Visual Description: Cookie cooking clan!
MATUG = GAMUT, GREME = MERGE, THEEIR = EITHER, TNOKYT = KNOTTY — Giving us: GAMMREIRKNY
Clue/Question: They loved baking Christmas cookies together and were enjoying all the – – –
Answer: MERRYMAKING
(Wow! I have to admit that I did not get today’s final answer! At first I was trying to come up with a word like CAMARADERIE, but ending in ERY. Then, I did consider a word ending in ING, but wasn’t seeing the answer. So, I let my daughter look at it, and after a couple of minutes, she got the answer. Personally, I never would have thought that MERRYMAKING was a compound word. Go figure.
No new clue words today. Two of the jumbles appear to be new, but we’ve definitely seen “matug” and “greme” before. I was able to see all of the clue words immediately. But, that eleven letter jumble of an answer letter layout was a toughie for me!
Cute cartoon of a family that bakes together. I wasn’t sure how many generations I was looking at, so I wasn’t sure if GRAMMY was going to be part of the final answer. I didn’t work at it very long, so I don’t know if I’d have come up with it on my own, or not. But, my baby girl bailed me out. Be well and do good, friends.) — YUR
Images courtesy of Google
Unclerave's Wordy Weblog 
Hi UR…Merry Christmas to you and yours! …And take a look at the puzzle of Christmas Past…2015. Be well, stay safe…and to all a good night…🎄🙋🏻♀️
We had this same final answer five years earlier:
https://unclerave.wordpress.com/2015/12/25/
…but the setup led into it less clearly, and it gave me more trouble this time around too. I had to find the MAKING part from the letters–that word comes to mind easier with the elves in the 2015 puzzle–and then I could see MERRY.
We certainly can’t complain about a rerun answer if it’s still a challenging solve, plus there are only so many Christmas puns to draw on for Jumble.
Happy Holidays to all Jumblers!
The Jumble historians have spoken!!! I’m guessing that I had an easier time solving the one five years ago. Sounds like the cartoon was merrier. Thanks for the interest, Angela and David! Happy Holidays to us all! — YUR
Christmas 🎄 cheers for you and family 👪
Thanks, Anonymous! — YUR
I would not really consider gamut a common word. I had to look and look and finally decided that is what the word was. The solution came to me easily after I figured out merry stated it off.
I think the definition that David L. Hoyt uses for “common word” is any word that is not a proper name, surname, corporate/brand name, or a specialized medical/scientific term. And, words that the dictionary deem as “archaic”.
But, you got there, Randy! And, now that word will be etched in your memory banks. — YUR
David’s definition for “common word” !
Is he also excluding common noun endings [I can’t think of the proper terminology] like “er”, “-ing”, “-ly”, etc ?
I hadn’t been sure about that.
No, lwc. We already get a lot of “ly”s. But, Hoyt doesn’t allow plurals that just end in S. — YUR