| MISTLETOE | Reason for Christmas kisses |
| NATIVITY | Reason for Christmas? National festivity on the outside (8) |
| ICING | Sugary mixture made from a powdered, flammable ingredient - royal for Christmas cakes, fondant for peppermint creams or glace for Christmas biscuits (5) |
| BRANDY | Word linking with "butter" for a sauce for Christmas pudding or "snap" for a cream-filled biscuit (6) |
| ISLANDS | Institute with open space in ship for Christmas and Easter, for example? (7) |
| TREE | Spruce, for example, decked out for Christmas (4) |
| ADVENTCALENDAR | Vance led art and design for item posted early for Christmas (6,8) |
| ALLI | Christmas song, ... Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (3,1) |
| ROT | Storing fruit for Christmas? Watch out for signs of this (3) |
| CHAPEL | Tip for Christmas -- husband to take off loud top for service! (6) |
| MOSS | Flowerless plant used for Christmas wreath frames/rings or for decorating around the tops of potted hyacinths (4) |
| TABLE | Furniture item often decorated for Christmas or used for board games (5) |
| OCTOBER | The Hunt For Red _, right colour, wrong month for Christmas (7) |
| MINCE | ___ pie; dessert for Christmas, perhaps |
| NOWELL | Old name for Christmas (source missing) (6) |
| ILL | "___ be home for Christmas . . ." |
| NOEL | Trotsky could be back for Christmas (4) |
| YULE | A special log for Christmas? (4) |
| CATERED | Made provisional arrangements for Christmas? (7) |
| PEACEANDJOY | Best wishes for Christmas? (5,3,3) |
