Snow fell endlessly — at this festive time? (4)

I believe the answer is:

noel

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'this festive time?' is the definition.

'snow fell endlessly' is the wordplay.
'snow' becomes 'no' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'endlessly' indicates the central letters (the ends of the words are removed).
The middle of 'fell' is 'el'.
'no'+'el'='NOEL'

'at' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for noel that I've seen before include "namely 4 [COWARD]" , "Coward for one" , "Season around the 25th December" , "Yuletide" , "Girl - boy - Christmas" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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