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Also 16a if you remove the correct word that will resolve your problem

25a cockney birds (magazine) containing nudes centrally showing skin.
cockney birds = en eron from hen heron around middle of nudes
= enderon

Thank you so much gem94, s_pugh and gitto. What a wonderful help you all are. As I am pretty much a novice when it comes to The Listener Crossword, can you tell me if it is customary for there to be "clashes" without their being particularly mentioned in the beginning of the preamble? In this one "clashes" are mentioned in passing as if they were a foregone conclusion. Please forgive my ignorance
(and stupidity). Thank you.

The length of the preamble is very much determined by the space available in the newspaper version of the puzzle and usually has to be kept as short as possible, so you are not likely to get more than one mention of something!

Ah, I see it now. Thanks for the nudge with 11D, gem94.

Thank you, Krauton. I got the 'en but never thought of the 'eron !

Once solved, a brilliant puzzle, but I can’t say I really enjoyed it. The dénouement was fun, but the clue-solving was a bit of a grind. I’m still struggling to work out the significance of the title...

Thank you, gem94. I'll bear that in mind in future !

Brilliant puzzle. Are we just supposed to circle the omitted letters to give the phrase.
I didn’t like 7d. How does belt mean eat? Surely it should be bolt.

Xij, belt means beat