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Splendid puzzle from Ifor, as always. A couple of missing bars at the top of the grid confused me, but it was a pleasure to solve. I’m sure I’ve seen the thematic quote used before, but no great surprise there

How marvellous to see you knew how to complete this quisling. Please can you or someone help me with 10d: unusually tipped forward as well as down, keeping extension to ramp in support (10). There is an extra word to be removed. So far I have E??E???RI? But as I have not found how to move letters around yet, this is not helping me.

Hi jogamel, you need to get the thematic way of entering the across entries. Your letters are correct for the normal across entries, can't say much more without giving it away.

So are you saying 10d doesn’t begin ‘E’ then?

Jogamel, it’s a challenging puzzle. The key to take from the preamble is the last sentence. All across answers must be modified in a consistent way before entry. So you can’t necessarily rely on any of your crossers when solving the down clues.

The good news is the down clues are entered normally. So when you have enough in you might get a good idea of what’s going on.

For 10dn, the wordplay is a 4 letter word for an extension to a ramp, inside a 3 letter support, all 7 being contained by a 3 letter word for as well as

Yes as quisling says, the across answers are altered, the downs are normal. Getting a few down answers in place helps greatly!

I’m on it! That helps thank you. I can use ink….

Quisling; thanks for pointing out the bar issue. On my proof copy all looks fine, but having now bought the paper (!) I see that those two bars appear greyish rather than black. Sorry about that; hopefully the numbering, lengths and grid symmetry will clarify matters. And thank you for the kind words.

Thanks Ifor, the (lack of) barring meant I was looking for a 1d clue but didn't really cause any problems, loved the puzzle and thematic links!

Yes, Ifor, it didn’t detain me at all long, so no worries on that score. I thought it was a wonderful construction, and struggled to believe you could manage the same treatment with every across answer. But you did, so chapeau!