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Ground to a halt, mostly done, please can I have guidance on 17d?

17d - answer is in the clue, but with an extra letter.

I am in danger of overthinking this perhaps. Three of the eight special answers are actual words - no problem there - but the other five appear not to be. Is that right? Presumably when the unclued answers are put in the letters in the crossing answers may need to change in order to make real words at the end. Struggle as I might I can find no interpretation of the fourth and fifth lines of the preamble which sheds any light; nor can I find the 4-letter thing. Where am I going wrong? (I recall a puzzle years ago where the fact that the six things had smoothly increasing letter-counts was the feature.)

cockie, one of the three, together with the other five, become new words. As for the fourth line (ref. the unclued words), google what the thematics form or create. As for the four letter thing, I haven't got a scooby, as 11=5+4+2 or 6+3+2, and I cannot see anything to satisfy the latter. Is there a clue in the title? or is that just a reference to where the quote comes from?

gitto, if I'm right, grid staring will only get you so far.

acornz, I can be a little thick, but I do not see how I can highlight 11 cells without staring at the damn grid. And, I am sick and tired of proving that I am not a robot in order to post a comment.

gitto - the title is merely the second BRB def of the thematic things - or is there more to it?

And I have just decided that cannot parse 20a.

Hi Gitto,

20a - 4 letter "tree stem" + 2 letter "spruce's bark" - misprint in first word.

20a: misprint in def which is first word.