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Many thanks. Am I right in assuming the second pair of extra letters comes from shortening a name to create an element?

Yes, correct.

Done and dusted! Many thanks to all help offered. Still a couple I'm having difficulty parsing but nonetheless a completed grid.

Thanks ginge - definitely a 'brain-dead' moment ... had various possibilities including this but for some reason interpretted 'wanting' as addition to the front or back ... Doh

Thanks to Kirsanov for leading me back to a source that I remember enjoying - along with other associated material - in my teens (although the originals were from several decades previously). Some tricky and very clever clues that were worthy of the Encyclopedia - 18a and 10d I thought were excellent and raised a laugh when I finally “got” them.

Playing catch up at the moment, but I just have to thank Kirsanov for a brilliant puzzle😊