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I'm assuming you have the correct symbol, saoralba and not what's given in the preamble as an example (which represents 3 letters, not 2 - it's just your mention of a 'silent' letter that makes me wonder...).

Ah yes, I see what you mean. I had begun by assuming that 18a required the abbreviation typically found in text-speak, leaving the final letter as 'silent'. From there I made the unthinking assumption that there was something wrong with 11d. Which there isn't, once the correct symbol is used. Funny how these fixed notions obscure comprehension.

I'm still battling away with this, between traipsing round empty shops and tackling the garden. Stuck on a few: 12ac (the entry of which will help me with 6dn), 15dn, 22dn. Any hints gratefully received!

Hi, gazzar, glad to read that you are persevering with the puzzle.

In 12ac, you are looking for an old-fashioned word for a popular green vegetable, the first three letters of which sound like the more common name for the vegetable. In the wordplay, “are” leads to the abbreviation for a metric measure of area, “very good” implies a two-letter interjection, and these are inside a term for a female swan, if the male swan is a hob.

In 15dn, CFS is chronic fatigue syndrome, which has an alternative name with a two-letter abbreviation. This is reversed and goes round the standard abbreviation for “lecturer”, giving a tree known for suffering from disease.

In 22dn, nudists have nothing on, so they can’t have ... The symbol is in the cell with number 22, but it symbolises a word with the same meaning as the word it symbolises in 21ac.

I’m just home from my last day at work until after Easter. I’m also going to have to tackle the garden!

Many thanks for your help wintonian. I'll have another go this evening. Good luck with your gardening!

I am pleased to have completed this one. This is a rare success for me. However I cannot parse 6 down or 4 down and is 8 down a name for the BBC? If so where does boast fit in?

Please don't be too hard on us members of the lower divisions. This thread is always a great comfort when I realise I am unlikely to complete and this does mean that the occasional answer is supplied. Perhaps late in the week so it doesn't detract form the discussion?

yes 8d V + the relative...use symbol for 1st three letters
4d more serious is the defn but it's also a tool in chambers use symbol for first 5 letters

Williamseal - 8D boast is definition, wordplay abbreviation for another word for against plus second word of two used for female adviser appearing in trashy magazines which does happen to be part of a name often used for BBC.
4D is doubler definition clue. If you have first 5 letters of 4A and make the word a comparative you should see it- I think you have the word anyway but look up definition and parsing will become clear
6D. if you agree you say "???" and put round that word a number

Many thanks to xwordfan and essira. I had 8 down wrong, but an excellent puzzle.

The intersection of 11d/18a puzzled me for a time too. Look at the two words written in full: they have a common letter-pair, and a symbol representing that pair goes in the intersection.