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L is extra.

Usual word for playing piece is a synonym for singular of fourth word.

Thanks, hw7. I guess I still don’t see how Cairns are playing pieces though. In some giant’s version of Jenga?

MPRS, the word for a playing piece is also a word for a cairn.

Are any of the items diagonal?
Or slightly curved?!

Lumen, they wind their way downwards in a rather classic fashion.

Most of them aren't in a straight line. There is a recognisable pattern.

Out of interest, has anyone found any special significance in the title, other than a possible description of author and works?

This would have been impossible for me without the internet. Looking at the straight clues would not have helped and I needed a nudge to investigate the pertinent features of these. Then the replacement would have been impossible without a Google search. I suppose I could have spotted the chain of six words and worked back from there, but I very much doubt it. Is it now a requirement for solvers that they have access to the web?

Loge, I thought the title was a missed opportunity to identify the creator. I’d have gone with “I am a right death case”, but probably too easy ...

I rather like that idea, Quisling!

Foinaven, the matter of how whether or not solvers should need to look things up online is a topic of regular discussion. Unless things have changed recently, the official Listener guidelines say that the thematic material shouldn't be available only on the Internet, and I suppose one would have been able to track down the quotation in this puzzle after spending a lot of time in the local library (if you have one, and lockdown hasn't closed it!). I think it's fair to say though that in practice it's assumed that solvers will take the quick route and use the Net. As always, I'll be interested to read others' views on this,