Doing a Sort by Elgin

Puzzle explanation

The letters in cells marked with  * gave “an Ealing comedy” and the + cells gave “do sort the title”. In column order, the letters discarded from down entries spelt out COURTNEY, HARVEY (in the upper half) and LAWSON, ROBINSON (in the lower half), four of the robbers in the 1955 Ealing comedy The Ladykillers. In the film, they are killed off one by one and dropped onto the railway at King’s Cross where they have been renting a room. Finally, the fifth robber, Professor Marcus, is accidentally hit on the head by a railway signal and his body lands in a goods train. This is depicted in the grid by the diagonal letters of SIGNAL coming down to replace MARCUS in the middle row and “knocking” him into the gap between GOODS and TRAIN in the bottom row (GOODS TRAIN being the anagram of the puzzle’s title).

The dubious plural TESTAS at 1dn in the final grid was an oversight for which the editors apologise.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Answer Explanation
Across
11 ENTERATE ENTER + ATE
12 AUNTIE A + MOUNT + IE − MO
15 EDITS E + DITS
17 NAME NAM + E
18 TANGA TANG + A
19 GLOBULES LOB in GULES
20 ARSENIATE (IN SEA) * in ART + mandrak(E)
22 ONE (l)O(u)N(g)E
23 SPARSER SPARS + ’RE <
24 ERRANCY (EMERGENCY − ’EM) with RAN for GEN
27 SALEM M after (S(nooker) + ALE)
29 SIGHT (G + THIS) *
30 ALIDADE A + DIAL * + D(efectiv)E
33 ACERBIC ACE + BI in RC
35 URN UR- + N
38 ALCANTARA AL + CANTAR + A
41 SAT IT OUT (AS IT) * + TOUT
42 DINAR DIN(e) + AR
44 ORYX OR + Y + X
45 SIEGE (EG + E + IS) <
46 RING IN “R IN GIN” = GRIN or GIRN
47 OVERHEAT (OVER + THE + A) with T moved
Down
1 CASTES CAS(h) + SET <
2 TUNE (whis)T UNE(xpectedly)
3 REGREDED (RED DEER + (escapin)G) *
4 MARTINS MART + IN + S
5 ENTIA (IN TEA) *
6 YENTL (Fann)Y (Bric)E (i)N (hi)T (musica)L
7 UMBRAE (A + (n)UMBER) *
8 VOLANT VOL + ANT
9 SEINE S + EINE
10 STYE STYLE − L
13 RUMEN RU + MEN
14 CAPORAL ORAL after CAP
16 GREASER AGREES * around R
21 HUER HUMBER − MB
24 COT CASE (A SCOT) * in C(oolgardi)E
25 NIGHT AIR homophone of KNIGHT + AIR
26 CO-CHAIR CO + C + HAIR
28 NADA AND * + A
29 NEREIDS (IN RED SEA) * − A
31 WENT IN ((rac)E + N + T) in WIN
32 RATION RATION(al)
34 CARNOT CAR + NOT
36 TIARA (’AIR + ’AT) *
37 IGBOS (b)IG BOS(s)
39 LUXOR L + UXOR
40 ABIDE A + BID + E(ngage)
41 LARS (scho)LARS(hip)
43 ESNE (wh)EN SE(rvility) <
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