Well, there is a mix...for some people, the holidays are better. For others, they need a game to start very soon. It all depends on how much interest I get really soon, I suppose.
I don't want to close sign up early, though, because I want this to be a large game.
Basically, if I get a good number of players quickly, I'm going to start the game as soon as I get "enough." If it takes longer, than I'll let sign up time be a little longer, and we might end up playing during the holidays. If a number of people are available except for on Christmas Day, then it might be possible to "pause" the game for 24 hours. We will simply have to trust our wolves to not use this time to PM among themselves (I will declare this against the rules), so they don't get any extra plotting time.
Sorry I can't really tell you more. I'm flexible, but this is a tricksy time of year, I know.
As for starting/ending times: I am in EST. If the game gets started very soon, the start/end time can be anytime between about 3:30 pm and 9:00 pm. If the game does not start for a little while, then I may be more flexible (anytime between 12:30 pm and 9:00 pm, really).