I have only a couple of clues left to solve, then I can struggle with the theme.Any help gratefully received. NB. There may be an extra word in clues.
42. A. He's called on in international support in pursuit of power (7)
??s?te? (I can see 'visiter'/'visitee', but can't make total sense of it.)
38 A. During dance, sailor twisted pelvic muscle (5) ?so??
I've completed the grid, got the 6 clues, found the person responsible and the saying, and I think I know the title of their most famous work. But I'm still not sure what letters to remove in the grid! I can't see any 'significant letters'. This one's foxing me, does anyone have a hint that could help? Thank you!
I have a full grid and am about to start struggling with the famous work etc. However I'm still rather confused by the spare words. I have all the ones mentioned by some of you (6d not 27d) but I also have 2d (spare word REJECTED) and 16d (spare word TOPS). I can't see why these words shouldn't be spare! Am I going wrong somewhere?
I'm sure you're right Laphria but I still can't see how they are. If you have time could you explain why theses words are integral - just to put my mind at rest!
Re 'tops' - I took it as referring to the 'est/iest' at the end of 'smoochiest' (like 'funniest',(funny,funnier,funniest) 'daftest' (daft,dafter,daftest)). Sorry if this explanation is rubbish!
Thanks Laphria, but, surely in 2d the ES doesn't go backwards. I derived the county from ES in the right order plus SEX (the "it" referred to in the wordplay).
Thanks Neveracrossword. I've actually found the person concerned and the colourful reference etc. I was just trying to tie up what I thought were a few loose ends! It was fun apart from the "untidy" bits!!