Inquisitor 137 No Yens by Schadenfreude

[Speravi]

Congratulations to anyone who has finished this. It's tough, much more difficult than anything the Listener series has had to offer this year. I have six entries to make, with 22ac being the most puzzling - any help would be appreciated.

For anyone struggling with this, my strategy was, firstly, to identify the 20 clues with the extra word - their grid lengths match the bracketed numbers. That could lead to enough of the quotation to be helpful. Secondly, I tried the non-asterisked remaining clues. This confirmed the theme. I left the asterisked clues until last. Bradford was of limited help. Some of the thematic material in its untreated form was pretty recondite to me. Good luck with it, and I doff my hat to Schadenfreude - the construction is superbly elegant.

[Rapparee]

This is an angram of chore inside a three letter bird followed by a two letter abbreviation for unserviceable (ie not working).

[nigel2]

Thanks - have just found it. Also not convinced about the answer to 7 down - the entry seems obvious but the thematic item difficult to determine!

[Rapparee]

A bit obscure this one. I came up with Francesco Bernia (anag BRAIN + E). He was an Italian of the 16th century and also known as Berni. The name fitted so I went with it!

[nigel2]

Very obscure - not listed among poets I've seen but thanks for the tip!