there is a misprint in the defn:
31a Eve's son even if until getting word (9, 3 words) ?ETHAN?T? set hand to ??
35a Coal bank's face cleared (3) AI?...
each clue 's wordplay gives a repeated letter not required in the solution e.g the wordplay might give mutter ...grid entry would be muter 16a Did cow essentially eat grass? (4) ?W?D owed? swad? awed?...
10a Step out of a place Louis's twin knew well? (4) ???R 2nd letter possibly T if Antonio is correct for 7d (Against eating at work? No, I could have lost weight!) 19d Better travelling around with a...
21d Scare solicitor with murder in Brooklyn (5) S???E
40a Soils are special on main ground (7) ??I?AS
37a Bird no longer keeping name private (4) ??N?...
10a Coe's best-known achievement involved this dodgy sporting arrangement (5-2) C???E- UP
carve-up?
6d Christie's spy mystery, with a chap somewhere in Northern France ..NormandE or NormandY?...
1d (normal clue) One might twist sign to move forward one step initially...DANCER? 19a (Extra letter in wordplay which is "A") Put up resistance on field.... REAR? 39a (extra is O) Briefly moving...
20d Soaring round Thailand is familiar insect (5, hyphened) ?MO?H looks like some sort of moth but can't parse any of them!
possibly Y-moth with homy = familiar ?...
There is a superfluous word in each clue Crossers won't help since the answer has to be doctored before entry 11a Athletic mother and devout woman believe in West Ham (10, 3 words) 13a Plant increased...
clue may have some wordplay missing (3 letters) or may be too short for is space in the grid: 13a Former spy collects ape from container within plants (10) 3d Wet trip: liquid leak caught seeping...
8d A pony, perhaps, or one nearly two thirds spent (5) E?U?* equus ??
13a Order from balmoral enacted again, I must depart (4) R?*?
* crossing letter in both...
theme is Dickens works... 4d Where Mrs JArley's penurious poet might live (4) S?U? slum?? 2d Game will we hear involve hop-grower (7) C?E?T?E 17d City businessman becoming a lord in an Oxford College...