The Code Duello by Agricola

Puzzle explanation

The extra letters from wordplay spelt out “I rode unsteadily in sewing machine” for 1ac Schroedinger and “Said ‘g’day’ on Buddhist mountain” for 10dn Heisenberg. Both could be encoded using Playfair code words of WAVE or PARTICLE, which are related in quantum mechanics by the Schroedinger equation. These entries can be thought of as existing in two states until the cat is seen in 23ac, as in Schroedinger’s thought experiment. Thematic hints in the puzzle included “uncertainty” (Heisenberg uncertainty principle) in the preamble, “double slit” (wave/particle experiment) in 42ac, “Planck’s constant” in 2dn and “Copenhagen interpretation” in 7dn.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation [extra letter]
Across
1 SCHROEDINGER (CH + RODE *) in SINGER; ref. Singer brand name
11 OUTSOAR OU + [I]T + S + OAR
12 UPAS PA[R] in US
14 BYE BY[O] + E
HYE HY[D]E; ref. Jekyll and Hyde
16 OTARY Y after (T[E]A in OR)
17 NASTIER NA[U]R(u) around SITE *
TASTIER TER[N] around ASTI
18 ENDS [S]ENDS
21 UNDEE [T]UN + DEE
22 DEET [E]D + LEET − L
23 CATS AT in CS[A]
BATS BA[D] + T(ee) S(hirt)
25 INSULT IN + L in SU[I]T
27 RAMEAN (c)[L]A(m) in RAMEN
29 ITEM EM[Y](s) after IT
30 DOES D[I]ODES − D
WOES W/O + [N]ES
32 OVERT VOTER[S] *
35 BUSY BY around ([E]U + S)
36 EXEGETE GET in ([W]EXE + E)
38 AREN’T (st)A[I]R ENT(rance)
YRENT R in [N]YE + (Beva)N + T
39 NAS SAN[G] <
41 MIST IS[M] in MT
HIST TH[A]IS *
42 ITALICS (I + C[C] + SLIT) * around A
43 UNCHASTENESS UN + [H]ASTEN in CHESS
Down
2 BOY [I]BO + Y(outh)
HOY H + [N]OY
3 QUEST [E]QUES + T
GUEST T after GUES[S]
4 ÉTAT [A]ET + AT
STAT ([I]T’S A) * + T(urk)
5 WOOED WOO[D]ED
LOOED [G]ED after LOO
6 MADRES MAD + [D]RES(s)
CADRES [A]CAD(emic) + RES
7 DRONE (taw)DR[Y] ONE(sie); ref. Drones Club in Wodehouse novels
KRONE K’R(i) + ON + E [O]
8 MUTED ME[N]D around UT
OUTED OED around [B]UT
9 GARDENED G[U]ARDED around EN
HARDENED HARED around (D + EN[D])
10 HEISENBERG homophone of (HI + ZEN) + BERG
13 SYSTEMLESS S + [D]Y + STEMLESS
15 MINIM MINI + [H]’M
19 NETT [I]N + E + TT
20 TABOURIN [S]TAB + OUR + IN
24 TRÈS TRE[T]S
26 UNRED [M]UN + RED
28 EVENTS EVEN + T[O] + SEND − END
31 SYNTH (SHY N[U]T) *
32 OSTIA (exclam)ATIO[N]S *
33 EXEAT EX + [T]REAT − R
34 PENCE PE[A]CE around N
37 GRIN [I]R in GIN
40 ASS [N]AS’S
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