The unclued entries (two hyphened) are all synonyms. Each of five clues contains a word that must be removed to enable the clue to be solved. These words can all be augmented by a letter (the five letters appear in sequence in the completed grid, and must be highlighted) to form five more words, which, treated singly or combined in pairs, form nine items. One is a synonym of one of the unclued entries.
Across
2 Grand walking shoe designed to conceal posh hell (13, two words)
11 Just on a length (5)
12 Colour girl is turning (6)
14 Smooth metal grating (4)
15 Fanatical, but not cool, to admit naughty maid is naked (10)
16 Admired one parabola, perhaps (6)
18 Bear eats one piece of cloth (5)
22 Good, bad or ugly attack from Spenser (6)
24 Some may call a foul over deceptive appearance (7)
25 Does more than plants, we hear? (7)
26 Fines criminal cashier (7)
28 Slowly, cook gets extremely tearful in feast (7)
30 Swedish name, a name a family rejected (6)
35 Axeman cutting the werewolf (5)
37 Back at university, eight in the vicinity finally – here? (6)
38 Title character making editor turn cross (10, two words)
39 Appear to receive money (4)
40 Greens backing energy in type of power they favour? (6)
41 Felt bad about a dance (5)
42 Where to get diastemata fixed in trend lately (13)
Down
1 Left in box, priest keeps English quill (13, hyphened)
2 Manager managed to retain World Cup winner? (6)
3 An imaginary longitude represented on a ceiling (10, two words)
5 Mr Kennedy perhaps could stray around six (7)
6 Senselessness and cruelty, giving out stink (7)
7 Me and this agent would become Native American (7)
8 Bowler, perhaps, admitting it is target (5, two words)
9 Burns regularly taking care of great Scots (4)
10 Chaos upset United supporters (5)
13 He roams on lagoon, discarding ordinary old rubbish? (13)
17 Learner in Nordic area, not beginning to ski – thus? (6)
20 What reeled, with work? (10)
21 Legal document one found in factory (6)
23 Solids had to race around (9)
27 Whip second bottle, not a whit (7)
29 Disclose up to one suspect (7, two words)
31 Thin bride getting married in fix (6)
33 Stupid Sol losing love for god (5)
34 Voice action vocalised note (5)
36 Keen pupil with contact in exam (4)
A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 5 March.
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