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Has anyone made any headway on this week's puzzle?
The preamble is very convoluted with the 'extra' letters and the pairs of consecutive letters.

Could I have a couple of pointers so that at least I can make some sort of start?

Thanks a lot.

Hi Tony

The crossword is not as daunting as it looks.
The consecutive removed letters are 3 sets of 2 l from the across clues which will make up a Go-Getter. Similarly 3 down clues contain 2 consecutives letters resulting in another Go
-getter.
The quotation from the single extra letters is 7 words.
Hope this helps - Good luck.

Thank you K
I have now got a lot of the single extra letters and the words in the phrase are forming. I have had trouble deciding which clues contain the 2 consecutive letters which must be dismissed before solving and the thematic abbreviations mentioned in the preamble are a mystery.
Any additional help would be appreciated.

Hello Tony - the consecutive pairs are in 18.22 and 23 ac and in 3, 7 and 6 dn. The thematic abbreviations remain a mystery to me too (I am guessing bowling abbreviations?) - we will have to wait for K t enlighten us!

Sorry Tony - that should be 8 dn not 6 dn!

Hi Tony & AnnieC

First off Tony I misled you by saying the extra letters would lead to the quotation! What I should have said was the 7 word phrase spell out an instruction.
Annie has given you the pairings of the two Go-Getters and she has hinted at the theme. If you
take the extra letters from 27d LBW I think you will recognise the thematic abbreviations!

Can I just caution against relying on Google for the words (not word! as in the preamble) but rather the ODQ version.
Good luck.

Thanks for the help K. I am making heavy weather of this and can't believe that it is not harder than The Listener.
I now have the first 4 words for the instruction and they seem to confirm the sporting theme.
I am entering words in the grid and then trying to work them back to the clue but some just do not make sense. 1a & 15d are good examples.
Please help.

Hi Tony

This EV was as challenging as a Listener, but persevere and you'll enjoy the PDM when it arrives!
15d - a Dunstable is a straw hat.Remove the D (head falls off) = Unstable -( Top Heavy). Remove the B (bowled/thematic abbreviation) then enter
ELUANTS into the grid.
1a I am still not altogether happy with this one.
DR = Debtor ..CESS ( examination ?) remove the extra letter C = DRESS (suit)

Hope this helps.

I'm really struggling with this weeks ev, but I'm reluctant to give up as I have filled most of my grid. I don't seem to be able to identify the go-getters from the dissmissed letters. I still seem to be a little way off identifyig the words from extra letters. Any help to stop me tearing my hair out would be gratefully recieved. Many thanks.x

Hi Laura

From 18 HO - 22 RN -23 BY

From 3 BA - 7 RL - 8 OW

Google these two names and you will see the activity they were involved in which will help with the abbreviations.
Note the final lines of a famous work.

Good luck