Unusually cruel set of criticisms (8)

I believe the answer is:

lectures

'criticisms' is the definition.
(lecture is a kind of criticism)

'unusually cruel set' is the wordplay.
'unusually' indicates anagramming the letters.
'cruel'+'set'='cruelset'
'cruelset' with letters rearranged gives 'LECTURES'.

'of' is the link.

(Another definition for lectures that I've seen is " Discourses".)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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