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Difficult to think of a further hint for 7 that wouldn't immediately give it away. "Bare necessities" perhaps?
5 is an unindicated abbreviated form of a food dish.

Got it! 🙏 now back to watching paint dry! Best wishes

I got the expression, but it hasn't helped me with the answer - Google tells me it was said by Winston Churchill.

The last 4 letters come from "better" (a bit loosely!), rather than the expression.

Think the homophone in 19,20 is awful!

I often complain, eagle, but this one made me laugh!

Hi everyone

I've struggled with this one, but finished all bar two or three.

22ac Appropriate name, Bambi, attached to delicate creature.
I have ?O?B?N???? I have a possible answer, but can't see why.

19,20 What's better than twice cited 4 , did you say? Better author (6,6)
I have ???R?E ???E?L

Are my crossers correct?

I will just google the homophone to see if that helps.

Thanks for the hints in the thread. A few have helped me make progress.

mathi @1

Unless my memory fails me, I don't see any reference to a punctuation mark. The solution to 22 contains the name of a punctuation mark, but it isn't clued as such (it refers to an insect sharing its name with the punctuation).
Is there another clue I might have missed?

roof, your B is wrong in 22 across.
For the second half of the solution, think of what animal Bambi is. It follows an abbreviated "name". The first half is... if you read my previous post, you'll get a hint.

Ah yes, I see it now. Had the answer eventually but couldn't parse it - cheers!