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The theme and some of the works are fairly straightforward to figure out but am I alone in struggling to understand:

"[25 special clues contain a definition and] a concealed letter mixture of the light.?

Maybe I'm having a dull-witted day but I just can't understand what Pabulum means here. Can anyone help?

KT17, a very basic one....
Fruit a person likes (4)

Pear - 'a per', concealed letter mixture to be anagrammed, fruit/definition.

Thank you Malone - I would never have got to that from the rubric!

KT17, glad I could help.

Why are there extra words in some clues that don't seem to be part of the wordplay or definition?
10a "owns" seems superfluous?
20a tired?
33a blood?

3d hot?
42d port?

Bunty, I too noticed that. I assumed it was to make the clue flow/sound better, but it wasn't fair.

Not entirely fair but otherwise (after your, Malone, help) quite a fun puzzle.

Also I note 34 as such isn't in Chambers.

Quite enjoyable once I got into it and I learned a few things from it. It helped that I have actually read some of the writer's works. If my memory is not playing tricks on me I think 34 down also appeared in the EV not so long ago.

As a relative 'newbie' to the Spectator crossword, I am finding this one a bit of a challenge!
I have the author, titles and (thanks to this thread) most of the clued lights, but really struggling with the middle section - particularly 28, 29 and 31.
No answers please, but a nudge in the right direction would be appreciated?

28 - Think Arab; 29 - The answer is a fairly common word but the meaning here is much more obscure; 31 - An unusual girl's name. A climbing plant round N for Norway. 28 and 29 are specials and 31 a normal cryptic clue.