Ish by Twin

Puzzle explanation

The third letters of the extra words in clues spelt “shade characters suggested by title and clue word lengths”. The lengths of the puzzle’s title and all words and abbreviations in the clues represented the first 378 digits of π (using ten-letter words for 0), namely 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510582097494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196442881097566593344612847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432664821339360726024914127372458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436789259036001133053054882046. Writing with word lengths constrained in this way is called Pilish, though that conventionally counts hyphenated words as giving the lengths of each part, not the whole. All occurrences of P and I in the grid formed 22/7, an approximation of π, ie it’s “pi-ish”. The number of cells highlighted for 22 was 22, and 7 for 7. A rougher approximation of π is 3, which is why third letters were chosen from the extra words.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Extra word Answer Explanation
Across
1 es(S)ential OBOES D’AMORE (O BOOM A REED’S) *
11 ni(H)ilists PIPY PIPA with Y for the last letter; ref. 17ac
14 So(A)k POMELOS (SOLE + MOP) <
15 Sa(D) ADIEUX I in À DEUX
16 se(E)k PLUMULA PLUM + U(nlikely) + L + A
17 ex(C)ellent PIPA (A + PIP) <
18 as(H)es PIPEFUL PPE around I + FUL(l)
19 Br(A)zilian PEKE PEKOE − O
20 Ba(R)tellini PEARL-SPAR PEAR + (PR SAL) *
22 dr(A)ped KIPPAS SA < after KIPP
24 en(C)ampment IONA AN < after (I + O)
26 af(T)er ANNA 2 meanings
28 ov(E)rheats ORGY OY around RG
30 la(R)k CAST 2 meanings
32 Ba(S)idial SCOPAE (A CEP SO) *
34 re(S)tricted ALE-DRAPER (DEARER PLA(n)) *
37 po(U)red CHAI 2 meanings
38 ri(G)htists COMPEAR COMP + EAR
39 Fu(G)itive CROP (OR PC) *
40 th(E)atrical ELOGIUM (IE MOGUL) *
42 se(S)sions TONE UP E in TON-UP
44 in(T)wines MANILLA 2 meanings
45 sp(E)culated GYRI I after GYRATORY − (A + TORY)
46 ra(D)io SENATE-HOUSE (SO U A + (Fanthorp)E + SHEET + N(eeded)) *
Down
2 Bi(B)le BIDIE-IN BIDI + EIN
3 Jo(Y)fully EYE homophone of I
4 ou(T)house DIXIE XI in DIE
5 fa(I)ls APP A + PP
6 in(T)o MOLE RAT M + (LOT ARE) *
7 lo(L)ling REMUS RE + MUS
8 pr(E)sents ELUL E + LUL(l)
9 Ch(A)rles EOLIAN (A LOVE-IN) * − V
10 po(N)dering ASA GRAY AS + A + G + RAY
11 si(D)eline PAPPI PA + P + PI
12 BB(C) PIPKINS (I’ + PK) in PINS
13 al(L) PUPPIES (I + (t)ES(t)) after (P + UP + P)
21 RF(U) APOOP O in (A + POP)
23 ch(E)rishing SPARROW SPAR + ROW
25 re(W)arding ORPHREY (OR HYPE + R) *
26 pi(O)neer ACADEMY (A CD MAY) * around E
27 st(R)uctural SCAPULA SA around CAPUL
29 ju(D)ge GIAOURS GI + A + (c)OURS(e)
31 De(L)aying ALULAE ’ULA in ALE
33 pr(E)ceding PIPPI PIPPI(n); ref. Pippi Longstocking
35 Ra(N)dy DOGIE GOD < + IE
36 an(G)licised EATHE (h)EATHE(nish)
38 go(T) CONS CAD − (A+ D) + ONS
41 Ot(H)er MAT 2 meanings
43 De(S)igned NGO (bo)NGO(s)
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