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THePost, the version I tracked down, from the Bible Society directly quoted the -Um word in its source.

Rather unexpectedly, my copy of ODQ hasn't got this one - thanks to St Lawrence for Google...

...it was a revelation.

I've been struggling mightily to make progress on this puzzle (my first of these) and I have about a dozen filled. My main previous cryptic experience is the Times Quick Cryptic and I try to solve those without resorting to a dictionary but I've found that to get anywhere here, I've been consulting the Chambers app extensively, including at times using the search function to find possible words that fit.

I know that there's no crossword police to enforce any kind of rule about this but is it generally considered acceptable to stoop to those kinds of tactics when solving the Listener? Even then I'm not sure I'll complete the grid in time. (It's intimidating to see this is widely considered an easier puzzle!)

Chrisremo - the Listener is a cut above most, and except for perhaps a handful of geniuses, solving absolutely requires the use of Chambers Dictionary (the BRB - Big Red Book), or more effectively the Chambers search apps based on it - and search engines like Google - in the case of the current Listener 4700 I'd say that the endgame would be impossible to solve without resorting to Google.

I agree that it's nice to try to solve cryptic puzzles completely unaided - but in the case of most Listeners those days are long gone -if they ever existed.

... and to reassure you, it does get easier with experience - when I began I used to abandon perhaps 50% of Listeners, completely baffled; but some decades later I'm finishing all but a very few maybe 95% or better; I guess one 'gets one's eye in' mentally. It certainly requires periods of intense concentration, and in my experience also periods of abstinence or of sleep, when obscure clues cook in the subconscious and suddenly pop out - the PDM or Penny Drop Moment- although this is usually used to refer to the Big Reveal, when the subject of the Theme suddenly dawns on one - Ahaaaa!!!

And all so relevant to the big bad world...

Chris - You have access to all the previous crosswords and you can find all their answers and parsing at ...

https://listenercrossword.com/List_Puzzles.html

It may be a useful exercise to wander through some previous clues and their grid entries to get a feel of what is going on.

Thanks much for the helpful replies, all. After a couple hours of often very slow progress, I've just solved the puzzle. I'm sure the endgame was less extraordinary to those of you who tackle the Listener often, but for me, having never solved a puzzle like this, I found it almost revelatory. I spent a while not really sure how to progress with the final word, then when I stumbled upon the solution, I couldn't believe it all worked. What an amazing feat of setting.

I must admit that, sadly, there is still a single cell that remains unfilled on my grid because I cannot disambiguate it between two possibilities. There was also a good handful of answers for whom the missing letter had to be back-filled via the quotation.

If someone would like to give me any nudges as to 13a, to help me fill that last cell, I would be very appreciative!

Answer removed by Admin, hints only please

JNordan, I know the puzzle is a few days old now, but Norah/Admin has always said that answers shouldn't be given here. And if someone has asked for a hint or a nudge, it seems a bit of a shame ....