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Don’t know if anyone is still checking this, but just in case…

I have a full grid, and think I have the instruction from the misprints.

Need help with a few clues.

38a: Can’t parse this at all, can’t even find a definition for the grid entry I have!

6d: Understand first two words, then stuck

8d: Believe I have the definition, but don’t understand the wordplay

33d: A real worry, as my entry isn’t in Chambers. No idea about this.

Thanks!

38. def is first two words - 4th word when amended leads to a single letter abbrev to be removed from 'sans souci' for the anagram.
6. misprint is in first word (it's the anagram indicator) and the answer to 5d forms the anagram, then it's the full ('extend') version of what the abbrev 'a' stands for - the Chambers entry gives 'a silk...' as the def.
8. first word is the def when amended - it's a homophone for an Australian 'amusement' which ends '...ie' [this was given earlier in the thread].
33. first word is amended for the def (a verb) - the next word gives the usual single letter abbrev, the following word is an exclamation (2 letters) normally meaning 'stop!' but also 'cessation' if you read on in the Chambers entry) then it's the 'final letter of...' - this is a common word and the entry in chambers gives a suitable definition after the first semicolon [also mentioned earlier in the thread].

Thanks drxx, all clear now!

Don’t know what my problem was with 38, looks like I’d filled in the unch with no justification and hadn’t noticed… Which in turn gave me difficulties with 33d.

Found this quite hard - I think the combination of slightly odd clues (which now I understand the reason for, very good) and misprints made me very unsure about everything. Nice to get to the end though!

Incidentally, what phrase in the preamble gave the endgame away for you? Or was it just the circles? I had no idea until I had enough of the misprints to guess the instruction…

Thank you, adeano - for once I can comment on something I wrote rather than something someone claims I wrote (over and over again!).
Whenever I see, ''a hint leading to...'' in a preamble, I know the resulting message will simply direct me to search the clues for the information I need, so I always look at the two obvious places before I go any further (usually the message is hidden more cunningly than it was here).

As for the circles, they are not essential (as suggested earlier on). If a very few letters are reserved for the thematic elements they become redundant (it's tricky but it can be done).

That’s where experience comes in! I’ve not seen that device yet (only been solving since the new year).

For example, I don’t think I’d have been able to find the precise theme for this puzzle without the oblique hint given earlier in the forum. In retrospect, the elements indicated in the message that would give the theme are placed obviously, but I’d be hampered by scanning the entire grid looking for them. Something to remember for next time there’s a grid search!

Thanks for your help

You're making better progress than I did in my first Listener year, adeano.
Yes, I can see how the solution might be hard to arrive at if you're not a fan - but we regularly get Listener themes that require specialist knowledge and I think that could be indulged more with this theme too (for anyone interested in the theme, the puzzle title and the very last nugget of information made the whole thing far too easy - even without the rings).
Some solvers (like me) regularly accept defeat when the numericals appear - I'm sure mathematicians would be equally gracious in defeat (although, I don't like it when that particular subject spills over into the word puzzles... as it does far too often).

Ha, well I’m a mathematician, by training and vocation, and I don’t have much time for the numericals! Too much like trial and error it seems to me. Or maybe it’s too much of a busman’s holiday… Words are far more interesting!