CROSSWORD Royal mince-pie, by Mass
A first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of the new edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Cassell, £20) will be awarded for the first correct solutions opened on 8 January. The first four prizewiners will, in addition, each receive a bottle of Graham's Late Bottled Vintage 1989 Port. Entries to: Christmas Crossword, The Spectator, 56 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LL.
RADIALS (6) I Long ago amount of gold in casket was tribute Wise Man in East avidly ...
... acts upon Eastern star At Christmas e.g. cavorting's furious 2 Trifle oozing with old measure of Scotch Sword used by Herod: lots executed To Montreal, in strong Canadian sledges Go, decorate lavishly 3 Mousse's Christmassy, but not a stew of hash Poor horse drags each yule-log in At Christmas see moonshincrs absorb liquid!
Mistletoe is (Romeos might say) superfluous 4 Out of festival? Lord of the manor?
Heard near shed, voice of the little Child Stone heralds hailstorm Turn back to '... we traverse afar' 5 Frost, a visitor making the old tense A trio always associated with vital vessels Chapped hams all turn red?
Feast has meat-plates used for haggis 6 Sitting up all night, revelling on wine Donkey hearing tender Mary 1cc-skating's inviting Starlight seen by tribes in Roman province?
7 With blenders, mincemeat improves...
...I and proper seasoning): now proceed again Share a stable in distress Young trees left in sunless dank thickets 8 Fir-trees, say, eat back (in Oslo, it seems) Old-style helmets. pants, sleet- proof Onions, with sage stuffings, clog bird Santa's sled we greeted, as of yore 9 Chafing-dish on the hot range What's old Father Christmas want?
Brackish scum? Yule-log's covered with organic matter Carries heavy log up North? Bit of a push, homewards 10 Pressure put on heartless Scrooge That's the way, add baubles to tree American shrubs in decked halls, gaslit Mince-pies and also old- fashioned savoury seasonings 11 Decorating one large exotic tree Batter is balsam-flavoured?
The 64 radial lights are to be entered from edge to centre or vice versa, 32 in each case. Their clues (in ran- dom order in each numbered sector) each comprise a definition part and a consecutive jumble of the light incorporating one extra letter. These extras, in clue order as printed, spell out an apt phrase (11 words). When all the radial lights are correctly disposed in their sectors, a phrase (ten words) will appear in the full circuit next to the outer one, and a slightly unusual greeting (four words, one apostrophe disregarded) in the circuit next to the innermost. These circuits both read clockwise but do not start in sector 1.
Name Address Seasonal revellers — or solitary types?
Snowballing aggravated a finger's torn skin 12 Take in almonds, suet, mace etc Handled Christmas anthems Dried fruits are wanted, that's the solution Port? One glass? A dozen!
13 To Judaea these surge Winter's characteristic blast Ingredient of oil, myrrh, etc, an extract Exotic, that incense 14 Rogue halts revels Take in giant pies, greedily Superlative rum liqueurs add to enjoyment Felled tree lugged off by smelly beast 15 The angel appeared to alarm shepherds Om for robins, spare crumbs Cuts pale holly bract Chicken Scrooge put in hamper 16 Eve hid cracker motto At Yuletide I always become expansive Mince-pies, cold joint Fancy tree, traditional The solution to Crossword 1237 is on page 97
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