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Thanks unclued.
I have not yet thought of the second set of 5 words.

I have 4 of the 5 from first set.
I am trying to figure out where KAM comes from in 18d.

I agree that Sabrewise it's not as tough as I was expecting as far as the clues are concerned. I have 4 of the thematic entities, including what must be the odd one out, so I could post it off complete … but the last bit of sardine in the last corner is still stuck in the tin. Is the fifth one in BRB?

Look up KAM in Chambers, Sunray

Yes Cockie the four similar words are all in Chambers.

Thanks woodlouse.
The 4 letter word beginning with A is not obvious by looking at IN PLAY>
But will think about it.

Hi Cockie. I imagine the fifth one you are looking for is the six letter one. It’s in the BRB and Bradford’s under the four letter word linking them all.
Very clever puzzle. Some very difficult clues, but lots of easy ones. I found the cipher extremely hard, but the odd one out is obvious, and there are no red herrings.

I agree with most of buzzb's complaints about the clues. "One killed" for a killer is probably acceptable because the past tense indicates the historical nature of the word, so the phrase is equivalent to "he killed."

I would add two more to buzzb's list:

36a: S is not an abbreviation for Sunday in Chambers. It is an abbreviation for Sabbath, which is not necessarily Sunday.

18d: To indicate a Shakepearean word with "in play" is completely inadequate.

All this confirms what I have always felt - that the editors allow more licence to Sabre than they grant other setters.

While I can see that one of the encoded words in the grid is clearly an odd one out, I can't see any link it has with the others, yet we're told that all the words have a common link. If it's just that they are of foreign origin that seems a bit weak. My tentaive odd one out is four letters. Does that chime with others?

In another post somebody suggested that 25d could be an encoding of CABRON/CAURON. The third letter would be neither B nor U, but I can't see that 25d is a candidate anyway, though it does look a likely word, as does 22d.

Immediately after posting my last comment I realized what is the common link between the odd one out and the others. A bit weak, methinks.

The following may help those who are still decoding

PYROPE = MODEMS (F + Anagram of PYROPE = FOLLY)
WARRIOR = FIDDLED (Definition is encoded!) W + AN containing ARM
PORGIE = MEDALS (SCUP is a kind of PORGIE)
ELANCE = SHIRTS (KAM means AWRY in Shakespeare + half of...)
UMS = BUY ( WINGERS = colleagues in forces WIN + G + ERS)

I make it that this gives you 15 letters of the alphabet.

A = I, C = T, E = S, G = A, I = L, L = H, M = U, N = R, O = E, P = M, R =D,
S = Y, U = B, W = F, Y = O

Good luck with the other 5! Apologies to solvers who think I'm giving too much away, but it does say "May contain answers".

I did this one the hard way. Going through the answers one at a time with the bits of code I had ruling out the impossible. I could then piece together other bits of code and eventually it all became clear.
Did I miss an easier way to work out the code? I cant see a pattern even now.