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I' ve bludgeoned my way through this harder-than-usual Jumbo, and the only clue I don't fully comprehend is 40 Across, the clue for which is:- "Major preceding brutal soldiers is a cheat". The answer appears to be "adulteress".
I assume the brutal soldiers would be the SS at the end of
the answer, but I cannot parse "major".

I think this is
adulteress = cheat (definition)
adult - major
ere - preceding
SS - brutal soldires

Major = Adult, . Ere - preceding and the SS you've got.

sorry for typo- soldIers

Lovely, Elle!

Rocketman, I forgot to say - I think Adult = Major in the same way that Child = Minor.

Many thanks, Elle and Malone! I was constantly trying to parse "eress" as one entity, since the "major" bit preceded it!

Rocketman, sometimes we all stare too hard - and for too long - at one bit of an answer!