Monopolise a crowd hosting ace winter celebration? (8)
I believe the answer is:
hogmanay
'winter celebration?' is the definition.
'monopolise a crowd hosting' is the wordplay.
'monopolise' becomes 'hog' (I've seen this before).
'crowd' becomes 'many' (a crowd is made up of many people).
'hosting' means one lot of letters goes inside another (inserted letters are welcomed in or hosted).
'a' put inside 'many' is 'manay'.
'hog'+'manay'='HOGMANAY'
'ace' acts as a link.
This may not be right. It may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hogmanay that I've seen before include "New Year's Eve north of the border" , "New Year's Eve (Scots)" , "Scottish celebration framed in mahogany" , "New Year up north" , "Festival" .)