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Well, OK, it's taken me until just now (and a LOT of help from this fabulous forum) to get to the end, Yes, it's terribly clever. Yes, the clues were a long way across the border from obscure, which meant even the easy ones like 30, my last in, suffered from being assumed to be tougher than they were.
There were ambiguities in the added/subtracted letters which meant reverse engineering from the phrases. Not good, I think.
And the finished grid was a chaotic alphabet soup (admittedly I haven't tried writing it out in "neat": I'm not entering) which was not particularly pleasing on the eye.
Full marks for challenge and ingenuity.
Not much more than nul points for aesthetics.

Worthy, parhaps, of being awarded the Z-cup, or are we not doing that over here?

Wow, those were the days! I've been off the Listener for ages before lockdown, and am developing a taste for the things again - and arriving at the occasional hmm!

This is a toughie! Despite all the help on this site (for which many thanks to all) I still cannot finish this puzzle. I have ideas for solving most of the outstanding clues and I would be extremely grateful if some kind person could tell me whether I am on the right lines. I am not really looking for specific answers: I do not think that would be in the spirit of this forum.

I am afraid it is rather a long list and if nobody feels like responding I will fully understand.

1 across: I gather that the answer is ACE + a synonym for summons + S with N inserted somewhere.
9 across: not sure whether to omit IN or IS: I assume that SNACK is the definition and that the answer ends with E.
11 across: I gather that ASIAN MUSIC is the definition: MUSICIANS must therefore be deleted: stuck after that.
13 across: MIT must be omitted, but that is as far as I have got with this one.
20 across: I get LOLLS, but this has too many letters: I think it must be LOLS
23 across: I think ROYAL is the definition and I need a synonym for TOOK IN in ZA with L inserted somewhere
25 across: IOWA is omitted and I think TURTLE must be the definition, but that is all I have got.
27 across: O`FLAHERTY omitted: triple definition.
30 across: CENTIMETRE omitted, then a word for crack containing two L`s with one of them omitted.
33 across: not sure whether to omit AWARE or AFFECTING: I assume the answer ends with L.
44 across: ADVERTISE to be omitted, but that is all I have got.
1 down: I assume that FISH is the definition and the answer is S + a synonym of BATTERED.
4 down: not sure whether to omit TITANS or TRACKS, but that is all I have got.
7 down: ENDS omitted: I gather that DEFECT IN US is the definition and the answer is a synonym for REP in a synonym for HOSTILE WORDS.
28 down: ECSTATIC to be omitted, but that is all I have got.

Opto

1 not ACE
9 ok
11 yes
13 ok
20. nearly right
23 ok
25 ok
27 ok
30 ok
33 ok
44 ok
1 no - battered is anagrind
4 ok
7 just R for rep
28 ok

Best of luck!

Many thanks Rad. It is exceptionally kind of you to go to all that trouble.

All done, but nobody, as far as I can see, has queried 16ac, which makes me think I must have it wrong, or be very stupid. I have an 'a' as the final letter, for which I can see no justification in the clue. I await proof of my stupidity.

Hi Portmantony,

This one was beyond me but 16a was one of only a handful of clues I was able to solve (minus the extra letter)..

"A" from the clue + 3 letter synonym for "dress" (as a verb) inside two letter for Ukraine which makes it end in an A

definition is "stars" (northern constellation)

UA is the IVR for Ukraine. In Chambers

Re 23a. I have a word which seems to fit with L in 'took in' + ZA, not inside. Is this incorrect?