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Hi Lilith, thanks for the tip. 👍

First time post having completed puzzle from 12 letter word hints yesterday.Two thoughts ,I have a 5 letter riddle with an o word in for the top right hand corner and if I heed the riddle in the bottom right hand corner I do not follow the 39 cell exit as mentioned ,but an alternative route to exit.

hhs - I think you should have 4 for the top (a c n a) and 6 for the bottom (b c h p d e) and the count of 39 is correct.
Can you be more specific without giving too much away?

drxx l have the O word before the final A as it sounds more correct to me and I think makes more sense to the clue.If I have filled the puzzle correctly I have heeded the instruction of the puzzle in the bottom right hand corner and found a path that involves an abbreviation.

It looks like you've taken 'once' from the definition - 'once out of water', (and it does make the riddle read better) but I think it's a crucial indicator that the answer to the clue is archaic.
There isn't an abbreviation in the answer to the riddle for the bottom quadrant - and there isn't an instruction as such. The answer to the 'riddle' is a pun on the b+c words as they relate to this pursuit of ours (it's an in-joke, really) and the one word 'answer' is simply followed from start to finish.

I see the pun.My abbreviated word is in the path I take if I retrace my step

sorry, hhs, but with alternative paths, backtracking and an abbreviation, I think you might have discovered a dimension I've missed altogether - I just wanted to get out of there!

Hope you've returned 'once' to where it belongs (although that won't affect your progress either way).

I chose the SWAT team exit

I'd avoid any cavity walls (only joking).

Thanks everyone for their contribution. I tend to give up in frustration when I get stuck having enjoyed the Listener Crossword for many years. I do find this site very helpful to encourage us to keep going and, in this case, to get to the end of a delightful puzzle. Well done Xanthippe