Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

The first two letters give an earlier answer.

BRB *is* Chambers (Big Red Book)…

Apologies - as a relative newbie I learn something every day. For some reason I’d got it into my head that BRB referred to Bradford’s (also big and red).

Anyway, woke up this morning with the (fairly straightforward, actually) solution to the ‘event’ in my head. I’d already realised how to interpret the first two letters - just not solved the resultant clue. Still seems a bit of a redundant side mission as it hadn’t prevented me from completing the overall puzzle. But nice to put it to bed.

Barney, there's no need to apologise. The internal state of mind I reach trying to solve these damn things sometimes makes the day of the week, or my name, feel nicely redundant. That's why I like them. Sleep is comparable only to asking for a hint here in producing the most surprising, effortless insights.

I only have to carry out the final step ("complete 40 as 41") to finish this puzzle. However, I am at a disadvantage as I cannot read or write the language of 41. We are told to "complete" 40, which I take to mean that we have to retain the entries from the crossing down answers and insert 3 41's in the empty cells. I would be most grateful if some kind soul could confirm that this is what is required.

Opto, that’s what I did (after being encouraged here to read the preamble properly!) There is a final wrinkle in that one of the new entries has to use the system in the circled cells and the entry is not that most commonly used nowadays.

0pt0, I think what you are saying is correct. The entry at 41 is English. The entry at 40 is what is used in English-speaking countries, except, as Jack Aubrey says, the last of the 3 cells to be filled uses the circled system. The resulting asterisked word refers to the event. The English word to describe the entry at 40 is almost identical to the location of the event. No knowledge of foreign languages is needed.

As it is Thursday, I'd say people are being a bit mean not to say the word revealed from starred cells has five not four letters!

Id say that that the word in 41 suggests how to write 40... Then you have to have followed the instruction related to II to change the letters on the diagonal to reveal the finisher...

Only then do the circled letters reveal the system that tells you how to change the last letter of 40 two letters which makes the starred cells make sense. You'll have to google the circled system to find what to change the last cell in 40 to... Unless you guess

Virtually there,I hope I'm not asking too much,but does the final grid end up with a lot of non words

Mostly, entries are real words. The exceptions are 4, 23 and 25 down which are entered jumbled and 40 across which is a sequence of 41.