OffGuardian’s Christmas Crossword
After a year of turmoil and stress, OffG wants to offer a little relief over Christmas with our first ever puzzle contest. A Christmas cryptic crossword set by a regular reader and friend of the site.
To enter simply download the editable form here, solve the crossword and send it back to [email protected], with the subject line “crossword”.
Five lucky winners, and the goodies they may get, will be announced on 12th Night.
Good luck, have fun & MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Across
1. Beer six sports bodies equated with Black Death, Blitz and Wolf (11)
7. Silence kept by ministry under Matt to begin with (3)
9. “Citizens, I leave you confused!”, he – he might have said in Zarathustra (9)
10. Noble former pupil suffering reversal, appropriately clued (5)
11. Prise apart seafront features (5)
12. Member of theatrical union suffers discrimination (8)
14. Venture on board (4)
16. Pronoun at forefront of herd mentality (3)
17. Precious stone set front-to-back – classy confection! (6)
21. Statesman/lawyer begins countdown from 101, hesitates, ends at zero (6)
22. Heroine of Die Meistersinger and of 30/23 sceptics (3)
23. Blue? Not this clue! (4)
26. Community in exile spoke: “Westward! To the River-God!” (8)
28. Anticipated conclusion of 30/23? Surely not (5)
31. Confused and lacking direction, Nicole has part in soap (5)
32. Naturally assumes Ferguson’s initially in error (3,6)
33. Equipment found in kitchen (3)
34. Scotsman taken unawares by alternative news provider (11)
Down
1. Collaborating with devious intent, criminals undertake maritime plunder (10)
2. He told a tale about the First Lady (5)
3. New Zealand and Old Thailand combine to form regime seemingly undergoing renaissance in some quarters (6)
4. Panaceas produced by pointless new science after purging Victoria (8)
5. Recreational material distributed free, ends in Casualty (6)
6. Beneath hard, superior male – current status of women and 30/23 protesters (8)
7. Thoroughly deserve ‘Tier 1000’ madness (5)
8. Millions plead for pointless virtue-signalling fashion accessory (4)
13. Denizen of allotment makes getaway with little money (6,4)
15. Tasteless, mostly, to draw attention to misspelling (3)
18. Feature of allegory shared in large measure by 9 and 10 (3)
19. Corpse dreadfully in front of company – from excessive consumption of this? (8)
20. A Roman road North leads to bug once predicted to kill 200 million (5,3)
24. Special offer starts Friday? Get away with you! (3,3)
25. Madhya Pradesh city, by the sound of it, location of most activities under 30/23 (6)
27. Marshal Petain, missing Army chief, and many other political leaders could be so described (5)
29. Composer overdid lack of boundaries (5)
30. Sheep lose head and restraint (4)
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