Crossword

Unclued lights (six of two words, one of three), correctly linked, make ten members of a seasonal set, one light doing multiple duty. Ignore one hyphen and two apostrophes. Nineteen across clues contain a superfluous word; initial letters of these words in clue order form the full name of the creator. The name of the genre is hidden in ten squares in the grid and should be shaded.     A first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of Secret Service Brain Teasers by Sinclair McKay (Headline) will be awarded for the first correct solutions opened. The first four winners will each also receive a bottle of champagne. Entries by 14 January to: Christmas Crossword, The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP.

‘12/15’ (six words in total) is a quotation (in ODQ) suggested by the remaining unclued lights (two hyphened), whose fifth and sixth letters might give A NUN AMBROSIA. The surname of the quotation’s author will appear diagonally in the completed grid and must be shaded.

Two unclued lights give the name of a location and another a means of arrival and -departure. Other unclued lights give the names of the party arriving, including one who joins them at the location, and none who leave them there. The three instances of a certain letter appearing in the grid must be written in red, just as in the original.

Three unclued lights featured the remaining ones, two of two words, the others paired. Two of them do double duty. Elsewhere, ignore one circumflex.

The theme is two historic people who were contemporaries. Unclued lights give their forenames, places of birth and death and occupations. A geographical feature (5) linking the two will appear in the completed grid and must be shaded. Elsewhere, ignore an apostrophe. The solutions at 22 and 27 share the same two unchecked letters.

Unclued lights, singly or correctly paired, are of a kind, as given in Chambers. Ignore one apostrophe.   Across 5    Maiden admitting born overseas originally, not in Danish city (6) 11    Author’s note on leader of band (6) 13    Sort of thinking muscle real troublesome (7) 15    Old royal servant, one that looks to captivate women (5) 16    Tragic heroine misses artist, not in office yet (5) 17    Tropical veg regularly feed herbivores (6) 18    A rector ruined can’t function (6) 21    One taken in by eccentric vagrant (5) 22    Shelf with enough strength after soak (7) 28    Wild about education, like the US government?

The unclued lights, one of two words, and the others when paired are of a kind. One individual unclued light does double duty.   Across 1    Women’s painting seen initially returning by tube (5) 4    Look about, right and left, in a jaunty manner (9) 9    Home I leave — priests’ centre’s defining acts of wickedness (10) 11    Give address that’s fancy, not new (5) 12    Porcelain broken, lacking no true copy (7) 16    Trojan horse finally gains access to a stable backwards (6) 21    What is going beyond The Pale?

Three unclued lights make up a nine-word quotation. Remaining unclued lights are of a kind.   Across 1    Norway blocking the euro perhaps till now (8) 8    Excuse one departing French city (4) 12    Bill the Spanish for Jew’s harp?

1 Across and 45 Across form a phrase, and the other unclued entries form a word ladder linking them, by changing one letter at a time, always forming real words. Elsewhere, ignore an accent.   Across 11    Weary junkie’s eaten mollusc (10) 13    Everything taken into account, at last, endlessly (5, two words) 14    Holiday son’s taken from country in empty spaces (5) 15    Everybody in work makes useful by-product (7, two words) 17    Cheat I rumbled beginning to look honest (7) 19    Colonnade to put in square area (4) 22    Stones swapping vocal parts – they make records fast (6) 24    Shrinking, like clothes after dry-cleaning?

All the unclued Across lights are of a kind, as are all the unclued Down ones. They can be paired appropriately, and can be confirmed in Brewer.   Across 4    What’s blocking criminal courts I bet around five? (11) 11    Land adviser returning to wharf without question (7) 16   Suave young socialite leaves broadcasting (5, two words) 21    Not half remarkably rapid. It’s the limit!

Eight headwords in Chambers consist of the same word. Unclued lights (including two trios and one doing double duty) give definitions of these headwords. The word will appear in the completed grid and must be shaded.   Across 5    End with cloudy sort of wine (7, hyphened) 10    Strappers said to break down (4) 12    Rod pranged caravan in Mexican city (10) 15    Scandinavian chap portrays meadow with tailless leporine rodent (6) 18    Greasy stuff’s turned Nicole Knight off (5) 19    Is Corn State Charlie related to goddess?

One unclued light, a term for a boundary of an area whose name is formed by two unclued lights, is a 19 of five items (one of which consists of two words, and one of which is hyphened) reading clockwise in the perimeter. Letters in corner squares and those adjacent to them could make CLAN GRANT END.   Across 11    Bird turning and not following man (5) 12    Camel?

The dozen unclued lights can be arranged in a specific sequence when preceded by or followed by their sequence indicators which do not appear in the puzzle. But, two clued solutions happen to include the second word of the sequence! All but one (at 19, with an apostrophe) of the dozen resulting phrases can be verified in Brewer or Chambers. Ignore two accents, and 15D includes an abbreviation.

On 15 September somewhere bordered by 31 and 5, and whose capital is 40/10 (ignore an accent), celebrates its 43 from 35. Its main exports are 36 and 19D and, unusually, it has no 1 (two words). Its IVR (2) appears downwards in the completed grid and must be shaded. Elsewhere, ignore one accent.   Across 12    Dippy Irish auntie’ll like Bond’s boss’s name (10) 14    Plump and very well indeed (3) 15    Turning eighteen, Romeo is too theatrical (8) 17    Some unwill the sorry state of Ruskin (5) 18    Upper second from Leeds?

2 describes a pair of unclued lights (three words altogether), which in turn include the others.   Across 12    Single by pop group: ‘Go for violent crime’ (8) 13    Beast’s sardonic-sounding refusal (5) 14    Wing and tail feathers missing one month (8) 16    Book I inscribed for myself? (4) 20    Will’s to resurrect a year’s work (6) 21    Dealer’s only rule: concealing clubs (6) 22    A positive plan backfires, that’s plain (5) 24    Not long before one pleasure of paradise?

The unclued lights (three of two words) are of a kind.   Across 1    Slices top of sausage in front of dogs (5) 6    Starting at Keele, say, in flames?

Unclued lights are three groups of three words of a kind, each group defined by the name of a different main character from a novel. The fourth main character of the novel (6, two words) must be highlighted in the completed grid.

One unclued light (three words) is a phrase referring to an item whose scientific name is formed by two unclued lights. The first word of this name can be divided into three words, each of which has two synonyms among the other unclued lights.

In loving memory of 20 41 Considine (10/10/27–24/7/18), the doyenne of crossword compilers. The unclued lights and those clued without thematic definition are of a kind. Ignore two accents. All are confirmed in Chambers.   Across 4    Poor twerp forced to know his lines thus? (11, hyphened) 11    Travelling bohemians leave me out (7) 13    Finish in airport building, losing bit of luggage, note (9) 14    Novelist rejecting material (5) 19    Thanks team about seaman parked in 6?

Fans of classic 12 will know that where ‘Q’ = ‘the number of’: Q26 x Q1D x (Q34 + [Q36D/5A x Q15D]) x Q14/20 = Q the puzzle. 14/20 is four words in total.   Across   1 Red vestment eastern compère retains (6) 10  Seeds of casaba once processed (10, two words) 11  Ruth from the East posed outside for painter (6) 15  Contralto with yen for bonbons (5) 16  Blissful Enid cycling in the City?