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Quis custodiet Doc? Doc of course!!

I’ve noticed a trend with some of Doc’s grids - if the normal clues are pretty easy, then it usually means the unclueds/theme etc will be a bit of a faff.

I cannot find anything that fits the letters I have for 18 D: A?A?C??E?O
Have I made a mistake in the cross-checking letters?

Gecko, your letters are correct. It's an anagram, and the name of a city in California ... also the Spanish word for 'mud'

Yes. Tiresome, isn't it.

I'm on holiday for the first time in three years. I have two copies of the blasted tome at home, but of course it has to be referenced while I'm away! Grrr

Just a thought, piffleworthy, but when, during COVID, I found that it wasn't possible to consult Brewer by popping into my local library, my county library told me how to access it online. Can your library perhaps do the same for you?

Thanks, Mattrom

Thanks for the tip, will37. I'm in Suffolk so will try the local (very small) library.

Being completist, I took a detour while out today via the central library of the city where I live (population c. 0.5 million), to have a look at the only copy of the 20th edition that is in a public library here, so I have all 10 unclued answers (I think!). Only one (40 across) is in Chambers, but that gives two alternative spellings, with the alternative letters being unchecked. It's also the only answer that is likely to crop up in any search for synonyms. 9 down is a word in Chambers but for a completely unrelated meaning to the theme. So we have a crossword with a number of answers for which no clue is provided and with words that are only to be found in one specific edition of one book, rather than a dictionary.
I'm not a huge fan at the best of times of the Spectator's signature approach of having unclued answers - it's as if the setter couldn't be bothered any more and takes quite a lot of the fun out of the solve. Clues without definition, perhaps, but nothing?
Apologies for my grumpiness. Having got that off my chest, should I have a go at some word-play clues?