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I've been well and truly brought up short with this one. Cracked The Listener and Inquisitor this weekend but can't get on Ifor's wavelength this time.

A hint for 22a 'Satirical plays ignoring start of medical treatment' and/or 40a 'Systematic groups chasing game, with many sat around outside' might break the current impasse.

I've tried anagrams galore thinking 'plays' might be an indicator and have several letters for both but the preamble means they're unreliable.

Thanks.

It is an anagram of the first word in the clue (minus its start); remember the answer is not in Chambers.

40, def is 1st 2 words, a game (that involves chasing) inside an anagram of MANY SAT

Cheers Buddy. That's a doh! from me then on the 'not in Chambers' point. Note to self: Must read preambles carefully.

Got 40 too. 👍

That certainly unlocked things! The replacement of half the down clues revealed itself and everything fell into place.

The last to yield were 21d 'Cap on information......whales' food' and 'Democratic party....polls'.

Once the first 3 moving letters were revealed the rest were readily inferred and found. Took a little while to identify the 22 letters but that was because I got distracted by other, related, things from the subject - again. 😊 Perfect for this type of crossword and very enjoyable once I got going again.

I'll definitely be doing the EV again - particularly on weekends when The Listener is mathematical!

Thanks again!

I've got a completed grid and surname (I recently gave a friend a calendar of his works as a present) but, before I go in search of the 22 cells, can I get a couple of parses (please don't let them be anagrams, I don't think I could take it! 😢)

25d - Leader of snare drums in bands (6)

My (original) answer is "bands" but, if the first letter is "leader of S(nare), then how does the rest come from "drums"? The middle 4 letters are actually a synonym of a type of "snare" but, if that's what meant, then how would the outside letters come from "drums"?

34d - Waterproof deck with onset of rain falling (4)

My (original) answer is a shortened version of 9 letter "waterproof" material, but the wordplay seems to suggest a word for "deck" has an R(ain) moved down/falling one place but if I move the R up one place in my original answer I, coincidentally, get the same word as in the middle 4 letters of the original 25d - which doesn't mean "deck"

Hi Bren,
you need to look again at the entries for ¹ & ⁴ in Chambers.

Hi Brendan, a slang word for drums fits 25d. Can't remember how I resolved 34...I'll have another look.

Oh yes...34d as in halls/holly. 😊

Okay, thanks guys, I've just now seen that definition of "drums" - no idea how I missed it the 436 times I looked 🤬

34d - Holly? Now I'm more confused than ever! Are we saying that trap means the same as deck?

If you look up the 4th meaning of trap, as a transitive verb, you should find something good enough