Each clue defines the full solution to which the letter-count refers. However, the cryptic wordplay leads to the grid entry, after one letter has been omitted each time it appears in the full solution. The omitted letters in clue order reveal a relevant timely phrase which solvers should include with their entry.
Across
1 Helped top-class lad (8)
4 150 sects accepting alternative maths aids (11)
10 Any reply sorted about church theft? (12, two words)
11 Eccentric fellow returns the French novel (7)
12 Sit astride stump (8)
14 Tooth-shaped, partly bent, oily (7)
15 Hired jeans regularly provide fabric (6)
16 Holes in English slab overturned (7)
22 Rock from joiner and his lad in Kent? (9)
23 Thou arranges — in extra brief? (8)
24 Dash under in France (5)
25 Silly laughs at firearms regularly (7)
27 He plays Risk battling Margaret endlessly (8)
29 Drummer for The Who and relatives having a moment working (9, two words)
32 SW choirs reviewed (7)
34 Apply pressure to broken hinge (7)
35 Cockney’s warmer cafe (6)
36 Mail guy ordered on isle (8)
37 Hang around holding Catholic, making a bow (7)
38 In the depths of Galway Wood, wandering (12, four words)
39 The French island supports cubs (11, two words)
40 Stick with novelist cycling (6)
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