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I think I have completed this but the result is not pleasant.

I did, although it was not necessary, and did not actually help in finishing the puzzle, resolve the wordplay behind the normal clues, . I then spent an amount of time longer than the whole process of grid fill trying to do what I was told but in a much more technical sense, which involved using a certain international database. That did not work, so I've made a substitution which results in precisely one real-word entry in the affected down clues.

Is it really as crude as I think?

Foinaven, I've got two common real words in the affected down entries (three, if a plural is possible) and there may be a couple of others I'm not familiar with. It's a shame the substitution doesn't result in all real words - we've been spoiled in that respect in recent puzzle - but that would probably have been impossible to carry off. If it weren't for the neat 18 12 resolution I think many of us would still be scratching our heads!

Ah, yes, I see the second one now, and the other, which looks to me more like a genitive form than a plural.

I suppose the point is that creating real words removes ambiguity in carrying out this step. I wonder if there are other possibilities for the particular form of the substitution. It is hard to say what I have done without giving too much away.

I agree that we have been very lucky this year with some extraordinary achievements in retaining real words throughout a set of transformations.

Greetings all. I'm in my (increasingly) usual position of finishing the grid and then getting stuck. I am awaiting the arrival of some of the pups on the sandbank and asked them to bring a recorder. I will then try and solve two of the normal clues (I have 37, 41 as an anagram). Is this a sensible way of proceeding? I know that solving the other two is not essential.

However, although I have all the extra letters, I am still puzzled about the substitution. Does it match in some melodic way one to the clues that I have been unable to solve?

Any help appreciated without transgressing the spirit of this thread.

Many thanks

Williamseal and all other Forum Users who have posted on this thread.

Regarding the “spirit of this thread”, I would like to commend you all on the manner in which this thread has been conducted. I’m really glad that things appear to have settled down after the arguments and disputes of previous weeks. Please keep up the good work everyone .

William, probably your best way to find the substitution is to google the first and last words from the extra letters along with one word from the title. That should bring up a Wiki article which will point you in the right direction.

As I've said before, I found the normal clues to be unsolvable in their own right and a certain amount of thematic matching to be needed. You've done better than me to solve one of them cold. What they have in common is not so much melodic as the first word from the extra letters (more on that in the Wiki article).

These clues are convoluted and I don't know how to hint at them without giving too much away. I mentioned earlier that the first (3-letter) word of 11/17 is defined as "a dear" in Chambers, and it's more commonly a noun that might describe what you feel on completing the puzzle. The horror film is the first word of 22/31 and is a very short title indeed. I hope that's of some use without giving too much away!

Loge, if I am considering a moor and 86.86 am I on the right track?

Give yourselves a Boxing Day treat and check 18 12, plus the contents of the preamble brackets, on YouTube. Much better than the TV schedules.

Gitto, you're spot on with 86.86 but although the moor is thematically related it doesn't play a part in the completion of the puzzle (though I thought it did for far too long!).

Thanks Loge

That's most helpful. I'll battle on (after I have watched the being day derby from Cardiff Arms Park)