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Grid in plaintext

The nine highlighted cells contain multiple letters: two or more letters from the down clue, and two or more letters from the across clue (where applicable). The letters in each of these cells anagram to a character that belongs to a certain group. Furthermore, nine clues contain an extra word – these words together form a cryptic clue for the group's name, which is the final answer (19 letters, four words).

Across
1. Revolutionary clergy without fashionable allure (9)
6. Interrupting period of growth, guy's at HR's lavatory (8)
9. Temporary trend to almost vanish (3)
10. A trip abroad regularly producing jewelry (5)
11. An African country, among others! (7)
12. 6 across, across the pond, or metro's body defaced (8)
14. Man next to tree at high altitude (6)
16. False deeds leading to verifiable evidence (5)
18. Asian people from Turkey's capital reformed Islam (6)
19. Part insect with snake (4)
22. Bathed before gym class and ultimately managed to be drowning in work (7)
23. Sandwich shop from Indian city called out (4)
24. Facing type of sound in mission as a loner (5)
26. Nosy animals eavesdrop US tax office (6)
27. Spy base compromised, primary defences being circumvented (8)
30. For example, a piece in a newspaper (7)
31. Musician's piano in support (5)
32. Product that's made from berries in Virginia (3)
33. A people of Asia's, containing fighting extremists! (7)
34. Dress a pole-dancing old pussy-cat (10)

Down
2. God possessed extremely loud engines (5)
3. Medium risotto mixed for driver (8)
4. Powerful case of singing about sci-fi film (6)
5. Sheep trimmer in Oregon revealed (6)
6. Cooking Gable's rolls (6)
7. Part of midterm in Alsace leading to finals (9)
8. Make fun of Nicolas's body part (7)
9. Insects recreated life inside sacks (9)
13. Broken US car brought in to Euro restoration (3,2,5)
15. Capturing one-time horror, moving gaily, showing dexterity (7)
17. Half of 34 across carried in broken cart to queen (9)
20. Partially help a lad injure a knight (7)
21. Unaltered single film I ignored (8)
25. Middle of kitchen counters showing fractures (6)
26. Country's temperature, cold precipitation and… (8)
28. … epic narratives described by leaders of South African state (5)
29. Girls supporting Mr. Franklin's Ohio team (7)
31. Christopher's ship produced by a group leaving Mexican party item (5)

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5
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'm a bit late, but glad to see that one's been posted while I'm not asleep! Looks like fun! $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    May 8, 2020 at 5:58
  • $\begingroup$ @jafe PIease, l need practice. $\endgroup$
    – Scratch---Cat
    May 8, 2020 at 6:54
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ "I'm a bit late" - @Deusovi ~1hr after the puzzle is posted. :) $\endgroup$
    – Alconja
    May 8, 2020 at 6:56
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @Scratch---Cat Added a link to the plaintext version. $\endgroup$
    – Jafe
    May 8, 2020 at 7:58
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I just want to point out the excellence of 11A and 33A, obgu bs juvpu ner &yvg pyhrf jvgu pyrire jbeqcynl. $\endgroup$
    – Lanny Strack
    May 8, 2020 at 14:40

1 Answer 1

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5
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The solved grid:

enter image description here
In blue cells, the "across" letters are first and the "down" letters are second.

Clue explanations:

enter image description here

And the "group" is

Merry, Boromir, Aragorn, Gimli, Frodo, Samwise, Pippin, Gandalf, and Legolas.

Their name as a group is cryptically clued by the nine extra words:
"guy's body part facing old loud horror film group". This is a charade clue for FELLOW'S + HIP + O + F + THE RING, making FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING!

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  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I am sure you know this, but 1A is PUR + Z(-va)VFGEL. $\endgroup$
    – Lanny Strack
    May 8, 2020 at 14:34
  • $\begingroup$ How does the charade work for the "facing old" -> "O" part? $\endgroup$
    – justhalf
    May 11, 2020 at 3:14
  • $\begingroup$ @justhalf "facing" is just a concatenation indicator. "O" is an abbreviation for "old". $\endgroup$
    – Deusovi ♦
    May 11, 2020 at 3:43

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