GIANT CROSSWORD
ACROSS 1 _ and Wine, 1988 Christmas hit for Cliff Richard (9) 6 See picture A (9) 11 Nervous; shy (5) 14 _ Waters, co-founder of Pink Floyd (5)
15 Gift that is given immediately after the calling birds in The Twelve Days of Christmas (4,5) 16 Retributive punishment (9) 17 Right; accurate (7) 18 _ Miller, American singer whose albums include 1968’s That Christmas Feeling (4) 19 Song of praise (4) 20 Refrained from noticing (7) 22 Christian holiday commemorating the visit of the Magi to the infant Christ (8) 24 The quality of being readily flexible (7) 26 Name of The Simpson’s pet cat (8) 31 Free from dirt (5) 32 I Saw Three _, popular Christmas carol (5) 33 Move rhythmically to music (5) 34 Enclosed in paper, like a Christmas present (7) 36 Put off (10) 38 See picture B (4,5) 39 The basic physical unit of heredity (4) 42 Medical practitioner (7) 43 Third adjective applied to Good King Wenceslas’s snow (4) 44 Given name of the Queen of Arendelle in the 2013 film Frozen (4) 45 Perennial plant with poisonous leaves and edible stalks (7)
48 To attack something fiercely (4) 49 1990 film comedy starring Macaulay Culkin (4,5)
50 Disney character with a cruel stepmother and a Fairy Godmother (10) 53 Wishes (7) 54 Not tight (5) 55 To harass or pester (5) 56 Stared with an open mouth (5) 58 East End natives (8)
60 Philistine warrior killed by David in the Old Testament (7) 61 Lights in transparent cases (8) 66 Vivid (7) 68 An unspecified amount (4) 70 A swindle (4) 71 Take notice (7) 74 See picture C (9) 75 Seasonal song originally recorded by Eartha Kitt in 1953 (5,4)
76 Roller-coasters, for example (5) 77 Yorkshire _, a National Park (5) 78 Items often found in crackers (5,4) 79 Plant with leaves throughout the year, such as a Christmas tree (9) DOWN 1 _ on 34th Street, 1947 and 1994 Christmas film (7) 2 Traditional Christmas sweets (5,4) 3 Very big (5) 4 Make a knot more secure (7) 5 A speech in praise of something or someone (6)
6 20th Century artistic movement, whose proponents included Salvador Dalí (10) 7 Noise made by a pig (4) 8 Colloquially, dubious or questionable (5) 9 Period beginning four Sundays before Christmas (6) 10 Weariness, boredom (5) 11 Children’s book by Raymond Briggs (3,7)
12 Roman goddess of wisdom (7) 13 Fear (5) 21 Charity supergroup that released Do They Know It’s Christmas? in 1984 (4,3)
23 Collection of symptoms that may follow a period of heavy drinking (8) 25 Thickens, coagulates (8) 27 First of January (3,5,3) 28 Large spoon (5) 29 Seasonal song written by James Lord Pierpont in 1857 (6,5) 30 Tinsel, baubles etc. (11) 31 Systems for secret communication (5) 32 With the use of great effort (11)
35 Be victorious (7) 37 Brussels _, see picture D (7) 40 Wealthy (4-2-2) 41 Completely (8) 46 Facial hair associated with 52 Down (5) 47 Pure, innocent (7) 48 A doctor (5) 51 Gift that is given immediately after the turtle doves in The Twelve Days of Christmas (6,4) 52 Father Christmas (5,5) 57 Gift that is given on the first Day of Christmas (9)
59 Broad strait connecting two areas of sea (7) 62 A follower or attendant (7) 63 Child from a previous marriage (7) 64 In a state of rest (6) 65 Pierce with a stake (6) 66 Separated by a portal (5) 67 Second adjective applied to Good King Wenceslas’s snow (5)
69 One who hoards money, such as Ebenezer Scrooge (5) 72 Small shoot or twig (5) 73 Younger sister of 44 Across (4)