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simon9x - 34 - the first letter needs changing...

Note by Admin - I have removed this post as I have been informed that it is possibly too revealing, both in an email and another Member expresses concern later in the thread.

I have copied it into Notes so can reinstate part of it if the “revealing” didn’t apply to the whole post but I would need a Listener expert to tell me which bit to reinstate.

Ah, PDM, thanks to midgers. Very nice puzzle imo.

I've got the bird, but still lacking 7 answers in the grid, and not yet made any sense of the message apart from the bird. Tips for 1ac and 31ac would be appreciated!
Thanks

31`ac - think abbreviations...

dylan - 1ac is a proper name not in the dictionary.

1A is a proper noun. Wordplay is first 6 words, then definition is last 6 with a misprint.

midgers @40 - yes. I know (well, that's a bit strong) the work in question and the q-i appears very early. I hope I don't have to trawl through the whole thing. I still don't see how the phrase "as a hint" gets me any further. I can't see a group in the work - so am I barking up the wrong tree? Is the q-i to be interpreted other than as a line in the work?

midgers, I can’t think of a better alternative - so I agree with you - but are you entirely comfortable with the result? I’m not following the connection between the phrase (SOOT) and the precise alterations. Is S meant to indicate blank cells? Could they be blackened instead? And OOT is unclear to me. Seems shaky.

Thanks to those of you who encouraged me to pursue this puzzle despite my lack of knowledge of the surface theme. I now have all the misprints , the description and phrase, so I should be able to complete and correct my solutions as well as identifying without any doubt the three normal clues.

I needed Google for the second individual, of course, though I would have managed the first one without - but then there will be others who do the reverse, and some who could manage both without any help.