The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word YULETIDE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
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More clues leading to the result YULETIDE
- Some say you’ll change over Christmas
- Season of good will, yet I duel anyway
- Solvers will even like sound of Christmas
- See preamble
- Novel eruditely dismissing king for the present time
- Say you’ll diet about this time of year
- In a state of excitement tie 25 with ecstasy at this time of year
- You will be broadcast before current season
- Tie duly designed around opening to exhibition in festive period
- You heard the French diet is modified at this feast
Buddy explains!
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does YULETIDE mean?
YULETIDE noun- The period around Christmas; the Christmas season, Christmastime; specifically, Christmas itself.
- (dated, or Germanic Neo-Paganism) The period of celebration of a pre-Christian festival associated with the (northern) winter solstice, later absorbed into the festival of Christmas (but sometimes recreated by modern neo-pagans).
- The period of southern winter in the middle of the year, sometimes celebrated in the colder, snowy regions of Australia with allusions to Christmas, which originated as a marketing gimmick.
- The flower Camellia sasanqua, native to Japan and nearby islands.