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Late to this beast of a puzzle. All finished, except for the final thematic clue, 30d. Pope administered to the French community. Have ?LAN (assuming I haven't erred)...Thanks

Got (the rather cheeky) answer as soon as I posted.

Still hobbling along, after everyone else has finished and gone home.

Can anyone please explain what the wordplay is for 33ac, assuming the answer is EBULLIEN(T)?

And although at least two people have solved the 'cheeky' 30dn which is somehow different from the other thematics, I can't find any relevant clans, flans or plans.

33 - 'light' as in drunk I think = anag 'BLUE' + see LIEN (pap) /under 'lie'2 for Shakesp. 'imprisoned' ('t' is missing).

30 anag POPE + LE (not as beastly as the rest and justified in the 'CLAN' entry in Chambers).

...sorry, 'light' = giddy rather than drunk - but they might overlap.

Thank you drxx - your explanations are always concise and illuminating, and I know that no matter how obscure a clue may be there is always someone here who has cracked it.

I feel a real sense of anti-climax over CLAN however. The hidden message promises collective nouns, but this is (and C confirms) merely a collective name. Perhaps I am over-thinking it but it doesn't seem cheeky at all, just a bit lame when so many others in the spirit of the theme are available.

Yes, saoralba - it was a little twist I could have done without after struggling with so many of the clues (and thanks for the kind words).

There's a clan of hyenas, but no way can I see anything from the wordplay, or why not to just have another bird?