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Sorry, what I meant was make that substitution in your “shoe factory” anagram. You should then see 26a. Apologies if I misunderstood you

It’s tempting- but incorrect - to have 28D start with an ‘F’.

If you try alternatives - or even a ? - Chambers will sort.

Thanks I can see what the big anagram must be now.
I expected 28d to be thematic in some way.

Got there at last with the big anagram. That’s a bit unnecessarily complicated. Great construction overall. I’m always impressed by the ones where changes leave real words or names

Confident in my solution, except that I don't understand the grid entry for 28D. And I can't find it in the Chambers app, contrary to guidance elsewhere in this thread.

Otherwise, this is an excellent puzzle.

It's an obsolete alternative spelling of the more conventional three-letter word.

I guess if, as in the preamble, it's a "clue", then some latitude can be given with the "answer'.

I also took note of the inverted commas so just presumed it was just unclued and no relevance to the theme. Either obsolete word or proper noun...

That was “hard but fair”. Thank you, Lath. It took a while for the penny to drop but provoked a large grin when it finally landed.

An enjoyable solve and clever endgame. I have 3 loose ends if anyone can help; the parsing of 38A; 25D and 41D. I have the answers and know what is being removed in each case but I just can't make the wordplay work. Thanks for any suggestions.

38a - 3-letter "vessel" + "sent" back(wards) + 1-letter abbreviation for "has"
25 d - 2-letter antiquated gambling game + 3-letter curse (less one letter)
41d - I'm not sure of the precise parsing of this one myself.