The first three or four letters of eight unclued lights (including one proper name) form a set said to be safe for 1A. Elsewhere, ignore an accent.
Across
10 Sauce that will do OK for Frankfurters (4)
12 Sea-fishers lent warmer pants (10)
14 Upset goddess upset menial (3)
15 Departed by rail, oddball with excrescence (8)
17 Some covet nasty heating vessels (5)
19 Shaping demo we echoed Tom (6)
22 Change national registration of judge and convict (6)
24 Soldier meets soldiers in cave (5)
27 OED founder new viral flu infected (9)
29 Farm cottage’s metal barrier (5)
31 Chap spun a hat in silky cloth (6)
36 Dramatist in a certain southern county (7)
38 Tree Chris duly stripped (5)
39 Police raid a lane and toil hard (8, three words)
40 In case of emergency, to kill is cool (3)
41 Republic old PM with yellow parrot crosses (10, two words)
42 Smell in Denver of dung-beetle (4)
Down
2 Truer fonts transformed WP operation (10, two words)
3 Most of newspaper board like their business premises (7)
4 Riled seven harangue (5)
5 What in USA Pullman created in salmon, Spanish poet wears (9, two words)
6 Avenues each with trees twice polled (6)
7 Age of goddess (5)
8 Bear gang caught (4)
9 Devious Eva Blue — real name not for divulging (12)
16 Can of Martini (3)
20 Democratic point of view creating swing (6)
21 Can oriole start to uproot wild water plants? (10)
23 Aleurites evolved without hurrying (9, two words)
25 Honest worker engaged had skived off! (8)
30 Wedding breakfast with this would be unusual meal (6)
32 Ruminant pundit abandons ancient city for Norway (3)
33 Move faster carrying stone in former exploit (5)
35 Worried councillor has to provide food (5)
37 Instrument cockney tramp heard (4)
A first prize of £30 for the first correct solution opened on 25 February. 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 2934, The Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London SW1H 9HP. Please allow six weeks for prize delivery.