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The title is also relevant to the last part of the endgame; but that is something probably better “recollected in tranquility” than regarded as a hint.

Thanks Jack Aubrey, Mack and n00b26: I shall give it another go.

I believe I may have completed this puzzle, but my solution requires one cell to contain more than one letter. Is this what others have?

I hope this does not contravene the rules of this site.

Yes.

Thanks Jack.

Not my cup of tea this ond. As a non musical person, these musical ones are always a right pain. Too much of the grid was thematic in my view, which meant grinding out the rest was a bit of a nightmare, for me anyway.

I can't parse 10d, and the rest of the first 7 down letters make no sense to me (not helped by two possible extra letters for 8). Do I need to know the 2,5,5 - I assume the event is the one which this is an anniversary of?

I've done everything else, but I have no idea what's going on with the bottom row. Is the venue LS in M?

Figured it out now. Would appreciate someone explaining the wordplay in 10 and giving a hint as to what the 2,5,5 is all about

Thanks

10d It's an Italian number (3) around 'a' and the extra letter + abbreviation for 'new' + the French word for 'spirit', or rather 'soul', which is the definition in Chambers.

The venue you identified is correct, but I think the second '5' refers not to 'M' but to the specific event, which is revealed by the asterisks in 40a. As I think you have figured out, the translation of the 'S' gives the entry for 40a.

The 2,5,5 is derived from the letters generated by the down clues. The first 2 letters (IV) refer to the name of IV of the across clues 29+39. It's enclosed in an anagram [mad] of s[oprano] trials, giving the 2,5,5 referred to in the preamble

Thanks Will, that's very helpful. I was wondering where IV fitted in to everything.