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AAha! Thank you.
I think that I'd have been a long time working that out...and then perhaps not successful!

13a...A conspirator twisted at first, seeking plant....A?B?T??.
Is this ARBUTUS ? I can't quite see how this fits in.
Also.
8d....Joint where tenor almost swallows piano.....?A?P??. CARPAL

Not quite CARPAL - think of a very famous tenor from times past.
ARBUTUS - BRUTUS was a conspirator in Julius Caesar, twisted to RBUTUS

Thanks chrise. I can only think of CARUSO.
Unless its CALLAS but she wasn't a tenor !
I think I might have got 12a wrong
( 1 acrosses border river in places )....is acrosses a real word ?
Also I am struggling with 5d...1 across gets to stitch up monarch...W?S??.

CARUSO is the tenor you want, but incomplete.
I'll have to go and find the crossword before I can comment on the others - I've forgotten them.

5d Weser - river..SEW (stitch up)ER (monarch)

"1 acrosses" just means "plural 1 across"
5d think Hamelin and the Pied Piper.

Got it...CARPUS ! I have put PRIMROSES in for 12a, but I'm not sure why other than they are flowers, which is one of this weeks themes. So if that is correct, than 5d is still a mystery.

border RIM river R in POSES for places

Thanks chrise...got the German river at last.
This pesky crossword is the hardest one that the Guardian has put out for quite a while.
Come back Auracaria...all is forgotten !