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A gentle contrast to the chewiness of the latest Listener, which comes together smoothly and elegantly with occasional flashes of bright humour. Chalicea on top form (although, to be honest, I’ve never experienced her setting on any other form).

Very enjoyable. It has prompted me to reread the work.

Thanks to Chalicea for another lovely puzzle:-)

I haven't read the book so am unfamiliar with the character but I do recognise it as the username of a Forum member - in fact, when I first saw one her posts I remember telling her it was my favourite username ever:-)

I finished this quite a bit quicker than expected because I didn't think I was going to be able to differentiate between the two types of clues - in one group the wordplay leads to the answer plus an extra letter and in the other the definition and wordplay differ in length by one letter so, basically, an extra letter! However, I didn't make a single wrong choice so it must have been clearer than I first thought - hurrah for me 😀

Please add my thanks to Chalicea for a fine puzzle😁

....but I haven't parsed 32d. I am certain of the surplus letter and have a plausible grid entry.

No longer have the clues but if memory serves that's the last clue; with the surplus letter being the 1st letter of the longer word.

Ginge is right. The first word of the clue defines the longer word while the last two define the grid entry.

Thanks, both. It's easy when somebody points out the bleeding obvious!
I was blithely looking for an animal with the ends missing, in spite of the fact that I was aware of which type of clue it was. Big doh from me then.