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ACROSS

1 Carlo composed the traditional song for Christmas (5)

4 My angst about an agile athlete on the parallel bars (7)

8 Blue cheese for Christmas? A lot isn’t ordered (7)

9 It’s smart to come back in Edinburgh’s streetcars (5) 10 Misheard and had kicked out a person like Scrooge (5)

11 Clyde’s partner is beautiful, say Scots (6) 14 Characters in the team ask Santa for Covid-19 essentials (5) 16 Pierre’s goodbye is somewhat sad – i.e. unexpected (5) 18 Mynah ripped up Linda’s first book with Christmas praise (6) 21 Parents won’t get one on December 25, little Millie insisted (3-2) 24 Sin, we hear? Odd, they say, for this large church group (5) 25 Someone from Tuscany, for instance, must use A1 Latin (7) 26 The Georgy Girl group from the Sixties – or the Wise Men? (7) 27 Alice’s gift left old Walter initially visibly happy (5)

DOWN

1 A box of wines perhaps is lifted from the sack (4)

2 Sir Ian’s stirred some dried fruit in the Christmas pudding mixture (7)

3 Extra messages sent with Christmas cards from folk who rent rooms? (7)

4 Sing for a change and you’ll get drinks (4) 5 There’s a Christmas cracker joke inside… Bottom’s up! (5) 6 Once more, it’s in below a posh cast-iron cooking range (5) 7 Sample three of the Budweisers for the flavour detector (5,3) 12 Motion your agreement when wee Donald comes up (3) 13 Cooking pies and mash can give you stress (8)

15 Larkin’s family (3) 16 Bail out a BA, a hero from the Arabian Nights (3,4)

17 Cop leaves new politician with the first letter of a name (7) 19 and 22 Sweet Christmas pastries from a naughty imp and nieces (5,4)

20 Get all confused when the Doctor of Divinity gets stuck into the ale (5)

22 See 19

23 Wee kids now see what’s needed for a White Christmas (4)