Across
- 1. Seven guiding principles of Kwanzaa
- 3. Author who popularized the Christmas spirit
- 6. North Star guiding travelers
- 8. Ghostly business partner in Dickens’s tale
- 10. Sweet from a classic Christmas poem
- 13. Candleholder with seven branches
- 14. Wrote The Gift of the Magi
- 16. Central symbol of the Hanukkah miracle
- 20. Eastern sages bearing gifts
- 23. Spinning top with Hebrew letters
- 24. Piled accumulation of snow
- 25. Hung by the chimney
- 28. Symbol of warmth and faith
- 30. Helper candle in Hanukkah lighting
- 32. Decorative foliage strand
- 33. Composer of The Nutcracker Suite
- 34. Sacred lampstand; symbol of Hanukkah
- 37. Massive moving ice formation
- 39. Nine-branched Hanukkah candelabrum
- 40. One of the Magi’s gifts
- 44. Potato pancakes fried in oil
- 46. Traditional festive fire or dessert
- 49. Biblical term for Jerusalem
- 50. Festive spiced treat
- 51. Sacred text read in synagogue
- 53. Six-sided frozen crystal
- 54. Festive communal meal on December 31
Down
- 2. Period leading up to Christmas
- 4. Song of joy or praise
- 5. Plant hung overhead for kissing
- 7. Christmas Eve church service
- 9. Relating to dawn or northern lights
- 11. Polar light display
- 12. Icy cold
- 15. French word meaning “Christmas”
- 17. Mythic sea creature of Nordic winter lore
- 18. Shortest day of the year
- 19. Cold-related injury
- 21. Visual symbolism in religious art
- 22. Poached fish mixture, traditional dish
- 26. Decorative metallic strands for trees
- 27. Roman festival preceding Christmas traditions
- 29. One of Santa’s team
- 31. Fit according to dietary law
- 35. Scene depicting the birth of Christ
- 36. Evergreen plant with red berries
- 38. Feeding trough used as a cradle
- 41. Study of snowflake structure
- 42. Corneal sunburn from reflected glare
- 43. Mythic winter fairy-king (Shakespearean reference)
- 45. Swahili for “one”
- 47. Red-leaved holiday plant
- 48. Seed structure from an evergreen
- 52. Religious school for Torah study