Welcome to the BB Christmas crossword competition 2017!

About the crossword and download

*the printed version of the grid contains one small error: the number 28 should be two squares to the left. Sorry folks, it's the flaw in the carpet and all that. As a bit of light relief from more pressing seasonal matters, we've come up with a Christmas crossword: a thirty-clue puzzle that could win you a very special bottle of wine, or one of three thirty euro vouchers. We're distributed it widely around Cork, so you may have picked up *a printed copy already. If not, you can download it as a .pdf file here: Download the crossword Most of the clues have something to do with wine, or Christmas, or Cork. Some of them are a bit cryptic (anagrams, that kind of thing) and some of them are straight (if a little sneaky here and there). We tried out the finished puzzle on friends and family to make sure it was do-able, and were happy with the results. It probably helps if you're interested in wine, or know someone who is, but there shouldn't be any impossible answers by any means. We wanted to come up with something that would get people talking and asking around, and not prove too easy or too hard. If you could solve it just with Google, it wouldn't be any fun. However, please note that we're not professional crossword compilers, so there are one or two clues that might require a leap of faith on your part. Please have a go anyway—you've got until the sixth of January to get your entries in.

What are the prizes? When are the results announced?

On Saturday 6th January, 2018, we'll draw four correct entries at random—first out, first prize, and announce the winners here and on Twitter and Facebook too.

The first prize is a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape

from Château de Beaucastel, one of the most prestigious wine names in the Rhône.

The three runner-up prizes are vouchers

for thirty euro to spend at Bubble Brothers.

How to enter

Even more than we're not professional crossword compilers, we're not interactive online crossword compilers. So you can't fill in the grid here, unfortunately (unless you'd like to, to prove a point—no prizes for that, though). You'll need to go old-school by downloading and printing the .pdf. And then you'll need something to write with. After that:

-Hand in your entry at our shops in the English Market and Marina Commercial Park, or

-Send legible scans or photos of your entry to the e-mail address on the form, or

-Post your completed Christmas crossword to us at Bubble Brothers, Marina Commercial Park, Centre Park Road, Cork T12 ND2W

	ACROSS
1	Spanish term for a wine aged in oak (7)
5	Organic compound not for sale to under-18s (7)
9	Shandon bells are these (7)
10	In report on fortified wine city (5)
11	A good place for storage Down Under? (6)
12	French ways in on the menu? (7)
14	Châteauneuf-du-? (4)
15	Munster anglers' delight—not so welcome in your glass? (10)
19	She may top the tree in country places (5,5)
20	Wine auf Deutsch (4)
22	One of the things decanting does (7)
25	Atmosphere from the distillery? (6)
27	Another name for the ‘international varieties’ of grapes, including Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (5)
28	Appellation in the Southern Rhône (7)
29	Sew-sew feature of a real Christmas tree (7)
30	One of the céad míle fáilte (7)

	DOWN
1	The real capital, some say (4)
2	Agoraphobic landlord? (9)
3	She sounds like Christmas (6)
4	Where the Margaret River flows into the sea (9)
5	Essential ingredient in cider (5)
6	Can we opt for this South African port (4, 4)
7	1HP biodynamic tractor (5)
8	Appears to have had one too many (5,5)
13	The capital of Champagne? French disagreement follows (7,3)
16	Bottle opener—from the rebels' ship?
17	One way of describing Bubble Brothers, cut short (3,4,2)
18	Synopsis of ‘Ten Green Bottles’ (1,3,4)
21	Dry, light, seasonal sparkler (6)
23	Spanish red aged in oak for less time than 1 across (5)
24	They're necessary for Bing's Christmas dreams to come true (5)
26	French word for a wine vat (4)