The English Lexicon

Clues in this puzzle

Across

• Platitude worn dull from centuries of repetition (6)
• Overused narrative device or rhetorical convention (5)
• Unintentional verbal blunder named after Freud (4)
• Self-contradictory juxtaposition of opposite notions (8)
• Homograph signifying weeping or ripping paper (4)
• Term describing soothing measures rather than cures (10)
• Fundamental linguistic base from which other terms grow (4)
• Part of an inflected entry before endings attach (4)
• Homophone companion to an Arctic carnivore (4)
• Seemingly absurd claim concealing an underlying reality (7)
• Active or passive agent alignment in syntax (5)
• Lexical counterpart representing polar opposition (7)

Down

• Dictionary shorthand for an entry tracing ancestry (4)
• Duet soundalike of an orchard fruit (4)
• Curved archery tool that doubles as a respectful bend (3)
• Action-packed dynamic core of a predicate (5)
• Temporal indicator in verbal conjugation (5)
• Blend of two expressions into a fresh hybrid (11)
• Twin in typography that diverges in meaning (9)
• Indirect cultural nod to history or classic verse (8)
• Manner in which speakers typically deploy speech patterns (5)
• Scholarly investigation into origins of expressions (9)
• Symbolic declaration that one thing is another (8)
• Homograph that guides a procession or weighs down an apron (4)

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