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sorry -' your...'!

Got it, the Watergate/American spelling went right over my head. It's so infuriating because the very first thought I had was "that looks like a bridge, wouldn't it be elegant if the 'S....S' were on it"!

Thank you so much Drxx.

At least you're there without having to rewrite the whole grid the other way around!

But.....

The letter S is in the same place in each word, and if they swapped they'd still be in the same place and would still spell the same S....S word - so what is it that establishes the orientation

Sorry to be so finicky but I can't put a puzzle to rest until I've crossed all the T's etc.

The exchange has a geographical direction (typically 'cold war') - we're at the point where the 'guard wall is ?????? the prosy exchange', I take the words ?????? + 'exchange' to signify where the characters are situated at this point in the plot.

Thanks Drxx but I just can't see it. My problem is that the clues only fit if the single 11 letter word is written upside down in the RHS - so I knew which way it went before I knew the missing word, the clues simply wouldn't fit if it was the other way round! Take the "stretching exercises" clue - I know it ends in S so it can only fit where it does if the penultimate letter in that 11 letter word is 'S'. So this was known before the final word in the grid. I know I've misunderstood it but, even after all your hints I still don't get it.

I haven't filled the grid the other way but I believe gabrielc did (he had a full grid when he posted early on).
Once the characters at either edge of the grid are exchanged they'll return to their countries of origin - at the moment they're both held by the other side (the cold war axis is W/E as we look at the grid).

...by the way, it's quite a feat to construct a grid that can be repopulated in this way, but I believe ifor is just the setter to do it (sadly, I just can't summon the energy to check it myself!).

When you say characters at either edge, do you mean the answers to the two 11 letter clues, or are you referring to the actors?

I think I'll have to give up on this, my head is literally hurting and I've had to take some Paracetamol!!

I fear I bit off more than I can chew:-(

I think I get it. Each grid is a 180^ representation of the other.

Thanks again Drxx, you have the patience of a saint:-)