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I thought it might be: singer=soprano=s
?

Sorry but this puzzle is not my idea of fun.

The author seems to have been very keen on a five-letter word with which to insult the beliefs of billions of people whom he regarded as his intellectual inferiors.

To issue a puzzle honouring his memory would be a bad idea in my opinion at any time, but perhaps particularly inappropriate so soon after many of us were enthralled for hours by a religious ceremony in honour of a great Queen whose many qualities included a respect for tolerance.

We can and do disagree with each other at times, but in a civilised society there is no room for?????ry.

That was fun. Thank you, Serpent. The phrase from the author reminded me of something my then infant grandson said to a junior doctor who told him he was applying “a magic cream”.

I enjoyed filling the grid, the different devices used for the clues gave me a good work-out! Tt's always good to see new words being formed by changes to what's there.

I've ground to a halt with this. Two clues and the endgame are completely eluding me. 30a - Prisoner requires this amount to be added to stop (5) I know there is an extra letter in the clue but I am getting nowhere by trying to add a 5 letter word to the usual words for prisoner. 20d - Historical figures who hindered literary culture (7). I have the book title but several authors have books with that title. I think the original middle row begins with a word meaning 'biased person' but Googling the phrase I have is yielding nothing. A nudge/hefty push in the right direction would be appreciated.

AP, the prisoner is someone who;s been taken captive, rather than a bad person. The extra letter is in the fourth word of the clue.

Thanks for that Malone. I was looking at that completely the wrong way. I now have 20 down as well but the endgame is still provong elusive.

AP, glad that helped. You're correct about the start of the original middle row, and i think the rest of it filled itself in. Those words (not a phrase really) linked to the authors you have - one at a time - should be
productive.

AP re 20d. It had me foxed until the very end. Think of a 3 letter regular crossword word for hindrance or possibly a cultured man of .......

Thank you Malone and Granama!. Apologies for not getting back you earlier. I have been out most of the day. I will get back to this tomorrow.