The Biggie
Stuff your stocking and enjoy your puzzling!
M ariah Carey, often called The Queen of Christmas, has revealed that she hires what to come to the house at Christmas to give her children the most magical time?
To find out, solve the crossword then read down the shaded squares to find the four-word prize answer. The three sets of answers starting at 10 Across, 31 Across and 37 Down are the first lines of three favourite carols. The clues are simply those lines rewritten in much less-poetic terms!
ACROSS
1 Fabric used to make luxury sweaters and scarves (8) 5 Provided the money (8)
10, 36 Down and 85 Across Trio of royal chaps from the East is us (2, 5, 5, 2, 6, 3) 15 Citrus fruit, a slice of which is dropped into a G&T (5) 16 Dutch flower (5) 17 Male geese (7) 18 Room within the roof of a house (5) 19 See 31 Across 20 The state you should be in when Father Christmas visits (6) 21 Mended, renovated (8) 23 As well (4) 24 Don’t take no for an answer (6) 25 Make toast, but not by raising a glass (5) 26 Pecked, under the mistletoe, perhaps? (6) 31, 19 Across, 33 Across, 82 Across and 87 Across During the time herdsmen guarded their fleecy herd through the small hours (5, 9, 7, 5, 6, 2, 5) 33 See 31 Across 34 See 37 Down 39 Intermission between two parts of a 50 Across, perhaps? (8) 40 Scottish landowners (6) 41 Adversary (8) 44 Animal that provides the wool for 1 Across (4) 45 Ability (5) 46 Asserted, averred (7) 50 Musical drama (5) 51 Massive (4) 52 Men-only party (4) 53 Red wine from Spain (5) 54 Irritating (7) 55 Put your feet up (5) 56 Key a number into a phone (4) 60 Musicians, 12 of whom are delivered on the 12th day of Christmas (8) 61 Carve from stone (6) 65 Small and sometimes a little imprecise recipe measure (8) 68 Noisy (4) 69 Alice Through the …, Alice in Wonderland sequel (7, 5) 70 Beauty and the …, pantomime story (5) 74 In no 89 Across at all (6) 75 … on Earth, festive wish (5) 76 Female relatives (6) 77 Prolonged dull pain (4) 82 See 31 Across 84 Loves deeply (6) 85 See 10 Across 87 See 31 Across 88 Father Christmas’ traditional entry route (7) 89 Instruct, command (5) 90 African water mammal (5) 91 Delicate detection and measuring devices (7) 92 Heating parts of kettles (8) 93 Sweet courses (8)
DOWN
1 Sudden very chilly period during winter (4, 4) 2 Boils gently (7) 3 Sections of the calendar (6) 4 Going to bed or shy (8) 6 Not workable (11) 7 See 37 Down 8 Rendered holy (11) 9 Eating regime, often delayed until the New Year (4) 10 Magical offerings handed out by the Genie of the Lamp (6) 11 Coffee-flavoured liqueur (3, 5) 12 Spinning part (5) 13 Was put into a secret form (7) 14 Type of music or architecture (9) 22 Father Christmas’ toy-making helpers (5)
27 Glows, sparkles (6) 28 Sort of clock parents really don’t need on Christmas morning! (5) 29 Abominable snowman (4) 30 What most Christmas gifts get covered in (8, 5) 32 … bottle, bed-warming item (3-5) 35 Garden entrance (4) 36 See 10 Across
37, 7 Down and 34 Across Listen up, messengers from heaven croon (4, 3, 6, 6, 4) 38 From elbow to wrist (7) 42 Graceful and stylish (7) 43 Sparkly stuff liberally sprinkled at Christmas (7) 47 Recreation, hobby (7) 48 Pub game played with dotty tiles (8) 49 Wreath of flowers (7) 57 Object of worship (4) 58 Season before winter (6) 59 Home county or surname of David …, singer of
A Winter’s Tale (5) 62 Unexpected simultaneous happening (11) 63 Wood for the fire (4) 64 Person who hunts for gifted but undiscovered performers (6, 5) 66 Two turtle …, present delivered on the second day of Christmas (5) 67 Rocky objects smaller than planets orbiting the Sun (9) 71 Large-crested parrot (8) 72 Dog’s family tree (8) 73 Magnanimous, giving freely (8) 74 Makes petrol from crude oil (7) 78 ‘Tongue’ of a bell (7) 79 Rudimentary adding frame (6) 80 Diamond pattern often found on socks (6) 81 Measurements, parts of a foot (6) 83 Church instrument (5) 86 Number of ladies dancing in The Twelve Days of Christmas (4)