Prompt: This week’s contest answer is a stocking stuffer.
Answer: MARS BARS
Correct entries: 424

Poetry in the title last week, and then eight clues that showcased my impressive rhyming skills:

1-A: [This is the sound of things striking the ground] = CLATTER
17-A: [They really know how to travel in snow] = REINDEER
25-A: [Part with a shoe on Seattle Slew] = HOOF. I know I’ve met people (Americans) for whom this pair (hoof/roof) rhymes, but I can’t pin down the geography of it. But the important thing is that it rhymed for him.
29-A: [Word for a light that’s especially bright] = FLASH
31-A: [It is a spread you can put on your bread] = JELLY
43-A: [Part that may grow on Pinocchio] = NOSE
50-A: [It’s what you get when the sun has set] = NIGHT

Now, where poetically has one heard all these words before? Yuletide-ish vocabulary and publication date nudges one towards Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” which consists of 28 rhyming couplets. Take the word from the poem that rhymes with each of these eight entries and we get:

CLATTER –> MATTER
REINDEER –> APPEAR
HOOF –> ROOF
FLASH –> SASH
JELLY –> BELLY (Jelly Belly is a brand of candy, so red herring!)
WALL –> ALL
NOSE –> ROSE
NIGHT –> SIGHT

The first letters of those spell MARS BARS, which fittingly rhyme. I got Toblerone this year as usual, but same idea.

I’d like to wish each of you a happy, peaceful, and prosperous 2021. 2020 was trying for everyone but let’s rally and make this year something special.

CRYPTIC META (!):

Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto, formerly of the Nation and now of the Patreon, have a new cryptic crossword/meta hybrid out today! Intriguing! I will be printing it out and solving later. Check it out at their Patreon site!

THIS WEEK’S INSTRUCTIONS:

This week’s contest answer is an animal.