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You could be right, teenieleek, but it doesn't seem to matter much! I got the requisite number of cells and didn't give much thought to the 'agent' and 'object' stuff until it was discussed here.

This discussion of the 'agent' is a red herring. The 'agent' is clear as day, in the right place, and anyone who has got as far as counting 39 cells must have seen it. Nowhere is it suggested that the 'agent' is included in the 39 cells, nor even that it should be shaded (though I have done that, in a different colour). I am no fan of Chalicea after her 'No Man's Land' mess a couple of years ago, but I don't think she is to blame here.

To David W, 'I II' is correct, and not entirely unrelated to what I have written in the first paragraph.

Thanks malone and marca.

The problem here is that the whole reason for the laying of the object was to send messages. So ones that were sent were the obvious place to look rather than an acrostic. Is that fair? Pass.

Laphria, strictly the instruction only tells you to shade what was laid. That is 18 cells! So the 39 figure is incorrect even on that basis. We all know that the intention is to shade the places as well, but I do not think you can pick and choose which elements of the preamble are a red herring when they are so clearly stated.

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Hi Laphria, congratulations!

Afraid it's not clear as day to me, and having stared at the completed grid again and again, would be very grateful for clarification.

Is the agent the 1 11, which we're told to leave light?
Or the 18 letter word we're told to shade?
Or is the agent the M---- which is at the end of one line and start of another?

Or do I need to seek out another word entirely?

As I've got it, the agent (I & II) first laid . The bit between < and > comprises 39 cells, which I have shaded. I've also drawn in some water, for no good reason other than my own amusement.
However, if the acrostic is the 'message', then I utterly fail to see how it relates to I & II.

Somehow, my first sentence has been mangled: it should end ''.

I appear to be committing some heinous error. What I'm trying to say is: object + 2 places = 39 cells to be shaded. Agent = I & II.