Ten pairs of unclued lights give the names of people whose 89 was ‘50D/2A’ (six words in total). They include one 37, two singers, a prolific 34, a colourful writer, an outré TV star, an expert at ‘16/6/38’ (six words in total), a film producer, a mathematician who also watched ‘128/103/10’ (five words in total) and a 93A/79. Elsewhere, ignore two accents. Thirty-three special clues include a definition and a hidden letter mixture of the light.
Across
8 Trap ex-con swivelling musket (6)
17 Old region in isle one visits (5)
18 Mind minor rash (8)
19 Last of stingrays he-men rashly net (6)
20 Nail bad rogue (4)
21 Crane chewed shellfish (5)
23 One bosky wood (4)
24 Look round very fast (6)
27 Secure tenant’s flat (4)
28 Clementine’s home some know about (6)
29 Vulgar bloke swallows tablet (5)
30 Godless fellow mouths woman’s name (5)
31 Islands like Skye (4)
36 Some women talk of curtains of tissue (7)
41 Orange Laura and Morag peeled (6)
42 End of sonnet 46 in anthology (6)
45 Grand bar in music book (5)
46 Tense TV programme (3)
50 Vast quantity of earth bog absorbs (5)
52 Stunned chiefs start to tremble (5)
54 Proton in element London uni splits (7)
56 Refugee from vile regime? (6)
58 Honest fellow recorder (8)
59 Until now crowd backed riveting reformer (7, two words)
60 Head on beer (3)
64 Any gum tree (4)
65 Completely black whales may do this (5)
68 Force enlisting private made a choice (5)
70 Lax notation’s minus a note in bass part (8)
72 Maybe Nell painted seaquarium Arab neglected (8)
74 Osiris’s wife’s pentad of aphrodisiacs (5)
76 Gross content of rejected cheeseboard (5)
78 Prices of seeds (4)
80 Peter’s letter (3)
84 Popular opinion for example (8)
86 Nightmare men share (6)
88 Spain’s seriously dry governor (6)
94 Airport regular non-smoker visits (8)
96 Trouble abroad (3)
97 About 38.5% of intake blessed college (5)
98 Cheers almost ring out and reverberate (6, hyphened)
100 Name of tree songbird’s on (6)
102 Boffin in van behind mine (7)
107 English ladies out following the sun (7)
109 Brazen scribe (4)
111 Pleader let down 250 inside (5)
113 I struggled being overgrown (5)
114 Japan adoring endless breaks (6)
117 Cuckoo riled crow (4)
118 Hey! Sick jockeys cry in the chase (6)
120 Review backing Equus (5)
122 An unofficial name (4)
123 Shop exceeding the usual service (6)
125 Troubled girl in retreat? (5)
126 Handouts for mudlarks? (6)
Down
2 Homer playing a trumpet (6)
3 Marauder killing second uhlan? (5)
5 Tile from hovel close to Rio (6)
7 Apparel so black (4)
11 Who loathes potato? (4)
14 Way to handle deliveries publishers spoilt then wrapped (7, three words)
15 Sort area deploying garden tools (8)
22 Peanuts producer largely in synagogue (5)
25 Diabolical serpent (3)
26 Worried giant keeps active (5)
32 Oscar’s governess in gaol just after becoming married (5)
33 Ill recruiters one leaves to revive (9)
35 Car holding empty hotel’s furniture (5)
40 Legendary cave (3)
41 Value of Australian camel? (6)
43 Run all the way and stop (5, two words)
44 Suits tailor flogs (4)
45 Plant pike and ray ruined (6)
48 Rocket fuel causes great mess, we hear (6)
49 Extra bet based on forecasts (6, two words)
51 Swat angry fly (4)
53 Foot missing pedal for ages (4)
57 Warriors sip mild (4)
63 Hill snow hides (3)
65 Newsgroups value Sean perhaps (6)
67 Beautiful bird (3)
69 Heifer ate vetch (4)
71 Plain Peg exercises (6)
73 Flash Lilliputian (6)
75 Dawdle in shop (4)
76 Eye roving again (4)
77 Chinese is fine (5)
81 Poet’s ashes left in peace (5)
83 Excellent earrings (4)
85 US footballer half nervous ran out (5)
87 District’s active and authentic (5)
91 Orton handles drama (3)
93 Pastor put on ’efty feller’s gear (5)
95 One searching round Lima for tool (7)
96 Mature seagull (3)
101 Woolly tufts Mrs Capp sees? Yes (6)
104 Flower in exotic sauce (6)
105 Blue Becky sobs (3)
106 Dance tune arranged by me (6)
108 Dicky cuts six hairs (5)
110 Immature crabs river girl nets (5)
115 Rags beggars wore (4)
116 Woodmouse’s fate (4)
117 Base wastrel (4)
121 China tea plate (3)
A first prize of £100, three prizes of £25 and six further prizes of Follow This Thread: A Maze Book to Get Lost In by Henry Eliot (Penguin) will be awarded for the first correct solutions opened. The first four winners will each also receive a bottle of champagne. Email entries by 17 January to crosswords@spectator.co.uk, putting ‘Christmas Crossword’ in the subject field.
Please include a phone number. This is to arrange delivery if you win champagne.
Download a printable version here.
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