Boxing Characters by Mountain Ledges

Puzzle explanation

The grid depicts a real tennis court in which the lines joining dots show the edges of the penthouse roofs. In normal grid order, the extra letters from wordplay spelt HAMPTON COURT, the site of England’s oldest real tennis court. REAL TENNIS replaced JEU DE PAUME in the central row to make new words, and PENTHOUSE, DEDANS and TAMBOUR were highlighted in their appropriate positions. Other thematic terms and references appeared in the clues: 10ac chase, 13ac hazard, 27ac grill, 5dn Newport (location of the 2016 Championship), 26ac door, Falkland Palace (the world’s oldest court), 29dn/30dn gallery, 40dn court.

The puzzle was published just before the 2016 Real Tennis World Singles Championship on May 17 in Newport, Rhode Island, at which Camden Riviere became the new world champion, breaking the 22-year reign of Rob Fahey.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation [extra letters]
Across
1 LAKHS [H]L + A + K + HS
6 FORSET FOR + SET; see fosset-seller in Chambers
10 TAG TAILS (s)TAG + TAIL + S
11 ETNA VIETNAM − VIM (in outer position)
12 COMMENDAM COM around [M] + MEND + A + [TO]M
13 PERIL I in PERL
14 PEA-CRAB CAPABLE * with R for L
16 ERASER (AS + E) in ERR
19 CRANKO RANK in CO
21 TYPTOED TYED around PTO
22 PRAU homophone of PROW
25 TAYRAS TAY + RAS
27 SEA AIR SEAR around AI
31 OUTGAS UT in SAGO <
32 ANGSTS AS around (N + GS + T)
34 UNIT UN(f)IT
36 TARPEIA (A PIRATE) *
40 SECRET (SECRET + MAUL) * = (MUSCLE TEAR) *
42 SARTRE RAREST *
44 ECUADOR ÉCU + (le)AD + OR
46 REATA R + EAT + A
47 COCONUT OIL (CO[N] + CON + TOIL) around U
48 TUBE 2 meanings
49 REGORGES GROG < in REES
50 JADED [R]ED around (JA + D)
51 ANSATE AN + SEAT with E moved to the end
Down
1 TAPEN [A]TAP + EN
2 LACERTA (revea)L A CERTA(in)
3 AGRA (G[P] + R) in AA
4 HAMLET (ML + E) in HAT
5 SIMP (PM + IS) <
6 FLEECE FLEE + CE
7 REDCAP RECAP around D
8 STARN S + TARN
9 TAMBO TAM + BO
15 ARDEA (ne)AR DEA(th)
17 SPRUG SP + RUG
18 ROSES ROPES with S for P
20 KAIE IE after KA
23 RAMS RAMSHACKLE − HACKLE
24 URUS UR(an)US
25 THOU HO in TU
26 YETI YET(t) + I
27 SPARS SPARS(e)
28 AUGER GAUGER − G
29 JUNE JUBE with N for B
30 DATED DD around (T)ATE
33 TARTLET (s)TARTLE + T(aster)
35 TRACED TD around RACE
37 ATONED TONE in (A + D)
38 PARTON TRAP < + ON
39 SEASE SEA + [OU]SE
40 SECT CT in SE[T]
41 CUBA CU + [C]B + A
43 TAIGA (s)T(r)A(y)I(n)G (f)A(r)
45 RUGA (A + GURU − U) <; see rugose in Chambers
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