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Hi Murky - I can confirm that the two 8 letter down entries do not intersect with any of the 5 letter across entries. Judging from the frustration of others I'm more and more coming to the conclusion that I got very lucky with my initial placing of entries as the puzzle pretty much fell apart for me. I'd also agree that some of the clues and misprints were exceptionally difficult and on occasion deliberately misleading (ref Meursault's earlier supposition about the goddess from Rome which I too initially fell for). Even though I got lucky it still took me many more hours than normal.

It’s an extremely tough puzzle, for the reasons murky outlines, but it is perfectly soluble, with a neat and unambiguous finish, and I found it a terrific challenge. Just as the Listener ought to be. If you want easy crosswords to knock off in an hour, leave this one alone. Having read the thread, the suggestions given by s_pugh give anyone struggling to make a start on the grid more than enough information to do so. Don’t be so modest, s_pugh. You clearly have a flair for carte blanche

I was reflecting that there was nothing wrong with SPugh's modesty. It is clearly genuine. TBH I phoned a friend who told me where the 12 letter words go. That arrangement is one of over 100 equally plausible possibilities. So it is 'lucky' to try the actual solution early.

I agree that there are very many possible and plausible ways to place the 12-letter words.
I think I may have at last found the right way. Please could someone tell me the down clue whose G intersects the G of VYING?

OWING = Due

Thank you Oniscus

Bananabean, I have 3 down answers with G, Goes, Grainage and Isogon.

I read what Murky posted with interest. Previously I've found carte blanche grids not too much trouble. There are various techniques, for example looking for intersections of lesser used letters, matching up total lengths of pairs of answers, etc. None have assisted me here. If that is deliberate by the setter, then you have to say, "Well done", for staying ahead of the game. But the other side of the coin is that the puzzle becomes a bore until by brute force eventually the configuration is chanced upon.

Unclued, do you have something to go on with columns 5 & 9 ? In that case would Pyrotechnist be column 5 ? I can't see how it would work the other way around...

I only see 36 possible arrangements of the two 12 letter words, some much more natural than others. But maybe I am thick. And I was merely congratulating s_pugh, woodlouse. It’s nice to see someone else solve the puzzle unaided, and I think he deserves kudos for that

Is the 8-letter across word ending in T higher in the grid than the one ending in E?

Is the 8-letter across word ending in T further left in the grid than the one ending in E?

There are still so many possibilities or am I making this harder than it really is?

s_pugh's very helpful guidance got me to a completed grid (and a very satisfying PDM) - but was it worth the ten or so hours? Probably not. However I'm confused by the highlighting instruction. I can find one other representation of the theme (2 words, 9 cells). Is there another?

Am I alone in hating this "I'm not a robot crap"? Anyone my age with less than 20/20 vision has a real problem.