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I have the 13 clashes but can't make any sense of them...tried anagrams of across letters or down letters in the clashes... so far only got "who"......

read them "obliquely" as per the preamble.

Fun, I thought. The PDM came with trying to figure out how to complete the unches in the thematic entries and was confirmed by the question and disturbance. Thank you, Cranberry.

As well as the bird I didn’t find either 27 or 32d in Chambers. 27 is in Collins and 32 is in a compilation of Ed’s coinages. (What would setters do without him? You could readily convince yourself that his entire oeuvre was created solely to help later generations resolve difficult letter combinations!)

Yep...sorted now, thanks.

Despite Son1ofrover1's hint at post 2 I'm still struggling with 5 down. I have the first 3 letters of an American word for a diner then ?HE. If the American word is right then the last 2 letters would produce clashes. That would then leave me with 14 rather than 13. I don't have a clash in the central column. As far as the thematic question is concerned I think I have the first word (3 letters) and the last (4 letters) but some of the clashes I have (e.g. the one in 32 down) don't fit with the words I'd expect in between. On the plus side I have the 4 13 letter entries. Back now to the drawing-board.

AP, the H is a clashing letter and there's only one in the answer. The thematic question isn't in 'proper' English - the middle two words are distinctly slangy!

Your H is incorrect in 5d. About is a single letter, not c, surrounded by a French word for floor. The remainder is the definition

... and AP, the word at 4 D is not American, it's in Chambers and is a seldom used term for 'the right to eat'.

Thank you Malone and Quisling. I had got too hung up on Americanisms for 5 down and I should have paid more attention to a very key word in the preamble.