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Fair warning: I am almost certain that there is an error in the wordplay for 18a. I can't parse the wordplay for 8d. I was hoping for a special puzzle from Azed for Christmas, but he has given us a plain one.

The penny just dropped for 8d. I still think that 18a is wrong though; most unlike Azed to make such a mistake.

Thanks I’ve just found the puzzle, I was looking for a Gemelo.

Just got to this. I agree that 18a appears to be wrong, but perhaps there is another explanation.

Here is the clue for those that don’t have the puzzle…

Something to scare the kids we heard shivering (7)

All bar the central letter are checked, so there is little doubt as to the answer which Chambers associates with bugbear.

Agree about 18a; I also had a problem with the def in 11d. Both the Everglades and the grid entry are specific examples of a general class, but you would never say that the Everglades are an example of 11d.

Not a fan of 9d, while I'm at it.

What a huge disappointment that there’s no special Christmas puzzle. It looks like Azed is now only producing plain puzzles.

If you want a Azed challenge of old, then Doctor Clue at the Clue Clinic has just posted a link to Azed 249, the Christmas Special from 1976. Here it is…

https://clueclinic.com/wp-content/uploads/Azed-249.pdf

Thanks jono. I guess Azed is finding it too much of a struggle to produce specials anymore. A real shame.