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Thanks, wintonian, for the explanation of the clue, one of many that struck me as almost too abstruse to be justified (the 'musical piece' was another such).

As for the original artwork, the asymmetry is confined to the absolute extremities; there's nothing to suggest that the poor chap has suffered the displacement of an entire thematic item.

Alanw - the two clues you mention are further examples of over-egging.

For 'Priest ...', a single letter has to replace a two-letter abbreviation ('mask' = 'conceal by superimposition'); for 'Rum's', think where that island is and how its inhabitants say 'all', then add a one-letter and a two-letter abbreviation. Both clues lack a letter in their wordplay.

Thanks, unclued, that's what I have. I thought it may be wrong because I can't see how "saving" contributes to the clue. Still can't see anywhere that I can fit the Down solution to the one starting 'Deity'. Hmm....?

How stupid I can be. I knew the answer to the Down starting 'Deity' but I'd written it down wrongly - that's why it wouldn't fit. OK, back in the saddle.

I'm still struggling to see the logic of the legs. There are three of them in vertical alignment but one is out of line with what's above it.

Using knight's moves, I then find two more of them, both heading in the right directions but hugely over-extending the artwork and rendering the dot an unlikely focal point. The cells contributing to the theme add up to only 32 (or 35 if you plump for the amputee).

None of the cells in this arrangement touches another at the corner, which is a sure sign I've gone badly wrong somewhere; but all my across entries obey the L/R symmetry and I can't see any wrongly entered downs.

Yet no one else is fretting. I still wonder what woodlouse meant.

Hi ionacarr,

The outer left leg is made up of one word in knight’s moves. The inner left leg is made up of two words in cells touching at edges. The outer right leg is made up of one word in knight’s moves. Finally, the inner right leg is made up of two words in cells touching at edges, except for the bottom-most cell, which touches the cell in the row above at a corner. This reflects the asymmetry in the original work that I referred to in an earlier reply.

The legs account for 18 letters, and the other two words account for 10 each, giving a total of 38 letters. Following the final instruction gives a reasonably good approximation of the original work.

If I had a technical criticism, it would be that the starting cell of the outer left leg doesn’t line up with the area defined by the two five-letter words in the rows above, so there is a lapse of symmetry here that doesn’t match the original work.

Thanks ionacarr - still can't get either clue so I think it's time to cut my losses. Hope you finish it OK.

simond9x,
What is the answer or hint on Deity clue?

M + another god.

Hi sunray, the def is deity of money (or riches) the wordplay is a common abbreviation for money and an Egyptian deity.

Thanks wintonian - I had the outer legs as you describe them but for some reason had found an image online in which the asymmetrical foot was on the left. Your explanation puts me right on that point, but there is still, as you say, a lack of alignment that makes the drawing as shown somewhat off-centre.