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Well, I finished this evening and thought that was pretty good. Then I read the thread and in particular buzzb’s comment about the double meaning of the last word in the 12 letter hint. Now I think it’s very good indeed. Most enjoyable, and a welcome break from the tricky fare of late.

I have about a third of last week’s done with no idea yet what’s going on, and about half of the one from about four weeks ago where you seem to need to drop half the alphabet before entering into the grid. Hopefully get one of them knocked off before next Saturday rolls round.

I appear to have backed myself into a corner with this one. I have around 75% complete and think I have the phrase and placement (though my first word could be wrong). However, I have an issue with 18a whereby my current letters are ?pn?? And the only word that fits that bears no relation to the clue that I can see. A nudge on whether this is correct would be greatly appreciated, along with confirmation of which clue is the abbreviation (as that has not turned up on my grid yet either). Thanks in advance.

I am struggling to complete the grid even though I have drawn the line and think that I know what I am looking for. The clues that I would appreciate help with are;
1d Last of sailors in attack are past Indian boat
11d Oscar tears up pulse and breathing record
16a Rawhide strip that is discovered in Madagascar
20a This person who hands out absinthe could be a born hedonist
As you can see, my grid is missing its arena and so I am completely stuck in finding the cells to erase.
Many thanks.

Charlesberg, the letter sequence needs to be ?pa??. The definition is white glasses. But I havn't parsed it. 7d ends al and the definition is growth. ( I think of it as a financial term.) I hope this helps.

Hi Charlsberg and Catkin.
18a C (for Cuba) removed from the front of a resin. What's left is a gemstone/white glass
1d Maul is the synonym used for attack
11d O(scar) rips inverted, followed by a word for pulse, more usually a unit of mass.
16a An anagram of the first two words form one of the thematic individuals. RM is the abbreviation used for Madagascar.
20a compound anagram. the letters from 'a born hedonist' form 'absinthe' plus the answer. A person who hands out.

Catkin, I think the consensus on this thread was that the 'arena' is the central 4X2 block of cells, since the 6,2,7 path leads to that. The letters within that block represent a thematic creature which needs to be deleted...

Thank you Meursault. So close! But I had 13a as "on top", which scuppered my attempts at 1d and 11d. I can see the arena and it was there all along but I was looking in the wrong place. I think I still need to find the creator as my last task. It would be great if you could confirm this before I spend a stupid amount of time on an impossible wordsearch.

You do need to find the creator of the arena.

Thank you meursault and catkin! I have now finished. I was being held up by having the wrong 6-letter cord in my phrase. Once I had amended that it all fell into place. My only slight issue is the anagram which I think I have got now but can’t seem to parse. Am I right in thinking that it is now obsolete and part of a different regulator?

For anagram, read abbreviation