Question Author
Yes, NACW, I do agree, this one seems to be very tricky, indeed with quite a lengthy preamble!
Answers that are too long for the space allocated must have a letter moved to the top or bottom of the column where the letter would have been – letters in the top half to the top and letters in the bottom half to the bottom. Ambiguities must be determined by making sense from the moved letters, and will be confirmed by the final grid where all entries are in Chambers. The information at the top and bottom of the grid should enable solvers to replace four entries with thematic ones – a quite specific phrase using three of the entries, and a more general phrase for the other, which completes the symmetry. Entry lengths are shown.
The Chambers 13th edition is the primary reference.
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