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Good afternoon, I'm afraid I'm rather late to the party as usual... but this time all finished so here with answers instead of my usual questions. I suspect that CallMe... may, like me, be feeling that football isn't really his game; if that line of assistance isn't getting you there, perhaps you might find that a proverbially mad sort of cleric might be th hint you need?

Thank you again everyone.
I can’t believe I couldn’t parse the union one - that was one of the first answers I got but was misled by “behind”, but it’s great to have another one.
I now have the ox one by putting 3 letters from man with ark into the quick solve. But it doesn’t sit well as I don’t understand the sloth part so don’t have a spare letter.
Still thinking about the “inflicted defeat” one.
I’m heartened you all think I’ll find other ones easier.
I have a lot of faith in you😊

Apologies if the football reference was arcane. It was intended to reference the main spelling under which the definition is listed in the BRB, and was aimed at the original poster, whose username was one of the finest ever to pull on a Whites’ jersey

Hi Callme..,

I don't want to dampen your optimism but I don't think this week's puzzle easy at all - at least to me!

The "sloth" is a 2 letter word (popular in barred puzzles) beginning with the first letter of the answer.

.... but at least this week's endgame is straightforward:-)

Thanks Brendan - I’m learning a lot - I’ve not coming across the sloth word before, but have it now
And quisling, I don’t know exactly how, but I now have the “inflict” one. There’s obviously some alchemy going on here.
so I now have 22.
I was hoping that the spare letters would start to look like words (albeit with gaps) but that’s not really happening either.
I’ll keep at it.

.....and a Royal Blue jersey, quisling! First saw him on September 9th 1958 aged 6. Got stuffed 1-6 by the Arsenal. Touchy subject at the minute, mind🤞

Apologies if you already know this Callme., but the extra letter letters have to be read in "normal clue order" and not the order of the answers - so it would be the extra letter from the first across clue followed by the second etc and then, after the last across clue, you start on the downs.

CallMe, the surplus letters are stated to spell out an instruction "in NORMAL clue order". So I'm afraid you need to work out what the normal order of these clues would be - from what would, if the grid were numbered conventionally, be 1 Across, to what would be, in this case, 34 Down. It's not everyone's way but myself, being bear of very little brain, I like to actually number the grid for myself and sort the lights by length.

Ah! of course, it does say that.
Gosh, there’s so much to think about, I’d forgotten.

BTW, I’m just looking at 1750, read everyone’s comments and that seems far more difficult than this one. At least I have the answers to that one today. . . . . And having just had a quick look at the answers . . . . Oh dear me🥴