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Am I the only person who ever gets into difficulty with RT puzzles?
Can't help but notice that I am often the first (and mostly only) person calling for help!

This one, I have the answer for but if someone can, please explain why.

12a Number found at an operation (12)
?N?E?T???I?T - the answer is obviously ANAESTHETIST - but why?

he or she does the "numbing"!

Number here is an agent noun. A person who numbs might be considered as a “number”.

Oh my! Of course! Yet again I show what an idiot I am in public!
Thank you ChrisE

Thank you Jono - hopefully, this is helping me to become a more divergent thinker.
And the other thing I've learned (though I had to look it up) is what an agent noun is. Or rather what it is, there is a name for. Go figure!