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Cockie, the first three letters of 2d mean "increases" and the second three mean "dangerous". I'm still finding 12a and 17a opaque. I can see what the first four letters of 9d should be from hints but don't see how it can be the past tense of that verb as it would need another letter. I can see what the meaning of 18 down is but not its form.

barretter, 61 above should lead you to 17A - it's a containment clue. And in 9D the S is not in the answer but is needed to give the "mugged".

Thanks for that. Got all the answers now bar 17A even though I know the French for all. As the answer crosses the central column can I presume it is eight letters long?

Ah, got it now. I was using the wrong definition. The only two problems I have now are how to enter 4A (are all the letters used?) ; and what the puzzle means!

Cockie: my assumption is that the preamble wouldn't say that 'lengths in brackets refer to grid entries' unless the first possibility was the one intended. This means that (if I'm right) a completed grid won't show evidence that the solver has actually worked everything out - but I think that risk has been minimised by Sabre by making it necessary to perform a substitution on one of the letters that won't then appear. Devilish cunning is at work here!

On the other hand (so to speak), if that substitution is meant to appear in the grid, then the second possibility may well be correct. But then the unclued entry wouldn't 'illustrate the cause of the coincidence', which in the two examples requires absolute precision. If my entry is disallowed because I've chosen wrongly I shall be hopping mad.

Finally, if you don't work out what the letter pairs are telling you, how will you be able to carry out all the substitutions correctly?

I normally really enjoy Sabre but not this time as I have no idea what is going on! For instance, how should I enter 'ACANTH'? We are told to change one letter but the C and A match down answers, the A and N are unchecked and the TH goes somehow in the central column. So, what changes?

I'm nearly there!
My advice (for what it's worth) is to look carefully at the two phrases created by the unclued central column. Then to do what Ionacarr has suggested and write out the pairs of letters in the down answers whenever they occur. Then pick the member of each pair where you see words forming (connected with the theme). Remember to look out for some unexpected letters in a few answers that have to be there to make the required words. You are looking for two phrases linked with the theme - use each member of the pair separately - not as a "double".
Even though I don't send in the solution to the Listener I'm going to print another grid in case my choice of letters goes wrong!
The great thing about these crosswords is that they can be a bit like climbing Everest but it's a wonderful sense of achievement when you get there.

Well,yes but I haven't got the phrases yet. For example, using 'ACANTH' do the letters 'TH' go into the cell in the central column or only one of the two. There is no indication in the preamble what to do with the extra letters in some of the across clues. Any help gratefully received.

Hi Jamesa,

Put both letters in the central column to begin with ...you will have to decide which is the most appropriate letter to remain as only one can be 'seen' in the completed puzzle.

What a lot of contributions! I am stuck with 4ac. Tried lots of words but not convinced. Pretty sure of BR--U---s. 8d might begin with o. Still stuck with 12 (starts with g?) 34 r--sick-v and 25 --dd-. Any help gratefully received.