Joking and dieting without hesitation (9)

I believe the answer is:

bantering

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'joking' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'dieting without hesitation' is the wordplay.
'dieting' becomes 'banting' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'without' indicates putting letters inside ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'hesitation' becomes 'er' (sound used when hesitating).
'banting' placed around 'er' is 'BANTERING'.

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for bantering that I've seen is " using a jokey tone".)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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