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Thanks for that Dryden, somehow I managed to get everything correct by guesswork, but it is much more satisfying now I see how it works. I hadn't factored in numbers being involved - doh!

Thanks Dryden - I can't believe that I'd stared at it for a day or so thinking I needed an I to make an N from an E without considering that the I could actually be its numeric code value. Naturally I then spotted it immediately after my first post as invariably seems to happen. And of course the BRB definition of the full word confirms the clue wording perfectly.

Undoubtedly one of the most fiendishly clued Listeners I've ever encountered, incredibly tough yet utterly unambiguous.

Yes, this one was a bit beyond me really. I never would have got close without a lot of help from people on here.

. . and I still haven't quite finished.

I can't see the last of the 5 secret signs. I presume it's in row 2?

Demeter - not knowing which of the other 4 signs you have found - I guess the one you are missing is in row 3 and is needed to reveal the 2nd part of the Contest. It is a word not found in Chambers but is in Bradford's and is easily confirmed via Google

Thanks buzzb.

Yes, it is row 3 I'm missing. Still can't see it though :-(

Demeter it is a Scottish square sausage! It is in one of my copies of Chambers. Anyone help me with 12 down please?

MT49er - Bradford has the first part under 'Computer programs'. The redundant word in 38 is 'ass' which leads you to the last three letters. Definition is last two words.

MT49er, I've got DATELESS for 12 down, but can't explain the wordplay.

I think I must have a mistake with one of the downs in the top right corner, because I can't create that square sausage to give the second part of the Contest.

For row 3, I've got SNKYLOENRROE . Which of these is wrong?

I've almost given up several times since starting this yesterday - I'm grateful for all the hints on here but still can't see how I'll ever finish it.

For example, no idea how to parse 34 (though the answer's obvious and I assume the definition's in the first two words); likewise 15 (I have the answer and altered letter, so presumably the first two letters are the 'state').

Then there are the niggles: 19 is in Collins but not Chambers, yet this omission isn't mentioned in the preamble: shouldn't it be? And how can S----O in 29 be justified from the 'halved' word?

Demeter, I had the same trouble. In the end I found it listed in a Wikipedia page of names of the thematic word. Scroll down to UK, then Scottish. It's five letters long. Rather obscure, methinks.

Mt49er, I don't know whether you want help to get the answer or just to work out the addition. 'Old BT dial-up service' is a clue to the first five letters of the answer. a three-letter word needs adding to the clue after 'with' to give the last three letters of the answer, the definition being the last two words of the clue. This word is only one letter different from what has to be removed from the partner, 38d.