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Candledave - re your #36 - I wasn't asking anyone to "follow" me - just seeking clarification of what the fifth word might imply.

You've done that very clearly - and the fifth word is thus just a much less graphic entity than I was expecting - but this greatly increases the puzzle's Hah!-factor.

I suspect John Green is in for some interesting times...

Thanks, Twin, for some delightfully ingenious nostalgia.

Apologies if I sounded rude Quixote, I just meant that I didn’t understand your post by saying “(I) don’t follow”

I wasn’t giving an instruction to others!

Very clever set of clues, also enjoyed 36a a lot.

One loose end for me, I can't see the wordplay for 5a.

Figured it out now.

Help, please, with the parsing of 34a. I've completed the grid and I have the instructions. Clever construction indeed.

Cass - the def was a new one to me meaning a gubbins which maximises your signal reception. The wordplay is the usual representation of "one" followed by a word for "happy" (more often used in another sense nowadays) all turned round. "Mozambique" is extra.

By the way, while I'm here, was anyone as amused as I was by the subtle humour of the BRB's def for 20d?

Is this going to be another 'hare' where the issue is Guess What I'm Thinking?

We know what X stands for, since that is determined by the initials of omitted words (or at least the first part of these). The title suggests that what is required is the X of Someone Special. So my inclination would to get out the scissors, do some cutting, and then replace what is missing by a personal item. JG would be sent something he could put on his mantelpiece.

The idea of selecting four letters from the grid to produce a description of X is initially tempting, but it is very ambiguous. Nothing 'stands out' in the grid and there are lots of letters to choose from. For example, look at the bottom left corner. That cannot be right, surely.

Thanks Will37. The PD for me just after I logged off. I realised the 3rd word was not part of a two-word phrase, but the usual cryptic reversal indicator. Silly, isn't it, the simplest of clues has me puzzled.

I'm really unsure what to send to Mr Green. My initial thought was a four letter word.

A little confused by your last. I don't submit but presuming you have the correct X - your initial idea seems correct - the replacement being individually specific. That was my interpretation. Not sure where 4
extra letters come into it ...

Posts were crossed during sending .... For good order my response was to Foinavon,,,