“Corrections to single letter misprints in the definitions in 20 clues roughly identify characters who, along with what they are, must be highlighted (29 cells in total) in the completed grid. A further character and the context in which he could be similarly classified must also be highlighted (another 19 cells). Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.”
The corrections spell EDWARD MARSTON SLEUTHS.
Marston is the pen name of Keith Miles. Two of his characters, Inspector Robert COLBECK and Sergeant Victor LEEMING, are RAILWAY DETECTIVES, a classification that could also apply to POIROT on the ORIENT EXPRESS.
There are some nice thematic touches to a number of the clues – ARRESTABLE being perhaps the most obvious, but also PEN NAME, NOVELIST, etc.
The title is a reference to the CID.
Unfortunately, I can’t fully parse 29 across.
Please post a comment if the explanations are not clear.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 | ORIENT | Last [qualifier for] LEYTON ORIENT (capital team) (6) |
| D | 5 | EMENDED | Changes END (objective) [entering] E (Eastern) MED (Mediterranean) (7) |
| W | 10 | BALLADEERS | They garble ALL (every) AD (promotion) [about] BEERS (drinks)? [On the contrary] (10) |
| 11 | SATINET | [Bad] {TASTE IN}* material (7) | |
| 12 | NASTIC | < {CAN (Prison) [retaining] ITS} [contrary way] of movement of plant (6) | |
| A | 14 | AROUND | Being ill over A (CAFE’s [second]) ROUND (sandwich) (6) |
| 17 | DISBAR | [Vagrant] {IS DRAB}* reject from legal service (6) | |
| 19 | HELICAL | Like DNA, {HAI ([most of] HAI |
|
| 21 | ESTOP | Legally preclude C ([first of] CAVALIERS]) [abandoning] ESTO |
|
| R | 24 | REED | A sort of glass enclosure in Ayr (4) |
| D | 25 | EMDEN | M ([Foremost of] MUSICIANS) [visiting] EDEN (garden) – somewhere to rock in Germany (5) |
| 26 | SIRI | Stimulant from Kashmir ISN’T* [repellent] (4) | |
| 29 | ELVES | More than one mischievous person departs from digs (5) | |
| 30 | IONESCO | ||
| 31 | OCTETT | Group of musicians in TET (New Year festival) [making an appearance in] OCT (early autumn) (6) | |
| 35 | WADSET | Scotsman’s pawn WASTED* [in manoeuvre] (6) | |
| 38 | WIBBLE | B (British), [repeatedly] [taken in by] WILE (trick), speak foolishly (6) | |
| M | 39 | EXPRESS | Edit E ([leader in] EDUCATIONAL) X (Times) PRESS (newspapers) (7) |
| 40 | ARRESTABLE | [Kinky] {BRA STEALER}* apt to be apprehended (10) | |
| 41 | YEARNER | He wants Y ([an end to] EVERY) EARNER (shady deal) (7) | |
| A | 42 | JESTER | One into wiggery [tailored] {TERSE J (judge)}* (6) |
| Down | |||
| R | 1 | OSSA | OS (Very big) – AS* [preposterous] fibs, perhaps (4) |
| S | 2 | REARISES | {ARE SIRES}* [wild] boars again? (8) |
| 3 | INTO | Enthusiastic about [articulately] “IN TWO” (forming a couple) (4) | |
| T | 4 | NANNA | < ANNAN (Former diplomat) [rejected] relative’s pen name (5) |
| 5 | ELTCHI | [Provocatively], CHILE* [imprisoning] T (Thailand)’s ambassador (6) | |
| 6 | MANO | Producer of meal [from] GerMAN Oats (4) | |
| 7 | NESBIT | Novelist’s B (book) I (IS [initially]) [stolen by] NEST (gang) (6) | |
| O | 8 | DETECTIVE | Cap’s DEFECTIVE (imperfect) – T (time) [to replace] F (FABRIC [at the front]) (9) |
| N | 9 | ERIC | Fife’s EPIC (impressive) P (prince) [yielding to] R (king) (4) |
| S | 13 | ALL ONE | Just the name of L (LIFER [originally]) [held in] ALONE (solitary) (6, two words) |
| 15 | DROMIC | D ([Beginning to] DOUBT) ROM (gypsy) IC (in charge) of racecourse (6) | |
| 16 | KLEIST | Writer from Frankfurt [directed] T |
|
| L | 17 | DERAIL | Leave wine DE (belonging to Parisian) and RAIL (scoff) (6) |
| E | 18 | STERNEBRA | STERNE (Novelist) [put on] BRA (some lingerie) in part of Bonn (9) |
| 20 | ERENOW | Previously, < WE [flipped] [over] RENO (city in USA) (6) | |
| U | 22 | PENSIL | Bargee |
| 23 | BRETESSE | {BES ([Most of] BEST) TREES}* [used] for wooden tower (8) | |
| T | 27 | MEMBER | |
| 28 | DOG-EAR | DO (The same) GEAR (clothes) that page may have (6) | |
| H | 32 | CAPLE | Morse, no longer CA (about) PLE |
| 33 | EIRE | Republic’s < ERIE (lake) [rising] (4) | |
| 34 | NETE | < ETEN (Maybe Hagrid’s brother once used) [up] string (4) | |
| S | 36 | SECT | SECT |
| 37 | TSAR | STAR (Pre-eminent person) [with drooping head]’s a tyrant (4) | |
| O | R | I | E | N | T | E | M | E | N | D | E | D |
| S | E | N | B | A | L | L | A | D | E | E | R | S |
| S | A | T | I | N | E | T | N | A | S | T | I | C |
| A | R | O | U | N | D | C | O | L | B | E | C | K |
| D | I | S | B | A | R | H | E | L | I | C | A | L |
| E | S | T | O | P | O | I | R | O | T | T | B | E |
| R | E | E | D | E | M | D | E | N | S | I | R | I |
| A | S | R | M | N | I | D | N | E | L | V | E | S |
| I | O | N | E | S | C | O | O | C | T | E | T | T |
| L | E | E | M | I | N | G | W | A | D | S | E | T |
| W | I | B | B | L | E | E | X | P | R | E | S | S |
| A | R | R | E | S | T | A | B | L | E | C | S | A |
| Y | E | A | R | N | E | R | J | E | S | T | E | R |
I thought that 29A was DELVES(digs) – D(departs).
I was nearly tripped up by putting SEPTET instead of OCTETT – even though the parsing doesn’t quite work
It’s also worth mentioning in respect of the title that EL specifies the railway element of the theme. I noted that the early EV practice of repeating and emphasising titles in the preamble was absent here, in what might have been deliberate policy. I’ve never seen much point in the “in [TITLE]…” used to preface puzzles where the inclusion couldn’t be made naturally, presumably as here. Ingenious, anyway, and an enjoyable puzzle. I especially liked the kinky bra stealer – all puzzles are the better for a bit of tasteless or juvenile smut, in my view.