This one took a lot of re-evaluation. It’s not unsolvable as it stands, but the preamble was not as informative as it should have been for 4 down (which actually featured both treatments) – amending it actually shortened it. I also took out a pound sign, replacing it with $, purely because I couldn’t readily find it on a New Zealand keyboard, and GRAND is currency independent! A typo in one clue has also been amended.
I glanced at the solution grid and worried slightly about the Z in ZENITH, followed by the X in EXES. If I was serious about removing the standard algebraic variables then surely I should have sidestepped these. But of course I can’t remove them once I’ve decided to reinsert SIX. Hence the alternative approach of removing them from wordplay.
ACROSS
1 BLAZER; laze in Br. z = 10
7 GEMS; ge(r)ms
10 SALAMI; I’m alas (all rev.)
12 RAIL; 2 mngs.
13 IRKSOME; anag.
14 LAX; LA x; x = 1
16 SUNDAE; anag.
17 LYRES; hidden; y = 5
21 AMMETER; Am meter
23 UPPED; U PPE D
25 WEANS; a in wens
26 ZETA; hidden; z = 4
28 PASTICHE; anag.
30 RAINED; (d)rained
34 AYE; hidden; y = 2
35 ANTILOG; ant I log
36 DOOM; mood (rev.)
37 (Z)ENITH; anag.
38 ONL(Y); on l
39 ZEST; hidden; z = 3
DOWN
1 BYLAW; by LA w; y = 6
2 LARD; hidden
3 ALK(Y); (t)alk
4 TAXONOM(Y); tax on o,m; x = 7
5 EMOTE; (r)emote
6 E(X)ES; see (rev.)
7 GRAND PRIX; R in grand pix; x = 9
8 MINARET; are in mint
9 SLEEP; peel’s (rev.)
11 PLUS; plus(h)
15 TREFA; anag.
18 IMAM; hidden
19 EROSE; e sore (all rev.)
20 SPEC; spec(k)
22 MEGATON; not a gem (all rev.)
24 DAY; D a y; y = 8
27 PRADO; ad in pro
28 PEEL; p eel
29 TUTEE; tu tee
31 DASH; d ash
32 PLIE; plie(d)
33 LOTS; Lot’s
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