Iq 1696

[hankir]

Each clue has an extra letter is word play. Clues are in Alphabetic order.

Defeat following trouble for Trump? (4) Starts between E and I.
Nearly all senior guys, on retirement, are annoying (6) Starts N or O.
Vehicle controlled by computer from the back (4) Starts T?
Very sensitive thermionic device (5) Starts T, U, or V

I do not have cells to place three of the above in the grid.
Also extra letters give me 4, 4, 7, 4, (9 I cannot decipher), 5, 7.

How do the 9 break up?

Thanks.

[hankir]

Just figured out second clue (Nearly all senior...)

[ProfessorMaisie]

F + US word for 'trouble' = (r)OIL [this answer isn't entered in the grid].
'smart' = 'controlled by computer' [reversed] TRAM(s)
V + 'sensitive' = AL(i)VE

[ProfessorMaisie]

...also, VALVE isn't entered in the grid.
The message is as you say, hankir (4,4,7,4) + 4,2,3,5,7

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM.
I had one extra letter wrong. Now have the phrase but have not figured out if it is Thor or Sigmund. A little hint please.

Also I do not see similarities in five words that are not put in the grid. What connects them?

[ProfessorMaisie]

There's a common 4 letter synonym that connects the 5 answers not entered in the grid - its plural describes the situation after the grid is filled -
'Five ?????? left'

[ProfessorMaisie]

The 'clue' is tricky, it gives a name (2 words) -
A 4 letter slang word for 'prison' + an obscure 5 letter word for the Viking ship.

[ProfessorMaisie]

... the synonym is easier to get if you focus on foil, page and needle ('pine needle'?) the other 'p' word is an alt. spelling of 'paan'.

[hankir]

Thanks ProfessorM.
I did find the word. Did not know it meant Valve.
I get the individual when I googled the phrase. 4, 5.
I found the 20 cells showing two works.

Thanks for your help.

I am finding Listener tough. Have solved most of the clues but enciphering seems difficult.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Yes, I found Listener pretty tricky too.
For the encoding I took a leap of faith that the most used single-letter in the initial grid (the 'i') would code to 'e'.
The title of the puzzle is also a clue - it gives you 2 of the double-letter ciphers.
The thing that slightly irked me about the puzzle was the three fairly obscure double-definition clues - I think that's a bit much when there's so much cold-solving to be done.