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Hi Demeter, to go with the 3 you've mentioned, not necessarily in sequence : Dorcas' associate; from another play (same writer) two more associates; from de la Mare the other 2-word entity; and one from Genesis.

I've finished apart from the ends of ring 3 and number 48 (I can't think what the word for annoying is and I've seen the hint elsewhere here).

I have six items in ring 3, each separated by a single letter. But I have a spare cell in 48 and nothing for cells 1 to 4, so I was wondering whether there is a wrap around going from 48 to 4. Thanks.

I've got 48 just after posting! Thinking about that Hardy novel did it for me.

And I realize now it does wrap around. So many sources to consider!

Many thanks Meursault.

Orson, I’m not sure about a wraparound. I have Wolf and Ammon separated by an R. There may be a trap as I am sure that RAM isn’t highlighted as a sheep in it’s own right.

I don’t think it is a trap. The preamble makes it clear they are all separated.
I found this the most difficult so far this year. Not helped by the frequent use of Scottish words - especially 35 which was my last solve. I have not found a good internet site for Scottish words. Can anyone point me towards one for next time please.

Smithsax - Have used - mudcat.org/scots/display_all.cfm ...
But usually need first orpreferably first 2 letters of answer to know where to look...

Smithsax, the online scots dictionary is a good source.
http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/
I looked up 'safe' just now, and it returns 'siccar'. Then a check in TCD reveals 'sicker'. An alternative 2-step process is to use the google 'translate to' facility, but to translate English to Danish or Norwegian. In this case both return 'sikker' : which is probably close enough to get you there, and is no coincidence, since northern Scotland is more aligned, geographically and culturally, with Norway than with England.

unclued, that's what I have. Perhaps wraparound wasn't the best word to describe what I meant: namely that unlike ring 1, ring 3 does not start at 1 and end at 48.

And looking for Scandinavian words in order to find Scottish ones is a very interesting idea from meursault as those words nearly always have a viking origin.