Inquisitor 1629

[Ripper]

Not sure if I'm going to finish this!!
There may be superfluous letters - 3 across: Gather plot developer is short of central characters (9) ?ARG?R??E 42 across: Verse form only encountered in Greek lines (9 two words) L????????
Also 'six entries are affected by shortages; answers to the corresponding clues must be entered as jumbles' So? corresponding clues are anagrams, but what do they mean by corresponding?
Gosh I'm feeling thick!
Thanks in advance.

[Nical]

3 Thematic - I didn't do a 'jumble' entry, I could see what the shortage was going to be.
42 Long Metre - can't remember my parsing!

[Nical]

The six entries have answers that are too short, but when you add letters (gleaned from the superfluous letters) the 'shortage' is evident. I guessed 19 A and 32 A. (I tidied up the letters later).

[ProfessorMaisie]

The answer to the clue for 3a is GARNER (def 'gather') wordplay = 'GAR(dn)ER' = 'plot developer' (minus centre).
So, the letters for GARNER are jumbled in the 6 cross-checked squares of 1ac (and then the unchecked squares are filled in to make an item that could suffer from shortages).
42 wordplay = 'only' = LONE (around) MET inside GR(eek).
19ac is a 'shortage' but not 32a, which is normal (maybe Nical meant 33a, which is a 'shortage').

[ProfessorMaisie]

...sorry, Ripper - it's just the middle (d) from GAR(d)NER.

[ProfessorMaisie]

sorry again! it's 2 letters forming the middle GAR(de)NER

[Nical]

Thanks, PM, It was indeed 33 I meant - my photocopy's pretty tatty!

[ProfessorMaisie]

I thought so, Nical - and I'm pretty sure Ripper would too (but, just in case...).

[Ripper]

Thank you Nical & ProfessorMaisie - time to put my thinking cap on methinks!