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Doh...

I feel a bit stupid asking this as I knew enough about the clue to help Sloth with his/her query, but it was only later I realised I hadn't parsed it properly and still don't know where the "ascending E" goes or why part of "revolutions" are reversed, but not the S? Help appreciated:-)

41a - Project in trouble, having zero revolutions at first (8)

You shouldn’t feel stupid, Brendan, it was an unusual and, to my eye, difficult clue. My take was that the E created “heaving”, allowing an anagram of o (over) and revs (revolutions). Ail (trouble) then follows.

Sorry, o is zero, not over. It’s late. But the parsing idea is sound, I think

Ah! I had considered "heaving" but didn't make the anagram connection so discounted it, but it makes perfect sense. Many thanks Quisling:-)

I believe Ifor reads this forum, so I should add I enjoyed this as much as I usually do his offerings, even if he let us off more lightly than usual. Scrupulous clueing, and definitely in the elite group of setters.

Thank you, Quisling - that's very generous. Assuming the editor is happy with it, I think you'll find the next Ifor puzzle to be more challenging.

Can anyone confirm that the ascending letters
give three words 11,3,8
Thanks

Yes, krauton, they do

Agree a clever construction - so thanks Ifor... but having completed ok I still have a 'brain not working' for both Q wordplays? ...