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Read the Z clue carefully.

btw mine went pear-shaped! I'm not starting again...

fwiw finished with some e-help. the grid is symmetric so once you have a way in with a pair you can choose the orientation.... but only once.

my way in was the two pairs of crossing 10 clues in the NE and SE.

other options are the pair of J, pair of Y and 4 letter clues ending in I.

there are some tough clues in here....

Maybe enjoy wasn't the right word. After a randomly good start, have just hit a brick wall! Anyway, lockdowns have taught us patience....
Stay safe all.

Thanks yet again chrise!!!

Ah, heading north. Thanks Chrise

phew - that were a slog ... the N and V words particularly devious (got hung up on nissan for ages). I was sure the cricketer must be who I thought, but took forever to parse him ... good workout for the grey bits, though. What happened to brendan?

Well that was fun

I had about half the clues solved before I started filling in the grid at all, and I realised that the symmetry of the grid meant that there have to be two different solutions, linked by a reflection in the diagonal. So I made an arbitrary choice for the Q/Z pair and proceeded from there. And then I came here, saw the "north" hint and was glad I ended up choosing "rightly" :)

I have the grid filled, but I'm having trouble parsing two of the entries:

I don't see how the N clue gives the Japanese airport. I wrote it in straight away in pencil, and then in pen once all the crossers matched, but the parsing escapes me.

I can't quite make out the E clue. I assume the first word is the definition, and then the first two letters of the solution come from the next word? And then I have no idea for the last four letters.

can't help with airport - no idea - but if you add a 2 letter word for "fashionable" to the last 4 letters of the e you get a "setter" (used often at this time of year!)

N: from capital of Albania, rotated!

Thanks Chrise and Mathi

I was definitely not thinking about that kind of setter!

And I'm still not 100% sure of how I get from the capital to the airport, but at least all the letters are there.