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I'm not sure about 2D. I have NINON as an entry. Also my highlighting on the left side of the logo doesn't match the original as on p1 -the one in the grid curves around beneath 270 degrees. An okay puzzle though.

I wish I could help you Meursault but this one is way too tough for me right now. I was considering looking at Schadenfreudes old puzzles to see if I could get some hints to the mindsetI have only maybe 6 solid answers and a few guesses I can only half parse.

Happy new year Meursault and thanks for all your help.
2 down is N-IN(T)O-N where the first N represents an "en" (look in Chambers under N).

Thaks very much, Unclued, and best wishes for 2017 to you also. The funny thing is that I'd made the connection Nut to En to N, but had completely failed to see 'Into' and was instead trying to make 'On' do service for 'in contact with'...

rrRobbo, happy new year. The puzzle takes a while at the outset, but once you've solved enough of the extra letters to find the theme, the solve becomes quite enjoyable. For the entries of the remaining clues, it probably helps to pencil them in, however they seem to fit.

I have a completed grid but am struggling to work out the description of the theme because in many cases I cannot see the extra letter! Nevertheless highlighting the theme stands out without much grid staring so I guess I do not have to get the description. The highlighting fits perfectly and I do not fully understand Mersault's comment about the left side of the logo?

The H is displaced one cell to the right, but if you examine the logo you'll see that it is in line vertically, perhaps a shade to the left.

Thanks for explaining Mersault. You are correct - I shall never think ill of you again (not that I ever did!).

Haha, Notrab. But these medieval types had everything covered didn't they ? I'll distribute any kind of lies I like, but if you once think badly of me for it, some occult forces will act on my behalf to make your life a misery...

I think I have finished this. If it is right, it definitely qualifies for the maximum number of guesses and unsolved answers in any Xword I have done. I haven't a clue of the first two words of the theme, and as for 7,12,14,43 & 44 across and 3,28 & 31 down, I'm totally mystified!!!

Gitto,
7a: 'wives' accommodation' = harem = ODA
12a: 'of poor quality' = TIN
14a: 'An event'= THIS ( very sneaky, very imprecise, but given in Chambers).
43: answer is only two letters, straightforward double meaning.
44: answer is three letters, an East Anglian word for girl that crops up in the Listener from time to time. Begins with M.
3d: answer is four letters, simple anagram.
28d: answer is five letters meaning a destructive crime.
31: answer is four letters; 'one of the royals' is a derivative of the royal 'we'. I didn't like the definition, which is a slang expression for the face, whereas 'trap' is slang for mouth.

Hope this helps to sort out the 'description of the theme'.