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Nice one from Ifor! However I can't parse 4D, though I've reduced the possibilities to three, none of which bear any resemblance to anything defined in the clue. The highlighting is straightforward though.

The additional string is in the 1st word.

Hi again cookie, I've swithered before posting this but beware a possible red herring; the 4 strings confirm the required highlighting

I'd be very surprised if anyone highlighted the red herring - you'd have to ignore all of the letters and focus entirely on the numbers for that to happen... oh hang on a minute (Yes, entirely possible, sorry).

...you'd also have to ignore at least one of the words in the title.

not completely crazy to be misled since one of the words names a character in another book by the "other" author.

Thank you, Ifor. A challenging grid fill and an entertaining endgame. I particularly liked the way that the final letter changed simultaneously produced both WHO and not-WHO in different orientations. Very clever!

How does this clue work please....?
20d Plants in vase at last overcoming introduction of parasites SAMPIRES. The "extra" in the clue is "E"

Wordplay starts with 'v...'

Thank you drxx