Solution to The Ashes by Wan

 The Ashes by Wan - SOLUTION

Initial Grid

Final Solution

The theme is a couplet from the poem A SATIRE by Lord Byron ‘Prepare for a rhyme - I’ll Publish, right or wrong: Fools are my theme, let satire be my song’.

Solvers were to let the letters of SATIRE in six clashes be MY SONG forming new words.

Nine entries were to be changed into fools using the letters of LORD BYRON

L -. HEMMING to LEMMING

O - DIRK to DORK

R - PHAT to PRAT

D - LIPSTICK to DIPSTICK

B - PERK to BERK

Y - YOLO to YOYO

R - PLONKED to PLONKER

O - CLAT to CLOT

N - PITHEAD to PINHEAD

The Ashes was a play on a similar single-letter change for The Asses. 

			Amendment	Explanation
	Across
1	LICE			(s)LICE(d)
6	PITHEAD			(I THE) in PAD
12	IPOMOEA			POMO in IE A
13	NIELLI			NIE ILL<
14	IMMURES			IM (URE in MS)
15	TAPIR			(RIP AT)<
17	SATYRAS			S ASTRAY*
18	TREST			R in TEST
19	ORISONS			PRISONS with O for P
20	CHAL			Hidden
22	IRES			SIRE cycling
24	CLAT			TALC<
25	ERNIE			(d)ERNIE(r)
28	MESS			DD
30	BRIE			BRIE(F)
32	PHAT			H in PAT
33	RELATES			L in REATES
34	ISSEI			SI both ways around E
39	ROSE OIL			ORIOLES*
40	ETWEE			TW(o) in EEE
41	ABROACH			AB ROACH
42	MAZARD			HAZARD with M for H
43	HEMMING			HEM MING
44	PLONKED			KEN* in PLOD
45	YOLO			YO(u) LO(t)
	Down
1	LIPSTICK	I	mad	TIPS* in LICK
2	COSTE	L	coset	COSET*
3	EMMAS	L	over	SAME around M<
4	NOURSLE	P	ours	Hidden
5	AERATOR	U	cases	(ROTA around A RE)<
7	INSURE	B	rand	IN SUE around R
8	TITE	L	save	TIT(l)E
9	HEARSE	I	ar	(AR in HE'S) (vehicl)E
10	ALIENIST	S	pencil	A-LIST around (p)EN(c)I(l)
11	DIRK	H	dingy	D IRK
16	PROTEA			PRO TEA
19	ORRIS	R	dance	(m)ORRIS
20	CLIENTAL	I	ant	(ANT LICE L)*
21	HALLOW	G	room	HALL O W
23	USTILAGO	H	edit	USILT* AGO
26	IGNORED	T	seven	(s)IGNORE D
27	EPISOME	O	by	SOME by (k)EP(t) I
29	HADEAN	R	head	HEAD* A(irgun)N
31	REMADE	W	ill's	(DEAR ME)*
35	SEAMY	R	marine	SEA M(ar)Y
36	SOCIO-	O	latin	SO(l)O around CI
37	HEMP	N	Hypos	MEH< P
38	PERK	G	plus	REP< K