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The Independent Crossword December 20 2025 Answers

Saturday puzzle · 106 clues · ✓ All answers verified

Below are all the The Independent Crossword December 20 2025 answers. The Saturday puzzle has 106 clues; every answer has been verified. Click any clue to see every answer it has ever had, across every publisher in our database.

Also solved on December 20
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Across

Click a clue for every answer it has ever had
ClueAnswerLettersDirection#
SkinFLAY4Across1 Chinese dynastyMING4Across3 Time Out slammed Brian Eno hitHIBERNATION11Across6 DessertsPUDDINGS8Across7 Ceremonial staffMACE4Across8 Atmospheric instabilityTURBULENCE10Across9 One's interested in fish out of water, naturallyTERN4Across9 Local batting like English — endlessly hopelessINDIGENOUS10Across10 Look forward to raise for top jobFACELIFT8Across11 Dainty biteNIBBLE6Across11 Industrial port in central Japan, on Honshu, between Tokyo and YokohamaKAWASAKI8Across12 Some feel Biden lies about being fit to serveEDIBLE6Across13 Bill ___, England batsman who made his debut in the Centenary Test at Lord's in 1980ATHEY5Across13 NeverthelessANYWAY6Across13 Battery hen, potentiallyCHICKENNUGGET13Across14 One name for the larva of a geometrid mothINCHWORM8Across14 Without exceptionINVARIABLY10Across14 A collarless, sleeveless dress worn over a blouse or jumperPINAFORE8Across15 Withdrawn votes exposed American menaceCOYOTE6Across16 The one legal party in Spain under the Franco regimeFALANGE7Across16 1974 Top 10 hit for Cozy PowellNANANA6Across17 Toys winning hearts and mindsTHINKERS8Across17 British actress and singer who won a Best Actress Oscar for Mary PoppinsJULIEANDREWS12Across18 A fewSOME4Across18 RunwayAIRSTRIP8Across19 Secure a soft drink then start to down a cocktailPINACOLADA10Across19 The ___ ___, Irish rock band whose single I Useta Lover topped the Irish charts for nine consecutive weeks in 1990SAWDOCTORS10Across20 Drinking-placesBARS4Across20 Heavy metalLEAD4Across21 Something to reflect on, like touring teamAXIS4Across22 The smaller of the two satellites of MarsDEIMOS6Across22 Rome wasn't built in a day? On the contrary, she sellsTRADESWOMAN11Across23 Venetian-born conductor, composer and light orchestra leader with a cascading strings musical signatureMANTOVANI9Across24 Perennial bulbous plant which belongs to the family LiliaceaeTULIP5Across27 Area between the North Pole and the Arctic CircleNORTHFRIGIDZONE15Across28 An electronic valve with three electrodesTRIODE6Across30 1978 film in which Billy Crystal plays a pregnant manRABBITTEST10Across31 The opening track and lead single from The Rolling Stones' 1971 album Sticky FingersBROWNSUGAR10Across32 Mineral of which amethyst, cairngorm and citrine are varietiesQUARTZ6Across35 Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee for the 1982 film Victor VictoriaLESLEYANNWARREN15Across37 In heraldry, of the colour blueAZURE5Across40 Former name for the Kingdom of EswatiniSWAZILAND9Across42 Historical novel by George Eliot set in the fifteenth centuryROMOLA6Across44 1990 film directed by Dennis Hopper starring Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen and Jennifer ConnellyTHEHOTSPOT10Across45 Antoine de ___, French writer and aviator best remembered for his novella The Little PrinceSAINTEXUPERY12Across47 Alcoholic drink of which Cognac and Armagnac are varietiesBRANDY6Across50 California city on San Francisco Bay damaged by an earthquake in 1989OAKLAND7Across52 An orange-red translucent gemstoneFIREOPAL8Across53 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical adapted from Ferenc Molnár's 1909 play LiliomCAROUSEL8Across55 Sugar preparation called frosting in North AmericaICING5Across56 Walk Like an ___, single by The Bangles that topped the US chart in December 1986EGYPTIAN8Across57

