Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I have no idea about the carol whose chorus is used in this puzzle. Any hints, please?

I get it now!

It can’t be Emma Dreemin, Arthur White, Chris Muss, because that isn’t a Carol.

Seriously, though, thanks to everyone for hints on here which may speed up the process of solving this dreary (so far) puzzle.

I needed tonyannini's hint #24 to guess the carol - thanks, tony.
Are the nine words related to other words in the carol?

Mattrom, the nine words are related to one specific word in the carol...

I'm unsure how strictly we're to interpret 'within', in the preamble, and I really don't like a 3 letter reversed possibility in row 7 - is that strictly 'within'? If it is, there's a better 'overhanging' vertical option in column 2 (an alt spelling) and as the single reversed example is so messy, I might as well opt for the vertical option.
Perhaps I'm taking the instruction to draw the decagon 'through the cells' too literally - drawing around the cells would get rid of the 'within' problem altogether.
However, I'm really tempted to go for the 4 letter option that's duplicated in rows 7 and 8 - we're not expressly required to avoid duplicates, just to keep to 'distinct rows'.

I'm not at all happy with this endgame - any thoughts would be very welcome.

Thanks, Malone

....not to worry - I've just seen the alternative on row 7 (don't know why the duplicate wasn't dealt with in the preamble).

...does 'of a kind' do that? Possibly.

I think the preamble is somewhat unsatisfactory regarding the endgame. Perhaps this is what drxx is referring to at #46. There are two instances of one of the nine items, and the preamble does not preclude either. The outline of the decagon is not precisely determined because solvers are told to draw the edges through the cells, not through the letters. The outline could sit anywhere between the outer edges of cells or their inner edges. I Think I know what is intended but I don't see how either of two possible solutions could be marked wrong.

I also think the preamble is inaccurate regarding the highlighting. The highlighting surely represents one line of the carol. The whole representation (highlighting, decagon and looped items) does represent "two key lines of the carol" but that's not what the preamble says.