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Not too basic at all. Thank you so much. I may have more questions later.

I already have another question. For the clues for which a word is omitted, is it the same word or synonyms or themed words....?

somerset - They are all synonyms for a certain word (4 letters).

Thank you. Is there any way of knowing which are the clues with the words missing other than just getting the answer?

Not until you've solved a few of them and know what they are synonyms for (and some are pretty obscure synonyms anyway).

For example, take this clue -

'Retired policeman smuggles ecstasy heroin and blow north of the border'

If you think 'Retired' is an extra word and remove it before solving the clue, then the wordplay works to give you the correct answer (it's not an extra word clue - but you'd know this only after you've discovered the 4 letter theme word to which all extra words relate).
The clue gives exactly the same answer when it's correctly treated as an 'O+' clue (there's an extra letter given by the wordplay).

You have to keep so many balls in the air with this crossword, don't you? Thank you very much for your help. I shall persevere with it although it seems nigh on impossible at the moment, I am sure it will be very satisfying when I get into the Inquisitor frame of mind.

Yes, you do - but I think you've picked a pretty tough one to start with somerset (I think it's worth the effort though).

I'll be offline until sometime tomorrow evening but I'm sure a few of the regulars will be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Good luck with it.

Finally completed this after some frustration caused by a couple of silly mistakes while entering answers. Anyway, it piqued my interest in the subject and I found there is a film of the achievement. It's not available in the UK till March, but the trailer (on YouTube) is fascinating, and looks rather spectacular (though perhaps not for anyone with vertigo). Learning about things like this is a real bonus in solving these puzzles.

I'd never heard of the person in this, but found lots of stuff online. Imagine my surprise when I opened the latest issue of the Spectator and discovered a long interview with him/her.

Bubber, I think you'd find the Spectator article interesting.

As usual I have not managed to solve many of these clues but I wonder if I could check a few things:

- Does the "expensive car" start over the I in the 13 letter answer?
- I've got the "Effects produced..." answer having ?LA?TPR? I dont think that's right, what's wrong?
- So far I have surplus words as rode, digital, marlin, cable and runner? Are those right.

Any help much appreciated! Havent solved most of the across clues in the bottom half so I dont think I am going to get to the end of this one.