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Ok so it is 31 a I can’t place. I had put him in the box below grid. So where is 31a connected to the line?

31a is not connected to the line.

There are four characters. Two of them are connected to the line - but 'connected' does not mean they touch the line - they are connected in a different sense to the line. One of them, coincidentally, forms part of the line in the grid (but the instructions do not require it); the other has escaped.

The other pair of characters has no connection to the line whatsoever, though one of them is the builder of what's represented by the whole grid.

Oh I see. I was making it more complicated than necessary! Thanks for help!

Can anyone help with the parsing if 5 down? How does NI come to mean a shot of whiskey? What happened to the P? Also why do you think we were misled about the two characters connecting to the path when one is part of the path and the other has disappeared? Am I missing something?

Secure minus whiskey (as in X-ray Yankee etc). Eight cells “in the arena” is very misleading: if it’s in something there must be something that it is in.

Thank you Ebenezer. Grudging acceptance I suppose. As has been said T escaped and the arena is vacated

Does anyone feel like the constructor might have tried a different letter to start 14-Across, as it allows a much more thematic result for the individual (taking into account three letters in the top row?)

Despite the earlier exchanges, I do not understand how the 12 letters spell out a hint to the grid entry at 8D. Is there a connection between the lady and the mythological homophone of 8D?

The second word in the 12-letter phrase has a second meaning in Chambers which makes this all clear. Change the last two letters to EW and Google the phrase.

The 12 letter phrase is not a hint to the grid ENTRY itself; it's a hint to which clue leads to the entry.