Annus Mirabilis by Phylax

The letters entered in the eight circled cells (read from top to bottom, left to right) must be interpreted and the answer written below the grid. These letters must then be changed appropriately and twelve entries highlighted. The Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended.

Across
    1    Lover losing head and firing off anonymous mail (6)
    6    Antelope, male and female, mostly entering water (7)
    11    Reckon Del and Rodney initially argue about van? Quite the opposite (9)
    12    Lucerne's advance led by two narrow-minded bigots like me (3)
    13    Rent wasted - I moved just ahead of time (5)
    14    Damned short trousers beginning to shrink (5)
    15    Limits surrounding car's rear indicators (6)
    16    Recalled rarely spending day bottling soft, dark syrup (8)
    18    Solitary East-ender perhaps knocking fellow out (5)
    19    PC with a lot of pills 'liberating' fifty (5)
    22    King's left naked - we just can't stop looking (7)
    24    Service one returns from a long way off (4)
    25    Against holding essentially irreverent spelling bee? (5)
    26    Signal with one foot (4)
    28    Special place being lined with electronic organs (7)
    31    Walker largely whistled African music (5)
    32    Low village, deserted? Drive past it (5)
    33    Right away, Garfunkel's backing his partner in classic song (8)
    36    Stage in motor sport (6)
    38    Bats are ill - no end of fur in the gut (5)
    39    Cream cake's last piece low in calories (5)
    40    Look lively, ignoring cold (3)
    41    Less strict about singular sort of party - that livens things up (9)
    42    Elizabethan places on high ground sink, see? (7)
    43    Reptile emitting nasty smell, fish vacated lake (6)

Down
    2    Corded material covering carpeting (7)
    3    Mum's going to shopping centre (4)
    4    Some say I romanticize about Indian language (5)
    5    Correctional canes lacking iron? They could get broken (5)
    6    Dull five-day cricket match, cut for cinematic screens (6)
    7    Stopped to relax with case of Australian wine (8)
    8    Charge extra following Britain's exit (4)
    9    Overcoat left in concourse having marks removed (6)
    10    Accepted person maintaining machinery throwing it out subsequently (5)
    12    Expert spinners, each one busy near nets (7)
    13    South American boys principally like dances (6)
    17    Criminal eyes guards around bullion (5)
    18    Becomes soft and weak for Will - propositions striking prince, taking Kate’s lead (5)
    20    Times contains exclusively drivel (7)
    21    Plot to trick father, seizing power (8)
    23    Lady Chatterley, perhaps, wanting to learn neglected position (6)
    27    Hate abandoning husband in Florida where roughnecks hang out? (7)
    29    Irish swimmer to sleep upside-down, having swallowed over two litres (6)
    30    Cornish town is suffocating for some (6)
    32    Month in France, covering for rogue official there (5)
    34    Worry that boomerangs threaten bears (5)
    35    One given Ecstasy brought in by dealer's drone (5)
    36    Big cash prize, apart from lifting top honour (4)
    37    Intimate game for teams of 12 without clothing (4)

To enter this competition, send your entry as an image or in list format describing the highlighted entries, to ccpuzzles@talktalk.net before 8^th March 2024. The first correct entry drawn from the hat will receive a book from the Chambers range, which has been donated by Chambers.