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Hi, Barnacle. For 10 the definition is “Conceal local” and then remove a letter for name from the rest. 38 it’s “One would” + “edge” all reversed.

Barnacle, 42a is 'footnote' + half of a word for 'well done' which I've never heard, but is in Bradford's + 'as before' as in something repeated, (2),

Hi Barnacle,

8d - 4 letter word meaning "foul" as in 'stinking', 'rancid' etc. reversed/'up' which then gives a word meaning "snarl"

Thank you, all. I appreciate the clarity of the explanations!

Well, a big thanks to Miles for what was an absolute treat. My earlier misgivings proved groundless.

I have to confess, however, that I totally lucked in to the correct column. Basically, I misunderstood the preamble (quelle suprise!) and thought I could use probability theory to narrow down the options. This should have led to 3 contenders but, being a total jackass and for the same reasons as outlined in my posts @24-27 with Mattrom, I completely missed one of them, leaving me with 2 choices.

At this point I sent my thoughts and their results to Ginge, who politely and patiently explained that my probability theory approach was wrong and suggested an alternative way to narrow the field. So, using this new approach I decided to begin with one of the two I'd already earmarked and, wouldn't you know, my first pick turned out to be the correct column.

Enter my art supplies, and boy did I go to town! Pink, green, yellow, blue, mauve and combinations of others. The end result is one of the most colourful grids I've done in ages....

... maybe since Vagan's EV puzzle on The Book of Kells - but let's not open that can of worms (I'm still doing daily penance to earn forgiveness from Malone and Drxx) 😂

Saved by Excel, but I have to say that’s one of the least enjoyable end games since I started during Covid. Is there even a theme?

Greg, I'm with you. I stopped with a full grid and the 3 extra words. Someone's just told me what the final grid is (don't worry, I don't submit). I'm obviously missing something because I can't see the relevance of the three words, which seem pretty random and don't seem to be anything to do with the title. And what were the three 6 letter words, split 3 and 3, all about? I don't think I'd have had a PDM even if I'd completed it. What have I missed?

Can someone please help with the parsing of 24D? (I know the grid answer.)

Gitto, I think I must have misunderstood. We shade in just under 2/3 of the grid i.e. about 90 cells and need all of them to make three words, so an average of 30 letters per word.

Simond9x there is a link between the removed words and the words below the grid. 2 can probably be found in a thesaurus (I found them in chambers crossword dictionary) and the other is an example of one. Like you I don’t understand the relevance of splitting the 6 letter answer and in fact I don’t have the clue answer for 13,41d or 20,4dn so if anyone could offer a hint that would be super. Can’t offer an explanation for 24d