Two clues are without definitions; their answers form the name of a person with a leading part in four works whose titles read clockwise round the perimeter. The title of another work involving the person, concealed in one row, must be highlighted. Letters in corner squares and those adjacent to them could make A FAB FIERY FAD. Two titles consist of three words each, and two consist of two words each; ignore an apostrophe.
 

Across

11    Season wrong without jay (5)
12    Maximum droop (4)
13    Run in country, missing a lemur (5)
14    Book of parallel texts necessary to concoct a plan (7)
15    Low wrecker ruined embroidery (10)
17    Chance to turn in very big fishes (5)
20    Symphony involved specific terms (8)
21    Difficulty in work reflected in song (6)
23    Turn back on monster (4)
26    Accumulate money when protected by god (5)
27    Silly confusion in wood (5)
28    Gear designed for desert areas (4)
30    Second sign in Montana (6)
31    Neat article about yen for orchid (8)
36    Portion of regiment opted to move (5)
38    Rearrange reservation with cold hotel and escape westward (10)
39    Make good prop with mineral (7)
40    Nymph in time independent (5)
41    Account book incorrect (4)
42    Delay abandoning good ship (5)
 

Down

2    Hotheads delete cases, disrupting plans (7)
3    Hours I’d wasted in quite ancient galleries (10, hyphened)
4    Take in poet almost unknown (6)
5    Current revolutionary keeping king annoyed (5)
6    Wound cord, standard (8)
7    Suitably tense going into a bend (5)
8    Marsupial all right after yelp (5)
10    Sudden energy around noon (4)
16    Revel in wild riots (5)
18    Addict’s heartless conduct (4)
19    Intricate unfinished test contains nothing fulfilling (10)
22    Expressed radius (5)
24    Harvester at that point breaking stone up (8)
25    Worthless artist, constant amateur (4)
29    Lead vessel to support ambassador (7)
32    Art initially left in many mouldings… (6)
33    …or in cross I admire (5)
34    Hard to stop abdominal pain, endlessly in bodice (5)
35    Look upset about increase in ulcer (5)
37    Rows over odd features of arrest (4)
 
A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 6 July. There are two runners-up prizes of £20. (UK solvers can choose to receive the latest edition of the Chambers Dictionary instead of cash— ring the word ‘Dictionary’.) Entries to: Crossword 2216, The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP. Please allow six weeks for prize delivery.