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Hi Freddycat,
Your letters look good
20a Defn is ‘number two’ as might be found in an organisation. Check is the abbreviation for this in chess, followed by six letter word for pilot.
16d Three letter abbr for ‘what have you...’ then a six letter word for ‘stuff’ minus the first letter.

Hi freddycat
20 is 4,8, but is constructed as 4,2,6. Definition is "Number two" as second in command.
16 3 letters for "and so on", then a word for "stuff" (noun) with the first letter removed. Would you like to come up and see my artwork?

Thanks Chrise and jono - all has now clicked perfectly into place.

So I'm afraid I'm still struggling with 17a despite the hints, which others have clearly felt helpful. There aren't too many words that could fit with the crossers but...I'm clearly missing something fairly obvious. Any more help for me?

Hi Grum,
17a Two letter self reference and one letter for crossword initially both reversed (about), followed by 5 letter word for enter. Think bricks?

Got it, Jono- of course! Thank you. I did consider this word but couldn't make it parse. Btw, perhaps given a bit too much away there? I think you meant to write 'submit'.

I've done that so many times myself - you're thinking about the clue and answer in your head and then you put in the answer rather than the word from the clue - it's so easily done.

Schoolboy error, knuckles duly rapped 😬

That was a really good one I thought. And I even managed to do it f2f with my dad despite the weather in the UK!

Took us an age to get 12,6 even having all the letters

Thanks as always for the tips, although we actually didn't need as many as usual - so maybe we're getting better, or, doing it on a Sunday afternoon with a couple of beers is better for inspiration 😁

I think you and Dad might have hit on something there, Roundy 😜