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? (9)
25 Take us to the stars, including Queen (5)
26 Sopranos entertaining Morse, say – they sang (5)
28 Boycott to run short, in old measure (9)
33 Cow used by Spenser one day a week (4)
36 English judge, presumably, having a thing for climbing in the Alps (6)
39 Bread and butter, in a flutter (7)
40 Almost painful noise one mutes (7)
41 Start to play, foul, dirty trick (5)
42 Skilled lecturer’s broken china (5)
43 Shocks chaplain fallen woman is tempting (10)
44 Do extremely heavy boys regularly wrestle here? (6)
Down
2 Section of Galatians read up herein? (5)
3 Ring pub where travellers get charged (7, two words)
4 Want to act as regicide? (6)
5 Some do believe in daggers (5)
6 Cutting growths out of the tree (9)
8 Gets up earlier when securing salary increase (7)
9 What may power motor cycle, possibly (5)
12 Queen acting to rule South Africa in verse (10)
16 Parts of church supply chain store (10)
20 Keynote European speech’s beginning to bore me (4)
21 Frank strives to work in A&E (9)
23 Barrel concealing a lord (4)
27 Place I like lacks fine flexibility (7)
29 Hole in volcano sent up a colourful dye...
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