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And thank you also, Ixion!

Kitsune, glad we - and Ixion just beat me to it - could help. Sometimes it's staring too long and hard at an answer that makes it impenetrable!

Struggling this week. Tough clues although all seem perfectly fair so far.

Have a full grid although have guessed two and have 4 others that I can't fully parse. Nevertheless I have guessed likely extra letters and have a plausible phrase - can someone confirm it is 3,6,3,5,2,5,5,12?

If I have the 6 normal clues right I can make a 6 letter word from their 1st letters which could be eaten, driven or listened to. Is this right? But then how do you get to a quotation from a 6 letter word? Is there some other clue to the quotation that I am missing?

Thanks

Smelyharry, your right so far with the word lengths from extra letters and six-letter word.

If you have ODQ, look up a seven-letter synonym for the edible thing in the index. It will give you a reference.

If you don't have ODQ look at the normal clues and see if you can spot some hidden _ _ _ _S (fourth word in your phrase). I found 12 & 37 the easiest. Search anything likely on Google, and you should find 3, 5 (first two words of your phrase).

Sorry, I meant 3, 6 (first two words of the phrase).

Thanks murky, that was very helpful. I don't have ODQ so I generally hit a brick wall when it is required. Maybe should purchase it. Now have the author, the quote, the contrivance, and 5 of the -----s. Hopefully can figure out the rest when I get a few minutes later...

Finally staggered over the line battered and bruised.

One piece of parsing left for me - 20d. Fortunately my guessed 4th letter was confirmed by the string but can't see the wordplay.

Thanks

Defn is vehicle

Lose the m from ramp

then lose the leading letter [van] from a synonym of rap

Still hoping to finish I have a string comprising what a take to be the first five associated items nos 4&5 of which each end with the same letter? Does this sound correct please? Thanks

I don't have access to the puzzle now but as I recall, two of the items in the string ended in 'i' but they weren't the 4th and 5th, think there were 3 items after them?