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You all are incredible. Thank you ever so much.
And yes, buzzybee, it is a fun challenge. Although it can get frustrating when the instructions are too specific to be guessed, as was the case here.
I am currently trying to finish number 17 (Nov 2004). It is linked with a famous board game. I'm stuck in the NW quarter of the grid.

What 6-letter word, undefined, would the following wordplay yield, in your opinion? "Exercises with a short adventure novel writer"
(I've got P***L* so far)

And this is a complete clue (wordplay and definition) for a 4-letter word : "Take in a gentleman? No races may be examined here!"
(*A**)

Thank you very much for your invaluable help, all of you.

Manu, the second one looks like CARD. R = recipe, Latin for take, inside CAD, “a gentleman, no”. Last five words are the definition. I’ll ponder the other one.

For the first, how about PEARLS ? Exercises is PE + A + RLS, the initials of Robert Louis Stevenson.

Thank you quisling. I was looking for a 4-letter author's name to "detail". I didn't think about initials.
I now have to think of the connection between pearls and one of the elements in the board game.

I haven’t looked at the puzzle. I will try to do so tomorrow, in which case I may be able to help. I’ll let you know

I couldn’t resist having a look. Unwise after a few pints of Old Thumper! I’ve worked out the game, and I think I’ve roughly figured out the thematic instructions, so I’ll let you know if I crack it.

Quite a fun puzzle, this. Brought back a few memories. Shout if you’re not yet there

It was fun. Clues starting or ending with * are synonyms of elements of the game, while clues numbered (*,5 e.g.) are phrases containing an element of the game (*) plus another word to be entered in the grid. Extra letters in definitions of the remaining clues were probably meant to reveal the place, weapon and murderer in a hypothetical game?

To find synonyms and parts of 2-word solutions, I wrote down a list of classic elements of the game (ignoring the more modern versions and other spin-offs). And yet I'm stuck with the relevance of PEARLS and with the solution/parsing to 2down (which has to be AUDIT, right?). I worked out the rest more or less easily.

Oh, now I come to think about it, I can't fully parse 3 down. There's the presence of the letters A, R and T in the obvious solution that I can't fully justify. Trivial but annoying haha

Manu, if you look up the strangulation weapon in Chambers you will find the reference to pearls.

The answer to 2d is preceded by the clergyman’s surname. It’s a word for to cry outside an anagram of “u and I”.

3d was tricky, because it’s a kind of &lit, as outward signs does double duty. The A, R and T are the outward signs (first and last letters) and heart (middle letter) of A dul T ere R. Combined in anagram form with “tell secrets” they reveal the answer

Tricky indeed (3d).
What also got me was the fact that I had already crossed out the Reverend's name because it is already spelt out by the extra letters.
As for 1d : Doh!

Thanks a lot Quisling.