Complete Clue List
Across
1. Number of tiny 20D, pulling St. Nicholas' 12D (5)
4. Stained; "his clothes were all ____ with ashes and soot" (9)
9. Present time? "Happy ____ to all, and to all a good night!" (9)
10. "He was chubby and plump"--St. Nicholas' chest and trunk (5)
11. Practice for a Nativity play (8)
13. Head to bed; "Had just settled our (25A) for a long winter's nap" (6)
15. Grassy area; "When out on the ____ there arose such a clatter" (4)
17. Prior to; "'Twas the night ____ (9A)" (6)
18. Goal, purpose; peace and joy at 9A, perhaps (3)
21. Word after 9A or present (3)
22. Sharp-eyed birds; "More rapid than ____ his coursers they came" (6)
23. Encounter; "When they ____ with an obstacle" (4)
25. Thinking things; "Had just settled our ____ for a long winter's nap" (6)
26. Beginning to awake; "Not a creature was ____, not even a mouse" (8)
29. Apart (from); "And laying his finger ____ of his nose" (5)
30. Up-to-date, which St. Nicholas certainly has to be (French, 2,7)
32. Sweet treat or fairy reminiscent of 9A; "While visions of ____s danced in their heads" (5-4)
33. Fear; "A wink of his eye and a twist of his head / Soon gave me to know I had nothing to ____" (5)
Down
1. Surrounded; "And the smoke it ____ his head like a wreath" (9)
2. Belt size, somewhat larger in the case of St. Nicholas (5)
3. WAISTS involved in a state of excitement, often felt at 9A (anag., 6)
4. Bob Cratchit's "tiny" son in Dickens' "A (9A) Carol" (3)
5. Ascended; "And giving a nod, up the chimney he ____" (4)
6. Wearing St. Nick's costume OR post-9A status of many bank accounts (2,3,3)
7. Cyclonic storm; "As leaves that (17A) the wild ____ fly" (9)
8. Operated a vehicle; "ere he ____ out of sight" (5)
12. 9A gift holder; "With the ____ full of Toys--and St. Nicholas too" (6)
14. Instant; "I knew in a ____ he must be St. Nick" (6)
16. FAGIN WARY about travelling, especially on foot; not a problem for St. Nick with his 12D (anag., 9)
19. Alleviated, made less severe; something helped by the spirit of 9A (9)
20. Dancer's partners; "a miniature (12D), and (1A) tiny ____" (8)
24. In a circle; "As I drew in my head, and was turning ____" (6)
25. Crows or boasts; sometime actions of children comparing 9A gifts (5)
27. Picture or likeness; "His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!" (5)
28. Parapet; "To the top of the porch! to the top of the ____!" (4)
31. Short video maker, often used at 9A (3)