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Thanks drxx/gitto/1esk19. I have the three. Just need to wade through the relevant misprints now.

dim - 11a misprint in 1st word (a proper noun) anag/'alternative' ... (minus 't') plus the usual abbrevs (2 letters & 1 letter). Wiki will provide the language group and location.
17a def first two words (ref birds) misprint in the second - weird Scots cattle (2 letters) inside 'soil' [after emptying] + 4 letters for 'boxes' (archaic).
22a 3 letters for 'notice' (audibly) after an obscure 3 letter 'chute'/waterfall - misprint in penultimate word.
4d misprint first word (thunders?) the mountains are Scottish (6 letters, minus first half of them) around the obvious two letters.

Pretty much hated this. Misprints are tedious to track down and some of the clues are super loose in my view.

I have the 3*3 and the first message. Have three related words but having gone through the tedium of pulling out the letters it's gobbledegook. So I guess it's not those three related words I need but a different three related words. I guess I just keep trying various sets of three related words until the message makes sense. Seriously thinking of giving up for the first time in about three years.

Some care is needed at the end of the message but it starts clearly enough - 3,5,7 - assuming it's the misprints you're reading and not the corrections.
As mentioned earlier, ''appropriately highlighting'' should suggest how the search can be narrowed down.

For a really tedious grind try the Crossword Club's ''Checkerboard Challenge'' - grinding out over thirty sums (or over sixty if you have no faith in symmetry) before chucking them all away and inserting 8 eight letter words! Of course, these days, 60+ sums is many a Listener solver's idea of heaven.

Well, congratulations to everyone managing to complete this.

I’ve done it all bar the highlighting of 13 cells, which has defeated me

It’s an impressive construction although I am always a bit annoyed if the endgame requires a PDM but that’s merely sour grapes on my part because lateral thinking is not my forte.

On balance though I prefer a difficult puzzle even if it defeats me rather than an easy puzzle like last week’s.

I am not looking for any hints.

Finally got there. Hated it.

Loose ends for me

13 - presume correction is in third last word, but why 'on face'?

29- I know the letter and the word that changes, and what the new word means, but can't see what it changes to

5 - think I have the change to get a very loose definition, but can't see the wordplay at all

Thanks

It only 'starts clearly enough' if you have the right three words. Were you to include part or all of 25 for example, then it makes no sense at all. Or 4.

I have now figured out 5 and 13. Just need the replacement letter for 29.

13 - because it's rolled in the stuff that is the 3rd word from the end (after correction) and has its 'face' (surface?) covered in it.
29 - The Scots way of saying 'clothes'.
5 - 'being behind' is 6 letters - then replace 'ea(ch)' with 3 letters for 'agreement'.

I wasn't keen on this either. A four hour grind to fill the grid, and I have no intention of trying to make sense of the incorrect/corrected letters. That is purely based on the comments here. If stronger solvers than me found it a struggle then my life surely is too short!!

Please could someone help with finding the corrections in 20a and 25a. Despite the hint about which word is changed in 20a I am still not getting it!