Mr Magoo

One of the unclued entries (two words) can be followed by each of the others (two of three words, one of two words), according to Brewer.   Across 1    Clean turns into crashes – rash? (8) 8    What goes up, to go down like a lead balloon?

Eight unclued entries (two of two words, one hyphened) form a folk rhyme used as the basis for the first lines of a work whose title is the other unclued entry (hyphened). Its author (5 cells) must be highlighted. Elsewhere, ignore two or three apostrophes and an accent.   Across 1    Needing complex course, my job’s on the line  (12, hyphened) 10    Seaman jailed by extremely benign officer (4) 12    Suspect fresh angle will show solar phenomenon (10, two words) 14    Quadruped found in centre of cowboy’s rope (3) 15    More than one ancient stole prayer books (8) 17    Is consecrating old priest leaving marks?

According to Brewer, a five-word phrase was used to describe a creature, but applies also to a three-word fictional character. The unclued entries, one doing double duty, comprise the phrase, the creature, his victim, the character, and the author’s surnames.   Across 1    ‘Poacher’s instruments’ mean whisky (8, hyphened) 6    A jockey’s is shorter than a cricketer’s or swimmer’s (6) 11    Somehow I trust in operating system — as do we?

Two unclued lights give the name of a location and another a means of arrival and -departure. Other unclued lights give the names of the party arriving, including one who joins them at the location, and none who leave them there. The three instances of a certain letter appearing in the grid must be written in red, just as in the original.

1 Across and 45 Across form a phrase, and the other unclued entries form a word ladder linking them, by changing one letter at a time, always forming real words. Elsewhere, ignore an accent.   Across 11    Weary junkie’s eaten mollusc (10) 13    Everything taken into account, at last, endlessly (5, two words) 14    Holiday son’s taken from country in empty spaces (5) 15    Everybody in work makes useful by-product (7, two words) 17    Cheat I rumbled beginning to look honest (7) 19    Colonnade to put in square area (4) 22    Stones swapping vocal parts – they make records fast (6) 24    Shrinking, like clothes after dry-cleaning?

Four of the unclued entries make up a ten-word Shakespearean quotation, including an apostrophe. The other three (two of two words each) represent three possible victims. Elsewhere, ignore an accent. 34 is in Brewer’s.   Across 11    He almost banned awfully poisonous plant (7) 12    Cross Spain with a formative stage (4) 14    Editor buys the farm and moves round (6) 17    See a wretch regularly buried in soil (5) 19    Breaking in Irish rugby games is initially no good (9) 21    Wet month, and its beginning? (5) 23    Runs are runs, and not so easy to come by (5) 25    It’s fun to cover an important body – in this? (8, two words) 26    Means of access to get in plane, say?

3 1A (eight words in total, one apostrophe) and 41 23 32 36 (seven words, including two accents) give two quotations (in ODQ) by 17 (two words), which possibly contradict each other or themselves.   Across 10    With this cube, making something solid? (5) 11    Resolve to remove head of the BBC (5) 13    Old doctor and children taking shelter (5) 14    Tap – what to do when it’s stuck, some say?

10 5/9/34/30D/7/35/4/1D is a poem quoted in full in ODQ. The author’s surname (and indeed first name) appears at 26.   Across 1    Portable furniture affected county (8, hyphened) 8    It’s only fair (4) 12    Get ready to improve shepherd’s delight left in champagne? (10) 13    Some twin sisters are demanding (6) 14    Book wrapping was double Scotch? (7) 15    Chemical engineer rejects classical dry measures (8) 18    Awfully insecure time for those lacking control?

Seven unclued entries are all examples of the other. Elsewhere, ignore an accent.

In ten clues, the wordplay omits one of the letters of the solution. These letters in the grid, read row by row, complete the missing two words of an 11-word quotation (in the ODQ) given by five unclued entries. The other unclued entries give the name of the speaker. If these same letters in the grid are read column by column, they give a relevant location.

Across clues contain a definition and a jumble of the answer. In each row of the grid, a Shakespearean character is hiding, disguised by one letter. In one instance, the character does not occupy a whole entry — and in that instance the character is also hiding in the previous row. The disguises add up to a relevant occasion, and must be highlighted. Elsewhere, ignore an accent.   Across 1    Lear misread old poets (6) 7    Tybalt’s a rock (6) 12    Four men Diana dressed similarly (9) 13    Cordelia clipped hairs (5) 15    Elegiac Katherine decapitated (9) 16    Goneril hates meatloaf (6) 20    Autolycus, traditionally one associated with trifles?