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As I said on the 1751 thread earlier, I have all the thematic stuff, it's a nice puzzle. But I have several gaps still in the SE corner.
The one that would help me most is 31a, Heading west, return masculine headdress to American. (4 but has a letter removed).
Confused by heading west/return - which mean the same, don't they?

In this case you need the Chambers-approved abbreviation for "return"; west means what it usually does, cryptically,

Thanks Buddy. When I first saw it I thought that's a bit of a mean clue, but you made me think, and I am now complete. So, perfectly judged!

could someone nudge me on 27 please? otherwise all done :-)

This one was rather mean, I thought. The stone is "a grey-wether", minus the last letter, reversed. The books are apocryphal books of the Bible; D is missing from the wordplay.

thanks, buddy, that's all done

Another entertaining puzzle from The Ace of Hearts. Now for the footy - one of my old teams has scraped premiership safety, good luck to the other but it's looking grim🤞

Certainly found this one easier than the circular listeners ace of hearts often does - but good workout, and the title made me smile.

One query though - is American strictly needed in 21d, in chambers app simply listed the def as "slang".

As someone who, these days, is happy beavering away at IQ until midweek (and hence often too late to bother the forum), I'm delighted with my progress today. Thematic material complete and title appreciated but unable to finish 21d or 35a. Nudges welcome.

HI Notnil,

21d - 3 letter "you aim it in the end" inside 4 letter "bitter" (drink) - definition is a slang term for "American piece of misinformation" (Chambers just gives it as slang with no mention of America)

35a - 2 letter "South America" + 6 letter "protects" minus D(ead) - definition is "more than one cactus"