This is by and large a normal cryptic crossword.
| Across |
Clue |
Answer |
Explanation |
| 2 |
A mangled "mon ami" can be a cleanser |
AMMONIA |
A+MONAMI* |
| 8 |
I expand a tablet |
IPAD |
I+PAD |
| 11 |
Tied up and spread seeds, we hear |
SEWED |
"sowed" homophone |
| 13 |
Disney princess cut short after pro recipe |
FORMULA |
FOR+MULA(-n) |
| 14 |
Two educator's assistants are revealed to be British later |
TATA |
TA+TA |
| 15 |
Young villain at the center of panic |
ANI |
_ANI_ |
| 16 |
Dad hollows out woven puppet |
PAWN |
PA+W(ove)N |
| 17 |
Marked as stupid having lost track of current opening answer |
BRANDED |
BRA(-i)NDE(-a)D |
| 18 |
Crazy flipping king |
AGAG |
reverse GAGA |
| 20 |
School period involving an old oil flask |
OLPE |
schoOL PEriod |
| 21 |
Band oddly drops italics |
TLC |
_T_L_C_ |
| 23 |
Fixes resort before days without prosecutor |
SPAYS |
SPA+(-da)YS |
| 25 |
Surprised word concerning Czech river |
OHRE |
OH+RE |
| 26 |
Media magnate breaking hearts |
HEARST |
HEARTS* |
| 27 |
Rating according to Romeo or Juliet |
ELOPER |
ELO+PER |
| 30 |
Confused gran called |
RANG |
GRAN* |
| 33 |
Sarin diffuses to part of the nose |
NARIS |
SARIN* |
| 34 |
Partially imitate a bird |
EMU |
EMU(late) |
| 35 |
Typical guy |
NORM |
ddef. |
| 36 |
Masses concealing an African fox |
ASSE |
mASSEs |
| 37 |
Too many try to become a Princess Bride character |
MONTOYA |
TOOMANY* |
| 40 |
Bishop ignores nonsense at a breakfast joint |
IHOP |
(-b)I(-s)HOP |
| 41 |
Reference worn down before... |
ERE |
refEREnce |
| 42 |
...German girl terraforms isle |
ILSE |
ISLE* |
| 43 |
Rob old Turkish governor occupied with street |
DELANEY |
DE(LANE)Y |
| 44 |
Struck by reported requirement |
KNEED |
"need" homophone |
| 45 |
Base lair on paradise |
EDEN |
E+DEN |
| 46 |
City erupts from Ed's knot |
DONETSK |
ED'S KNOT* |
| Down |
Clue |
Answer |
Explanation |
| 1 |
Seth Rogen abandons hotel, reinvests in a steroid |
ESTROGEN |
SET(-h)ROGEN* |
| 3 |
Figures of speech coming from other's map |
METAPHORS |
OTHER'S MAP* |
| 4 |
Wander aimlessly, drop final bend, get more average? |
MEANER |
MEAN(-d)ER |
| 5 |
Programmed topless and consumed way too much |
ODED |
(-c)ODED |
| 6 |
A Roman and a nereid |
IONE |
I+ONE |
| 7 |
Dry endlessly blended dairy |
ARID |
DAIR(-y)* |
| 8 |
Demon in the style of an antelope |
IMPALA |
IMP+A LA |
| 9 |
Perpetually converting loss to win helps |
ALWAYS |
AL(l->W)AYS |
| 10 |
Odd drainage permits rats! |
DANG |
D_A_N_G_ |
| 12 |
Zappa blockades, imprisons artist |
PABLO |
zapPA BLOckades |
| 13 |
Screw ChatGPT and attract catastrophe |
FAILURE |
F+AI+LURE |
| 19 |
Stone creatures fabricate or lay eggs |
GARGOYLES |
OR LAY EGGS* |
| 21 |
Places shirts |
TEES |
ddef. |
| 22 |
Relish swapping that guy for a house where Santa breaks in |
CHIMNEY |
C(hut->HIM)NEY |
| 23 |
Country exchanges rupees after taking a bit off |
PERU |
RUPE(-es)* |
| 24 |
Impressed by conclusion of gnome onslaught |
STAMPEDE |
STAMPED+_E |
| 28 |
Mostly happy with sublet |
LEASED |
(-p)LEASED |
| 29 |
Durian pasta, shrimp etoufee, teriyaki carp ends up in dish (2 words) |
PIEPAN |
reverse last letters |
| 31 |
Oil up strange nation |
ANOINT |
NATION* |
| 32 |
Rub out right in the middle of resting |
ERASE |
E(R)ASE |
| 36 |
Essential claims of French help |
AIDE |
(cl)AI(ms)+DE |
| 37 |
Morning space agreement |
AMEN |
AM+EN |
| 38 |
Core OS stores a cookie |
OREO |
cORE Os |
| 39 |
Share Sulu's actor without me |
TAKE |
TAKE(-i) |
Once completed, six words in the grid should stick out as not quite matching what was clued.
For each of these words, one letter has been dropped out (fell down a chute) and another has been inserted (adder-ed). Solvers should hopefully notice that the chute letters can be organized to spell out ANSWER. Sorting by this and looking at the added letters gives the answer, DELPHI.