Apart from one clue (31 down) I've got the grid filled in.
But I'm completely mystified as to the relevance of 4, is it the answer to 4 down or something else?
I've no idea who X is either or the five cell vital aid.
Could someone give me a hint or two please?
Thanks in advance
I haven't worked out who X is yet.
The relevance of 4 is the actual cell.
31D is one word that can be broken into two words. (For instance dodo could be do do.) The answer is "something that X would often complete" from the preamble.
The five cell "vital aid" starts at 33.
I am still trying to workout all the anagrams , but if you take GERY from margery, INANT from ruminant, MOTH from motheaten, ONS from wagons and a P- added (4down) you get Tanni Grey Thompson
What a pity the identity of X and how to arrive at it is spelled out on this forum. I solved this last weekend without any help, and I'm not a great solver. If you have the relevant field of activity and the answer to 4 then a search on Wikipedia will reveal only 5 possible candidates. It soon became clear how one of them could be derived cryptically from the thematic clues.
A hint or two would have been enough to assist people who were stuck.