Here’s the Solutions grid
There were three Mayday messages in the puzzle.
The first one is colored in Yellow and it runs all around the periphery of the puzzle. It reads “DOT DOT DOT DASH DASH DASH DOT DOT DOT”. It’s the Morse code for “SOS”
The second message is colored in red in the center of the grid. It reads “HELP”
The third Nina was not in the solution grid but hidden in the clues. The clue for 7D has “…- – -…” embedded in it.
Here are the Annotations:
Across: 9 DD, 10 ROTA< around VIA, 11 TUNA*, 12 ODD IT IE S, 13 CD, 14 D I Gs, 15 INSPECTor, 18 DOSA*, 22 (ARCHER TT)*, 24 EMI RATE, 25 POST* GA P, 26 LEOp(T)ARDS, 28 OS LO, 31 E S CAPED, 35 HAS* H, 36 DU RATION, 37 (HEDTROOP)*, 38 TIN E, 39 (A N MALE)* around U, 40 COD A.
Down: 1 DD,CD, 2 OR BITS, 3 THAI* around IT, 4 DIE SIS, 5 TOES* around IO, 6 TRUE ST, 7 MD, 8 CD,DD, 16 TRANCES*, 17 COM PERE, 19 ROUTE*, 20 R ASPS, 21 emIRATE, 23 TOT AL, 27 DIAMOND S, 29 STUD IO, 30 O(RAT)ED, 31 E(JAIL*)H, 32 (NUTCASES-TA)*, 33 INAPT* A, 34 DI(ET)ED, 35 SM OO CH.
Here’s the link to the “Hall of Fame”
Thanks to “The Oracle” for this enjoyable puzzle and to all of you who participated.