I'd gladly throw out the extra prepositions after
except, but not after
than!
To me,
except is to be construed as contrasting the nouns, not the prepositional phrases.
except occurs
within the prepositional phrase, just as
and or
or can do, e.g.,
with you and me, in rivers or lakes. Of course,
except requires a preceding
every or its equivalent.
... in [every month except August]
... in [every town except Waco]
... the titles of [all the songs except that one] (
???except of that one)
... appropriate for [all seasons except winter] (??? except for winter)
than seems to require a whole prepositional phrase if a whole prepositional phrase occurs before
than
as the item to be compared. The same is true for constituents
larger or smaller than a prepositional phrase. The key here is to
use equivalent constituents on both sides of
than.
stronger X than Y >> stronger with the molybdenum additive than with the chocolate (*than the chocolate)
busier X than Y >> busier on Mondays than on Thursdays (*than Thursdays)
less effective X than Y >> less effective dry than wet
less effective X than Y >> less effective when it's dry than when it's wet (*when it's dry than wet)
more likely to succeed X than Y >> more likely to succeed if
educated at Harvard than if kept in a cellar (*than kept in a
cellar; *than in a cellar)
CJ