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The four-legged friend could be there, if you were prepared to sacrifice the shortest of the other group.

Nice puzzle. Despite the earlier post, I'm still missing the unchecked letter in 20 across.

Mack, for 20a look in Bradford's under "Ox". You'll find the whole word and will be able to deduce the unchecked letter.

I have all the thematic stuff, but don't have 17d or 32d. Any help welcome so I can move on!

Lumen

17D wordplay is 4-letter 'party', with an abbreviation for number inside It's a misprint..
32D wordplay is the name of a star (4-letters) {in the constellation Cetus} with a single letter 'unknown' inside. It's a jumble.

Thanks, Will37. Unfortunately I do not have Bradford's, so I'll just keep mulling it over.

Hi Mack

Re 20A, definition is first word. Wordplay is 5-letter "winds" reversed with a 3-letter dialect word for "box" inside. If you have all the crossers, then the first four should give you a good idea what winds we're talking about.

Thanks jbird at #45.
Got 32d quickly from your hint. (Tough one!)
But not 17d, after hours of thinking. Can't see the party, with the crossers I have. I think I need to put an F into the definition but no idea how. Don't have 16a either.

Lumen
17D Party is a verb, Aussie slang. The misprint impacts 'six'.
16A First word is definition. 3-letter 'ridicule' inside 5-letter 'series of notes' shortened.

Thanks, Twit. All clear now. I was fixated on a synonym of country.