Christmas Traditions Around the World

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Across
  1. 3. Ancestor/precursor of eggnog (6).
  2. 5. A late-night (sometimes all-night) celebration held after Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve in Quebec and other French-speaking regions, which translates to “let’s wake up” (9).
  3. 7. Popular meal in Japan at Christmas time, thanks to a wildly successful 1970’s advertising campaign (“Kurisumasu ni wa kentakkii!”) (3).
  4. 9. Icelandic folkloric feline creature said to devour naughty children at Christmas time (4,3).
  5. 10. The nine-night Christmas time celebration in Spain and other Latin American countries that honours Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem and translates to “the inns” (3,7).
  6. 12. Italian folkloric figure who visits children on a broomstick the night before the Epiphany (2,6).
  7. 14. A popular Christmas decoration in Sweden, typically a goat made of straw and tied with red ribbons (7).
  8. 15. Baroque-era oratorio, originally offered at Easter, that is now a fixture of the Christmas season (3, 7).
  9. 16. Traditional Ethiopian Christmas game that is also the name for Christmas in that country (5).
Down
  1. 1. The (English) name of the oldest known Canadian Christmas carol, which was originally written in the Wyandot (Huron) language around 1643 (3,5,5).
  2. 2. Holiday stemming from the Victorian era, originally a day off for servants who received a “Christmas box” (6,3).
  3. 4. “Petit Papa Noël”, a French Christmas carol popular in Francophone Canada, was made famous by which male French vocal star (4,5)?
  4. 6. The Filipino name for Christmas in the Philippines, the country with the world’s longest Christmas season, stretching from September through January (5).
  5. 7. Dish made of boiled wheat, poppy seeds and honey, served in the Ukraine as the first of 12 meatless dishes on Christmas Eve (5).
  6. 8. A Central European celebration held on December 5, the night before the feast of St. Nicholas (12).
  7. 11. For most Finns, Christmas isn’t complete without time spent here, cleansing both body and mind and marking the season (5).
  8. 13. Yule log dessert served in Quebec and other French-speaking regions—“_______ de Noël” (5).