Hi cruciverbals ! It took me considerably longer than usual to finish this puzzle. Quite early on it looked ( to me ) as if 10d was going to be 'come to nothing' leading to 'the answer is a lemon' !! This false premise held me up for ages, but once I'd finally rejected that, it all dropped into place quite quickly.
I've found 2 instances of the rather obscure word at 39a in Henry IV part 2 v iii. but my Chambers words - which I use as my Scrabble bible - doesn't acknowledge a plural. I suppose I just add an 's' - or could it be an 'e' ?