Mephisto 2547 – Paul McKenna

I thought this was going to be on the easy side for a Mephisto with almost two-thirds of the grid going in before having to open a dictionary. But then came a few really tricky words near the end and I ended up having to do a bunch of hunt-and-pecking to get the last couple of entries. There is some wordplay that I’m not sure of (which may mean that I’m incorrect, there’s a 98th time for everything). I suspect 35 across made its debut in Chambers this time around.

Across
1	CATNAP: PANT,AC all reversed, AC is “ante cibum”
7	C,REE,P: Had to look up REE in Chambers, but it’s a female ruff
13	W,EASE,L: at least I think, but I can’t confirm the definition (Boggle) in Chambers?
14	UPPERS: SUPPER with S moved to the end
16	FOOD MILES: (LIFE’S MOOD)* – there’s a restaurant in my town that mentions the food miles on the menu, noting the dishes prepared with only ingredients from less than 100 miles away
17	EXECUTED: CUTE(=clever) in EX,ED – I liked this wordplay
18	WAGS??? I can’t see the wordplay here
20	COSTA,R
21	SIS,KIN(d): got this from wordplay, it’s a type of finch
25	THAI(m): not the four-letter massage that came to mind originally
27	HAWTHORN: I think the “metathetically” is saying to mess around with THAW HORN
30	GODMOTHER: anagram of GROOM,THE,D
32	EROTIC: I,TORE reversed, then C(=College)
33	BAR,ONE,T,S: Chambers suggests BAR for yarn came from tossing the cabar?
35	BLU-RAY: U,L rev in BRAY – here in the US they’re plugged to death, I don’t have a player
Down
2	A,D,E,UX: Hadn’t seen UX as wife (abbrev from Latin uxor)
4	ATE OUT: A TOUT about E(picureanism)
5	PELOTON: the body of riders in a cycling race. Wordplay is LOT in PEON
6	P,RUDE: Jamaican indicating RUDE BOY
8	ROPIEST: PI in ROEST
10	EUREKA: AKE,RUE reversed, and a word that was on my mind for some reason
11	PASSE,RIND: According to Chambers Passeres is an order of birds that covers more than a third of birds?
19	SKI M,ASK: liked this
20	COWHERB: Tricky wordplay – W, REH(efflourescence of sodium salts – a term I’ve actually used before, it occurs when there’s trapped sodium leading to a bluish tint) reversed in COB
22	IRONER: I,TONER with the T changed to R
23	SADDLE: L in SADDE
26	HOOTER: OTE in H,OR? I have a sneaking suspicion this is not correct
29	RAI(l),TA: yum – finally a tasty food in a Mephisto! Always reminds me of this Rowan Atkinson monologue.