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I think I'm nearly finished but cannot oarse 9 down - any help availbale would be appreciated.

The first letter of the first word moves to the penultimate word. Then a synonym of the remainder of the first word goes round abbreviation for Sabbath, preceded by single letter abbreviation for about and followed by an obscure single letter abbreviation for 150. Phew! The definition is an obsolete word for the alphabet. Hope that makes sense!

Hi Ortolan,

9d - Single letter "about" then 2 letter "live" around "Sabbath" then single letter 150 as an old Roman Numeral - definition is an obsolete/dead word for ABC

Dithering over whether to Tippex-out the numbers in the final grid, which no longer match the entries - or just ignore them. The preamble says don't bother with the bars, but says nothing about the numbers. Any thoughts?

Many thanks, Brendan and Loge - all is now clear!

Quixote, that brings us back to the tippex or cut ambiguity. Cutting the grid into rows and rearranging keeps the correct numbering. On the other hand the setter probably just wanted a fresh grid with the entries for rows repositioned. Not particularly satisfactory so I guess either method would be OK as the word REORDER in the preamble is misleading.

I’m going to need a push to fill the grid. Just saw what the middle column is! Guess the line from the quatrain is part of fourteen lines really?
I have several lovely long acrosses that I can’t do anything with. I’d love help with 23a and 40a, both have moving letter I think.
On downs, 2 and 25 would be most useful to have a hint for.
Thanks.

Hi Lumen,

23a - 4 letter "advance" as verb (think 'finance') with "head to unusual" replacing "English" - definition is ?own in Sweden

40a - letter moved from first word to second. Single letter "h?ad to correspond" then two 2 letter words meaning "roughly" - definition is an odd (for me) word for the first word after the letter has been moved.

2d - letter moves from third word to last - single letter "electronic" + 5 letter last word adjusted - definition is another strange word for the adjusted 3rd word.

25d - letter moves from third word to second - anagram of adjusted 3rd word with single letter "ecstasy" and 2 letter "church" - definition is the first 2 words (this is a common word but I didn't know this definition)

Thanks Brendan, never heard of that Swedish town (unsurprisingly), and never seen that word for run either - but that does surprise me.
I’d have thought it would come up in crosswords more often.