilogy (5) 15 To make something germ-free (9) 16 Repository for ancient artefacts (9) 17 Ebenezer–––, protagonist in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (7) 18 Piece of work (4) 19 Tall plant around which presents are placed at Christmas (4) 20 Lacking detail (7) 22 2009 Christmas comedy film starring Martin Freeman and Ashley Jensen (8) 24 Low, backless seat (7) 26 Group of single-celled organisms (8) 31 Skilled stoneworker (5) 32 1928 play by Michael Morton, based on The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (5) 33 Relating to the sun (5) 34 On social media sites, a word or phrase preceded by the ‘number’ sign to identify a topic (7) 36 Space devoted to the cultivation of fragrant flowers (4,6) 38 In The Bleak–––, Christmas carol based on a poem by Christina Rossetti (9) 39 ‘When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring Winter –––’, lyric from Good King Wenceslas (4) 42 In baseball, a hit that enables the batter to run round all four bases (4,3) 43 Small branch (4) 44 Poker stake (4) 45 Informally, to observe closely (7) 48 Low in temperature (4) 49 US sitcom starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York that aired from 1964 to 1972 (9) 50 Rituals (10) 53 State of being away (7) 54 Feeling pleasure (5) 55 Cook in an oven (5) 56 Sweets (5) 58 See picture A 60 Student (7) 61 Thick-ribbed cotton fabric (8) 66 An excess (7) 68 Force someone out and replace them (4) 70 Rotate quickly (4) 71 Make something stronger and more durable (7) 74 Facility built for speed contests (9) 75 Ocean wind (3,6) 76 Push (5) 77 ––– sauce, Christmas dinner accompaniment (5) 78 Scientist such as Brian Cox, or the late Stephen Hawking (9) 79 Makes something dirty with small, scattered drops (9)
DOWN
1 Communication between individuals or groups (7) 2 Puts up with (9) 3 Last ––– In Halifax, BBC comedy drama (5) 4 In the early stages of development (7) 5 See picture B 6 Plant commonly used in Christmas floral displays (10) 7 ––– Brockovich, 2000 biographical film starring Julia Roberts (4) 8 Weapon consisting of a long pole with a sharp point (5) 9 See picture C 10 Small human figures used as toys (5) 11 Flirtatious (10) 12 One of Santa Claus’s reindeer in The Night Before Christmas (7) 13 Matter-of-factly (5) 21 Glorify or exalt (7) 23 Tasting like acetic acid (8) 25 Permitting (8) 27 Accomplishment (11) 28 Celestial attendant of God (5) 29 Christmas carol composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr (6,5) 30 Award for finishing third (6,5) 31 One of the gifts brought by 73 to the baby Jesus (5) 32 A plan for a future event (11) 35 Unusually large sea wave (7) 37 Specimens (7) 40 See picture D 41 Celebrated (8) 46 Full of healthy vigour (5) 47 Fairytale Of––––––, song performed by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl (3,4) 48 Hold, embrace (5) 51 Having won every contest (10) 52 A nonconformist (4,6) 57 Reputed home of Father Christmas (5,4) 59 Pain in a hearing organ (7) 62 Porridge ingredient (7) 63 Baseball team from 47 (7) 64 Little –––, popular children’s Christmas carol written by Eric Boswell (6) 65 Concludes from the facts (6) 66 Rub hard, with a stiff brush (5) 67 Lady And The –––, 1955 Disney film that opens on Christmas morning (5) 69 Japanese dish (5) 72 Disturbed, angry (5) 73 The Wise Men (4)