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Bunty, we crossed....

Bunty, 12a is an obscure word (for me). A Jamaican drink reversed followed by where ancient Romans fought, missing an R.

I wonder about 11a. It says (4) letters but there are (6). I can think of two words (4 and 6) that are creatures a character in the opera changes into but the wordplay doesn't work for me at all (as in a few other clues).

Orson, you're right about the thematic element to 11 A (and another). If you solve the clue as 4 letters, it works, but that's not what you enter. There's another similar, connected clue. Your 4 and 6 stuff should help...

Like Orson I can’t see why the 4 or 6 letter discrepancy is not mentioned in the preamble but ain’t often miss something crucial.
I’m still stuck on 11a and 8d
11a: even though old American has source of love, bloke has lost heart
8d:
Work in currency exchange moving slowly after dismissing a harried director (4)

Missed your post Malone. Thank you.

Jogamel, the clue answer to 11 A is an old word for 'even though'. The discrepancy didn't need specifically mentioned, the preamble alludes to it!

8 D. A six-letter musical notation, instruction, loses a couple of letters (dismissing...) to become a word meaning 'work in currency exchange'.

Jogamel, for 11a, assuming you've found the opera, find out what he changes into.

8d, "harried" is an extra word, a word for a slow movement in music without A and D, meaning currency work.

Jogamel, glad I could help with 11 and 8. I hope you're well on your way now!

I am still struggling with another 4 clues but will work on them myself for a while. BUT I may have to plead again later...
Thank you all for continuing encouragement...

Jogamel, I probably couldn't help with the parsing of all of the clues, but I got this all completed. Come back if you need or want to!