Five clues, whose answers have something in common, must have a letter removed before the clue can be solved. Five other clues, whose answers have something else in common, must have a letter added before the clue can be solved. Reading all ten of the letters in clue order provides most of the answer to 29A; however, the seventh letter has been stolen by a robber. The answers to three other clues must undergo a fitting upgrade before they can be entered into the grid. The two groups together give the name of the game expansion this puzzle represents, which is the best in its category.
This grid was tested by Liam and Juff, and much improved by Skald's guidance. All remaining dubious choices are mine.
Intriguing... I believe I have located the subtraction clues at 2A, 42A, 21D, 36D and 44D. I've only found 3 of the 5 addition ones at 20A, 31A and 1D. Still looking for two more! They're probably among the clues that I didn't quite get.
10D and 33D both need an additional letter for the indicator to properly function - the two groups together are a set of "Cities" and "Knights" - which taken together give the best expansion to the game Catan.
None of the testers noticed that housed was a potential solution after I rewrote that clue - the intent was HOS(+T)ED and S(-u)AVE.
I'm new to trying to write varieties like this one (where there's letter insertion into the clues and tried to strike a balance between definition, wordplay, and indicators; and what I've learned is that indicator insertions need to be very carefully considered as they're the part of the clue given the most leniency by solvers)
merlinnimue 48:36 · 2023-12-11T04:21:57.647Z
thanks, this is so amazing... i wish i could ever understand how you geniuses put something like this together, but i cant even get off the stumbling block trying to solve let alone make something basic... i know i should take all these puzzles i cant solve (sorry thats redundant) as a learning experience and want to learn how to take any step forward, but every time i see how wide the gap is to where you all are, im reminded that the correctly identified frustrated failing impostor really should leave well enough alone... sorry for butting in just had to get whatever off my weakening chest