An enjoyable, festive-themed Quixote today. All scrupulously fairly clued as always, though the NE and SW corners put up a bit of a fight for me. Still, it all came together in the end.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SCOFFERS – dd. |
| 6 | SISTER – IS< + STER[n]. |
| 9 | DECORATE – DEC + 0 + RATE. |
| 10 | NINETY – [e]XC[esses]. |
| 11/12/13 | CHRISTMAS DAY IN THE WORKHOUSE – (YORKSHIRE MAN WITH SAD TOUCHES)*. A poem by George R. Sims. |
| 17 | OVERINDULGENCE – (UNCLE DON GRIEVE)*. |
| 19 | BOA – BOA[r]. |
| 20 | THREESOME – (STEER HOME)*. |
| 23 | TAHITI – A HIT in [fes]TI[val]. |
| 24 | EXEGESIS – (SIX GEESE)*. |
| 25 | SEVERE – SEVER + [cak]E. |
| 26 | SHINDIGS – SH + IN DIGS. |
| Down | |
| 2 | CRESCENDO – CRESCEN[t] + DO. |
| 3 | FLOUR – F + LOUR. |
| 4 | EXAMS – ([th]E XMAS)*. |
| 5 | STEAMER – AM in STEER. |
| 6 | SENESCHAL – E in CLASHES*. |
| 7 | SANS DOUTE – (USA DOESN’T)*. |
| 8 | ENTRY – [g]ENTRY. |
| 14 | HAEMATITE – (I HATE MEAT)*. |
| 15 | WAISTLINE – (A WINE LIST)*. |
| 16 | ESCHEWING – CHEES[e]* + WING. |
| 18 | DORMERS – RM in DOERS. |
| 19 | BLARE – hom. of (Tony) “Blair”. |
| 21 | ELEMI – [l]IME LE[aves]<. |
| 22 | OREAD – ADORE*. |
Thanks for the blog, Simon. Another straightforward offering from Quixote, thanks.
This makes Quixote two in a row in the online version, which yesterday gave an old Quixote – 932 – instead of the expected Nestor-7543. Does anyone know why that was? (Not that I didn’t enjoy the old one – I did)
Nestor didn’t seem festive enough for Christmas day, but he’ll be on line next Saturday.
Thanks, eimi. Looking forward to the challenge.