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Dryden, the fourth word of the 6 word instruction is necessary - the paired clues are altered in length after interchanging one word in each. Regarding the alternative method of filling the quadrant, I luckily guessed (from 42 clues and 36 cells) which 6 clues to omit. For me this was easily the best Listener so far this year; many thanks to Shark.

Ok, thanks guys (esp. you Unclued).

I was having a dreadful mental block (a type/token confusion re. the representation of the initial letters in the NW quad).

Thanks, DorsetJan, for pointing that out. I'd forgotten that, or rather hadn't really noticed since I didn't write the exchanges into my set of clues, merely underlined them and noted the partners.

Sorry if this repeats, I may have hit the wrong button! If it is any consolation to fellow sufferers I have completed everything up to the end of the first instruction, had great fun doing so and found some new words. But I am now completely at a loss to know where to start inserting instruction two or its variant. One across can surely be one of seven words but I cannot see how to get even the first vowel in place! And no cricket to take my mind off it! Hey Ho.

Notrab, in theory there are 7 new possibilities for 1 across, but three can be discounted because they have a letter that doesn't begin any of the original clued entries. The first of the "original paired clues" gives you the first letter of the new 1 across (looking at the most likely place in the clue) and this will give you the whole word since only one of your 7 options begins with it. You then have to look closely at the following clues to see how you can get the remaining letters of the word following a systematic sequence.
Take the clues in clue order ignoring the 6 special ones. My mistake was to assume that I had to follow 10ac with its partnered clue, which is why I saw nothing for ages.

Thanks Dryden. I had made exactly the same mistake as you did and was only looking at paired clues and entries. Took your advice and it just whizzed through. I do not know if there are accepted protocols for using Crossword Solver but I certainly would not submit a completed entry where I had received any help. This is the best one I have ever completed so thanks again.

Thanks to all the help here I have a full grid but I am puzzled about how to implement the third instruction. Are the eight letters to be rearranged those common to the 2 versions of the NW quadrant or the SE quadrant or is it some other combination? Many thanks for any hints.

Look for letters that do not change position.

I have a completed grid and instructions etc. Can't workout what the first five words regarding NW quadrant actually means. Any hint would be appreciated.
Ray.

Give it a twist and move it to another quadrant.