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19a Wordplay with change of heart from what Boatman essentially wants P?N
---so PUN changes to PAN/PEN/PIN/PON or what,& why?!

The Boatman who springs to mind is the one who ferries the dead across the Styx, who needs PENce to do so, but what about the "ce"? Also there are several authors called Boatman. Interesting to see what others come up with

rosalind is probably right BUT there is a scandinavian tradition of putting a penny in the coffin......a penny for the boatman they call it.

So the answer could be PUN itself?

Pennies used to be put on the eyes of the dead, either to keep them closed or pay the Boatman, or both

9ac Simple task for topline poet, beginning to invoke Nora Batty (9)
(Topline appears several times and mostly seems to refer to the preamble - A CENTENARY PUZZLE)
OPERATION is a task, and an anagram of poet + I (from invoke) + nora, but why simple, and what relevance to centenary?

P*N - possibly a reference to A Singer from the Sea by Barr?

@ Glassy: sorry, don't get your allusion. Can you explain what the solution might be, and why?

Operation/relevance to Centenary - Today is Alan Turing's 100th birthday - operation is a computing term.

Thanks, miketheleg - Alan Turing and Turing Machine both feature in the crossword, so I should have seen that.