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jamesm, your answers EXACTLY reflect my thoughts!

I see Chambers has ((singular or plural) sign) for the character

Well I never! I have never, ever, heard it used as a singular in that context. Your Chambers must be a later edition than mine.

Any hints for 20 and 38 ac and 7 down. I presume all 3 have clashes.

Mullingar, I'm still parsing 20, but the definition is early in the clue. Familiar river.

38ac is a 3 'installed' in a wonky 4. I don't think it can be a clash.

7d is a 5 (kind of vessel(s) with a different starting letter) +1

Oops i meant 36across, not 38. Is the river in 20 Italian, or is it just one letter?

I also cant parse 12across. Is there a fabled Asian bird i should try znd track down?

12a. Yes, there's a fabled Asian bird
20a. The river is English, and not obscure.

Mullingar, the bird is a type of phoenix. The river is four letters in the north of England. Before that you have to reverse a group of whales

I was about to reply with 'not particularly Italian'.
Thank you for the whale nudge, Quisling.