Smooth out hurtful, singular bits of paper (5,8)

I believe the answer is:

press cuttings

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'bits of paper' is the definition.
I don't know anything about this answer so I cannot judge whether this works.

'smooth out hurtful singular' is the wordplay.
'smooth' becomes 'press' (I've seen this before).
'out hurtful' becomes 'cutting' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'out' bit.).
'singular' becomes 's' (abbreviation sometimes used in dictionaries).
'press'+'cutting'+'s'='PRESS-CUTTINGS'

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I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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