Down

ClueAnswerLettersDirection#
Fund scrapping first new union joinerFIANCE6Down1 Actress who came to fame playing Elaine Nardo in the TV series TaxiMARILUHENNER12Down1 Water featureFOUNTAIN8Down1 The 50th state of the United StatesHAWAII6Down2 Risk to cuddle flash European one encountered in bedPERIWINKLE10Down2 ViperADDER5Down2 Villainous ensign in Shakespeare's OthelloIAGO4Down3 Woman fed up, for the most partENID4Down3 ImpersonationMIMICRY7Down3 PleasantNICE4Down4 The official mascot of the Michelin tyre companyBIBENDUM8Down4 Party time, to cut a long story shortSTAG4Down4 Cause harm toINJURE6Down5 Moving forwards guards love taking a breakLOUNGING8Down5 Another name for the green woodpeckerYAFFLE6Down5 Skye, for exampleISLE4Down6 The administrative centre of EssexCHELMSFORD10Down6 'I am on call,' he garbled in anguishMELANCHOLIA11Down7 In Greek mythology, the personification of sleepHYPNOS6Down7 T Rex song which became their first hit single in 1970RIDEAWHITESWAN14Down8 Express has news about works being held upBULLETTRAIN11Down8 1975 Top 10 hit for The RubettesICANDOIT8Down9 Spotted beetleLADYBIRD8Down10 Aquatic bird whose varieties include mute, trumpeter and whooperSWAN4Down10 A German high-speed monorail train using magnetic levitationTRANSRAPID10Down11 Crazy (Informal)BONKERS7Down12 Theory of X and Y taken across the Pyrenees?TENET5Down12 Enclosure for birdsAVIARY6Down13 One clarifying crude oil at supplyELUCIDATOR10Down13 Taylor Swift dudes' hearts fluttered, liking False GodIDOLATRY8Down15 Not at homeAWAY4Down15 WashBATHE5Down16 CouchSOFA4Down17 Tree huggers agreed on retirement, sadlyKOALAS6Down18 The largest of the German concentration camps in World War IIAUSCHWITZ9Down19 Better figures that he represents in hues?ODDS4Down20 A West African percussion instrument such as the dùndún or the tamaTALKINGDRUM11Down21 Setter leaves surface behindARSE4Down21 Market town in Wiltshire that has one of the widest high streets in BritainMARLBOROUGH11Down23 A hot drink of port and lemon juice, usually spiced and sweetenedNEGUS5Down25 With Kaz and Nik, one of the three Spheriks, mascots for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and JapanATO3Down26 1986 film starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold and Helen SlaterRUTHLESSPEOPLE14Down29 A woman who makes a willTESTATRIX9Down30 Another name for a lariatREATA5Down33 The 40th president of the United States of AmericaRONALDREAGAN12Down34 American actress who married Gary Oldman in 1990 and Ethan Hawke in 1998UMATHURMAN10Down36 A type of West Indian pop music of the 1960sSKA3Down38 Centre back who captained the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team from 2008 until the end of the 2014 FIFA World CupEMIRSPAHIC10Down39 The policy or practice of members of a particular political group joining an existing political party with the intention of changing its principles and policiesENTRYISM8Down41 1980s ITV sitcom starring Keith Barron and Gwen TaylorDUTYFREE8Down43 Iraqi town that was the birthplace of Saladin and Saddam HusseinTIKRIT6Down46 A violet-blue dye obtained from leaves, woad, or produced syntheticallyINDIGO6Down48 Word used by an Italian when answering the phonePRONTO6Down49 Rare gaseous element that has the atomic number 10NEON4Down51 Welsh town at the mouth of the river ClwydRHYL4Down54

About this puzzle

This page lists every clue and answer from the The Independent crossword published on Saturday, December 20, 2025. Answers are checked against the completed grid before publishing. If a clue looks familiar, open it — the same wording often runs in other puzzles with a different answer, and the clue page shows every version we have on record.