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Gentle relief after last week. Many delightful clues and an unambiguous finish from a consistently good setter.

Nowhere near as difficult as last weeks gruelling beast - but nice clues and not too much aimless grid staring. I was a little perplexed by the extra letters until I saw the second instance of the phrase in the poem.

Solved all the clues, filled the grid, found the poem and author: now for the end game!

Got it now!

Filled the grid -staring stupidly.

Woodlouse, by looking around the grid to identify a white protagonist, I stumbled upon the cells that needed changed. One of the protagonists lies diagonally.

35a Dabble covering of soft material (7)

Just registered but long been grateful for the help of the forum contributions. Delighted to have finished this one on my own though.

xwordfan - Most of the answer is a synonym for "material", "dabble" being the definition.

Extra letter is wordplay.

1a. Violent computer game - prediction of result gets unruly team excited (8)

10.Tall tree ferns fool in NZ planted in settlements(6)

Thanks.

I'm stuck on 35a too although i do have S???TER with a possible A for the 3rd letter

also stuck on:
37a Like a former procuress, gradually acquiring gold for government (6) ?U???Y

I have most of the other answers but can't parse some properly , hence missing the extra letters in 24d (arede) and 40a (elastane)