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Special Instructions: What's in Dad's stocking? Each of the five starred, thematic clues lacks a definition.

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13 comments

J
Jaspa

Very good! Got the first thematic clue with 8d and it helped when it came to the others as I got on your wavelength. In fact I was looking for somewhere for 21a to fit without even parsing the clue first 😁 Didn’t know 14a but gettable from wordplay. 20d definition is 👏👏👏. A couple of spoilery additional comments in the reply. Thanks again!

J
1 reply
Last reply 4 yr agoView thread
w
widdersbel

Very good, Conto, really enjoyed this. Took me ages to get going but everything came together satisfactorily in the end. Struggled especially in the SW corner until the penny finally dropped with the outrageous/brilliant 27a. Other faves were 1a, 15a (one for Updike fans - great spot), 2d, 5d, 24d.

w
1 reply
Last reply 4 yr agoView thread
C
Coot

Lovely stuff, Conto! Trademark wit and ingenuity evident in abundance. Very tricky in places but worth the struggle. And I completed the hat-trick of solvers who failed to parse 18A! Favourites (from many contenders): 1A, 14A, 27A, 29A, 5D, 7D and 20D.

G
Guava

Great fun, thanks Conto. Enjoyed the themed clues and will just highlight 27a and 7d as my top two. Brilliant

G
1 reply
Last reply 4 yr agoView thread
A
Amoeba

Nice one Conto, really enjoyed this, particularly 15a (like widders, I loved the reference), 30a (great spot), 14d, and 19d. And the thematic entries were very nice!

P
PostMark

Nicely done, Conto. Watched this on panthera sunday. Gentle seasonal theme, well worked in.

C
Conto
Setter

Thanks to everyone who's had a go at the puzzle and commented - it's greatly appreciated. I couldn't resist 18a, but perhaps I should have! I've augmented the annotated solution for that one to better explain my intended parsing.

m
moobius

I enjoyed watching Panthera solving this one on his stream from yesterday. It was lots of fun and I really enjoyed the theme!

F
Fez

Lovely stuff Conto, very enjoyable ... those presents seem very familiar! Other favourites include 10a, 12a, 14a, 28a, 2d, 7d & 24d. And I liked 18a!

s
sirdakka

Lovely stuff Conto, very inventive and fun! I particularly liked 1a (neat), 11a (neat), 13a (great surface), 14a (fun), 15a (nice ref), 28a (smooth), 5d (fun), 14d (delightful), 16d (clean), 20d (fun) and 24d (very neat) - thanks for the puzzle :)