THE winner of The Northern Echo's Champagne Christmas Crossword is a first-time entrant from Darlington.

Chris White, a 56-year-old civil servant at Mowden Hall, said: "Val, my wife, enters every year, but this was my first time. She does the wordsearch every Saturday and the crosswords every day."

As well as being helped by Val, Chris of Claxton Avenue was assisted in tackling the giant puzzle by his Aunt Flo - Florence Deacon, of Trinity Road.

"They were all there on Christmas afternoon with their dictionaries spread out all over the table," said Laura, Chris' 25-year-old daughter. He also has a son, Gary, 22.

The most difficult clue was "derived from observed facts" which looked like a jumble of letters but, with internet help, turned out to be "a posteriori", a Latin philosophical term.

They also struggled with the clue "sleep during summer" which required the answer "aestivate".

Because of the size of the crossword, it is not possible to print the answers in the paper. However, they appear online at www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ leisure/ champagnecrossword and we are delighted to post them out.

If you would like a copy, either email echo@nne.co.uk or write to Champagne Crossword Answers, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF. Don't forget to include your address.