I think I'm there, except that, of my two-letter pairs, the third in the sequence seems to move from 21ac to 10ac, but changes spelling in the process. Hmm. Perhaps I have gone adrift somewhere....
I think you can spell that particular member of the group in the way you have found as well as the normal spelling. I have finished the puzzle but have no idea who the person is. Any hints welcomed.
Like others, I thought that the preamble suggested a fairly definite prospect and so it transpired. Initially flummoxed by the “spurious/missing’ paradox but a quick visit here reassured me. Pretty plain sailing after that. Thank you, Pasquale.
Has anyone else had a problem submitting answers? The “single letter at the centre of the grid” field won’t accept a single letter - at least not the one I want to enter (which seems to me appropriately positioned at “middle”!)
Yes, same problem, and that field doesn’t seem to accept anything. I also see others have reported it on the Guardian forum, so will leave a day or two and try again.
Forgot to say thanks Baretter. Although I'm not 100% convinced. One can't swap the two letter back into 21 to recreate what was, I'm assuming, the original defined word. Unless I've got it wrong.....