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Well, that was great! Lots to do, and some tricky clues there. Held up my a couple of errors, but got there.

Finally getting 8d after knowing what it should be for ages was satisfying. And a new (to me) definition for 17a.

As seems to be usual for me, need help with a few final parsings please.

I have the full message, so think I know where the missing letters fall.

19a: have definition, but not wordplay
31d: ditto
33d: I think definition is first word, and maybe have something for wordplay, but can’t quite get there

Thanks!

Re 22d:

Mizzy night (mischief night) in Liverpool falls around Halloween. On said night, there was always the threat of being “pranked” by having a certain projectile thrown at one’s house.

I think it works, although I agree with smithsax that one’s mileage may vary…

19 A word for death missing a d surrounding a three letter word for a, as in five a day.
31 two letter type of rock surrounding the ends of lacking.
33 Think of an alternative for lord as in “Oh lord!” and remove the last 2 letters.

adeano, I too was struggling with parsing 31d but I just had a PDM. Words 2 and 3 are (separate) cryptic instructions and the first word may need a perusal of the BRB.

My last unsolved is 39d; I have the missing letter to add but don't know where (possibly word 6), and no idea of the solution. Hints welcome!

Cracked 39dn now! Got everything except the four-letter product. I suppose it will become obvious with the correct goggles on!

All done!
Welcome change to have a struggle with the clues, followed by a straightforward endgame.
Thanks for that, Check. Brilliant debut.

Also just finished. Haven't read the rest of the thread yet but for me that was one of the top puzzles of the year so far. Nice idea, brilliantly constructed and executed. Excellent debut puzzle.

Thanks for that, all clear!

Thanks smithsax/adeano -- yes, I think I can see that a thrower of those things could arguably be a prankster. However, I'm not sure the BRB includes a thrower as one of the meanings for that word, so I guess that becomes my quibble...! Likewise with the gratitude for "you shouldn't have" -- I don't think that's shown in my BRB either, or at least I haven't found it. Now, I realise that Chambers is the "primary reference" and not the exclusive reference, but definitions that fall outside it are normally called out in the preamble.

Speaking of the preamble, I'm afraid I do take issue with it on two
other points. First, I can find in the completed grid at least *three* separate sets of "4 cells in a straight line" that spell the product. Including the word "contiguous" would have made that unambiguous, I think, and I imagine it is that set that was intended -- that's certainly the set I highlighted. Second, I am less forgiving than smithsax@50 -- eleven of the down clues have a relationship with their grid entries that is not signalled in the preamble except by the quasi-hint of the inclusion of the phrase about numbers in brackets as I mentioned in my earlier post. I love engaging with tough clues, struggling to spot and apply a theme, addressing the other features the preamble sets out, and completing a tricky endgame, but I do not enjoy having to second-guess a sloppy or incomplete preamble, and I think if answers need to be modified or trimmed or spaces left when entering into the grid this should be at least hinted it in the preamble.

But those are just minor niggles with an otherwise enjoyably challenging puzzle, so I'll shut up now :-)

I've completed the grid with, I think, a satisfactory top line. But cannot make head or tale of the second and third instructions. Please help!