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I don't believe it - an anagram!! How did I not see that? 🤬

Thank you CranberryBoat, thank you Muraria - that was driving me crazy!

Agree, this was a tough solve as wasn't always which three letters needed to be removed in a few clues.
Before I got the second feat, I was also distracted by the more obvious poem relating to the first feat and 'curse' as one of the potential thematic answers. Deliberate on the part of the setter? Whatever, a really good workout, so big thanks to Check

Brendan,
Sometimes it's the more obvious ones that trip us up. I didn't see the 'plants' answer for ages!

Snap Muraria regarding STC and "curse" - I went down down the exact same blind alley.

Thanks to Check for a fantastic puzzle with a beautifully entertaining final grid:-)

In the final phase of this, sorting out the extra words in the down clues. Having initially selected a wrong triplet I was left pondering on a well known champage house for a while!

I find I have another ? re the first down clue. Parsing again.

Then it really is onto the end game!

Hi Granama,

2 letter "express objection" around S(ingular) + 3 letter "wine" - definition is "receptacle"

With the exception of "singular" I really didn't see how any of these fitted with their intended definitions but Chambers confirms them all.

Thanks Brendan. Oof! That's a bit convoluted but I really should have spotted the wine connection! 😊

Thanks Granama,

I'm not one to talk - I spent 2 hours on "Working distantly ...." this morning and still didn't spot the anagram! But for Cranberryboat and Muraria I'd still be on it 😂

... in my defence, it's not like there was a blindingly obvious anagram indicator like, say, "playing" ... oh wait! 🥵😂

😊

Well, I've finished it and what a workout it was. A bit of an epic.

Slightly annoyed with myself as I did spot one significant name and thought 'Hmmm, looks promising' and didn't follow it up at the time.

Also, if I'm right, one of the amended entries is actually a wholesale replacement, not a single letter in common. I suppose that depends on how you view the word 'amended'.

Have to smile at that one though. Rather more of local interest than claimed methinks. 😆

Very clever puzzle and probably an early candidate for Inquisitor of the year, although I found some of the clues a bit forced/messy. Still got a sense of achievement from finishing though.