Didn’t get very far with this one at a first glance, but coming back after a few days, it became a pretty steady solve. Right now I’m still a little unsure of one piece of wordplay (28 across) but it might come out while I write out the rest of the blog.
Interesting grid – out of the four long answers around the perimeter, only one is a familiar word with obvious wordplay, so what could have been a very quick solve from the outside in became a slower one from the inside out.
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 2 | P,ACHY(tender),SAND(light soil),RA(sun) |
| 9 | COHOE: Sebastian COE around HO |
| 10 | I,RISE(grow up),D |
| 13 | AMBULATE: BUL |
| 14 | PLIM: PLIMSOLE without the SOLE |
| 15 | BARONS: 0 in BARNS |
| 16 | P,ELT |
| 17 | BU,COLIC: BU being an abbreviation for Bushel (of corn) here |
| 18 | ROSE-CUT: SEC(like some wine) in ROUT(grub, second def in Chambers) |
| 24 | SEMINAR: or a SE MINAR |
| 26 | SUNBEAM: NB(note), EA(each) in SUM(tot) |
| 28 | READ: I think this is READY without Y (yen)? |
| 30 | AIDERS: anagram of HARDINESS without NHS |
| 31 | PLEB: hidden |
| 32 | AMELCORN: L in (CAMERON)* |
| 33 | ECTOPY: ECT(therapy, at least in a sense), OP(surgery), |
| 34 | E, THIC |
| 35 | HEAT(passion),HEN(female),ESSE(being) |
| Down | |
| 1 | ACAMPROSATE: A, CAMP then OS in RATE |
| 2 | POMBE: B in POME(apple) |
| 3 | COULTER: CLOUTER with the L moved down |
| 4 | HELIAC: ELI in HAC |
| 5 | YNAMBUS: reversal of SUB, MANY |
| 6 | AREA,CH |
| 7 | NITRO: reversal of OR,TIN |
| 8 | RENNIN: N for I in REIN IN |
| 11 | STOLON: hidden |
| 12 | DISCO,R,DANCE |
| 19 | SYNDET: sounds like SIN DEBT |
| 20 | TEMP, |
| 21 | DIRECTS: DIRE(dreadful) then CUTS(economies) without U |
| 22 | QUINCE: anagram of TECHNIQUE – THE |
| 23 | SERAPH: anagram of PARISHES – IS |
| 25 | MALLEE: double def/td> |
| 27 | BESOT: SO(thus) in BET(guess) |
| 29 | AERIE: A then EIRE reversed |
Agree with your comments about the grid. Easy lights at 2A and 1D in particular would turn this into a doddle. Luckily both took some working out. Nice puzzle.