____________ GIFT" by APEX

The letters entered in shaded squares complete the title of puzzle which refers to the unclued perimeter (clockwise) plus the central row by 8 17 dn, 20 14, 46 24. Clues are definition only all of which can be verified in Chambers (1998) Dictionary.

Across 10 Large knife (4) 11 A constellation (3) 12 Author (4) 13 Kind of acid (3) 14 (6) 15 Old gambling game (2) 16 Australian rackets(5) 17 Healing agent (6) 19 A carved bead (5) 23 ____ ne va plus (4) 25 Obtrusively religious (2) 26 A wisp of hay (4) 28 Witty sayings (4) 30 Or nearest offer (3) 33 Direct memory access (3) 34 Extremely thin horse (4) 36 To heehaw (4) 37 To locate (4) 38 A yearly charge (7) 39 Smokes in Edinburgh (6) 42 Enough of Shakespeare (5) 44 Attention (3) 46 (5) 50 To sin (3) 51 Prickly shrub (5) 52 Japanese member of lowest class (3) 53 The iris (3)

Down 1 Down-and-out drinker (4) 2 Japanese porcelain (5) 3 To colour slightly (4) 4 Welladay (4) 5 To capture (3) 6 First note of scale (3) 7 Person with large appetite (5) 8 (3) 9 To put down (5) 17 (7) 18 Small island (3) 20 (6) 21 To versify (5) 22 Electromagnetic interference (3) 24 (6) 27 To scare away (4) 29 Type of desert pear (5) 31 Unfledged hawk no more (4) 32 Catmint (3) 35 Crafty conduct (3) 40 A melody (4) 41 Persian king (4) 42 Letter resembling a house (4) 43 Second section of a march (4) 45 A weapon (3) 47 Luminous discharge (3) 48 American's last letter (3) 49 Isolated pillar (3) 50 A fairylike being (3)