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Just finished, thanks to gitto with the pet info.

A bit of a slog but I came back to it as it took my mind off cursing the lovely individual who left false details at the scene of our collision, his fault totally. Luckily I took photos.

Thanks for that; I've got the first and the third of the three items on that basis, but the middle letter (of 7 letters if I'm OK with the others) is driving me nuts; any hint welcome!

It's in Bradfords greengage, but with 'ic' on the end.

Starts AP and ends T.

Many thanks planks, unclued, that should do it!

For anyone sending in an entry I would say that the thematic cell would need a vertical and horizontal bar through it dividing off the four letters.

Unclued, why on earth would it be necessary to do that? There is nothing in the preamble asking solvers to take some further action. It wouldn't even be thematically appropriate unless what we are viewing is a telescopic sight.

Murky, putting the bars across and down the cell marks the start and end of the 8 answers.They are all in the correct order according to the list of clues. Without the bars there is no definite end or start point for these answers. It’s just my opinion but would be pleased to hear what others think.

Four letters are reduced in one case, and the same four letters are enlarged in the other. That's all there is to the theme. In the past when solvers have been required to separate letters crammed into one cell by inserting bars, that has been stated, as with jago's puzzle at the end of 2017. If the setters expected additional barring that should (and I think would) have been stated since it's not implicit in the theme per se.

Finally completed the puzzle after a great deal of effort. Still have a question about one clue:

Upset mother holds head of maimed duck.

Shouldn’t it be:

Upset other holds head of maimed duck.

The extra letter has to be L

Any feedback would be much appreciated