The seventeen entries with definition-only clues are to be treated according to a symmetrically disposed theme which has to be highlighted. Other clues are normal; all enumerations are of entry lengths.
Across
1 Bothers about losing, initially, eight pounds (6)
7 Help senior NCO when cutting hair (6, two words)
11 Wallop maker (10, hyphened)
13 A salt (5)
14 One fetching (5)
15 It, beer, runs over slacks (7)
17 Recess (7)
18 One races by whichever French province (6)
19 The beginning (4)
22 E.g. Co-op (6, two words)
24 Checking in, and again, interrupting Queen briefly (9, two words)
25 Thumbs-ups about Queen Elizabeth’s tunes? (5)
26 Remove, e.g., foil section of lunar module (5)
28 Nearly-new turbine unstable – it’s blown up (9 two words)
30 Garment (6)
33 Reversed cross hatch, say (4)
36 Carefully tilts, moving ring to the end (6, two words)
39 Language of litigant discharging a criminal (7)
40 Bound dictionary half-ruined internally (7)
41 UK city guides delivered through headphones (5)
42 Stop at sea (5, two words)
43 Frustrate man about performance (10)
44 Contribute towards entering engagement (6)
45 They may show disapproval (6)
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