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Hi roof
The "salt" in 13 is maritime.
19a is a slang/derogatory term for a small child

Hi Roof,

I remember the film Duel, very tense.

4d - "eat everything" is 4,3 around 2 letters for sailor/"salt"

19a - is a small child/"infant"

Thanks Brendan and Chrise

I solved these thank you. And I've got 25 and 27 amongst others.

Thanks Chrise for my formula for alcohol. I did find it in my old school organic chemistry book. It brought back memories. We did the quiz on zoom, but not many participants and nobody got 50%. I'm sure you would have all done better than that.

I'm mostly stuck on the top left quarter now. Please can I have a couple of hints for 2d I have P?????U? Is it a metal? and 11acfor which I have nothing. I've thought of an answer, but can see where the Highlands fit in.

It should have read:

I can't see where the Highlands fit in.

Glad it helped, roof.
2d is a metal - a shorter metal inside a colour
11 take c out of a word?

Thanks Chris

Your hint for 2d confirmed my metal. I'm not sure why I didn't see it clearly before. I also got 9ac. Not a word I have any experience of. This in turn led me to 7d. I had already considered the answer, but suddenly I saw the word play. I then got 1d, though I'm not sure where the little bit short comes in. LOI was 3d. I'm not sure why I hadn't got it before.
Similarly, I understood the wordplay for 11ac, but was trying to find a letter to put in to a different word for inebriate to get Highlands. Then the penny dropped.

So I've finished and can get back to other jobs or reading Middlemarch.

Glad you got it finished, Roof.

1d - "abridged version of Poltergeist" = SPECTR(e) around "little bit short" = ATO(m)

I am stuck one last clue, 5d. No idea how to even start this one - is the definition “market”?

As always, I appreciate the hints from this forum, and would have only got a couple of answers without your collective help on this rather tricky crossword. I do wonder if it might have ended up a more enjoyable crossword if the setter had not pursued the theme quite so far.

FemmeNoire (spooky?)
Yes, it's "market", but as a verb.

Hi Femmenoire,

5d - Yes, market as in "sell" is the definition - 2 two letter films inside/"screened by" 2 letters for "opposite sides"