The second Inquisitor from The Ace of Hearts, and the first was a ‘Letters Latent’ too.
Preamble: Seven clues are normal but their answers must be entered thematically. From the answer to each other clue, a letter must be deleted wherever it appears before entry into the grid; definitions refer to the full unmutilated answer; wordplay and letter-counts to the grid entry. In clue order, the omitted letters give a phrase followed by a two-part definition. This phrase gives a hint as to the entry method of the seven normal clues.
I solved the first two across clues to ESCUDOS and SCUDI straightaway, and for some reason I next looked at the last down clue with the answer SCUD, so I was well aware of what to look for in the answers to the normal clues from the start. The Letters Latent clues were another matter altogether, and solving was frustratingly slow at first. When I’d managed about a third of the across clues and roughly the same number of the downs I got 26d CRA[T]UR, and that punctured the dam … 
I looked at my smattering of omitted letters: they ended …FL_CT and I thought of REFLECT as that fitted with the title. I backed up a little to the last few across clues and the first half dozen downs, and saw that M_DIT… becoming MEDITATE would work quite well there; so I jumped to the early across clues to look at the letters from their answers and C___ T__ CU_ was just about enough to form the skeleton of CHEW THE CUD. No real need to explain the title further.
From then on, knowing which letters were to be omitted from answers before entering them in the grid help hugely, but it was nevertheless a bit of a slog. Thanks, Ace of Hearts (the) – I can see how difficult the grid construction must have been – but I enjoyed your Hobson’s Choice puzzle more.
(Quibbles with a couple of clues in the table below.)
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Answer | x | Wordplay |
| 1 | Old European currency uses incomplete code for change (7) | ESCUDOS | [USES COD(e)]* | |
| 6 | Second copper with papers returning old silver coins (5) | SCUDI | S(econd) CU (copper) ID< (papers) | |
| 11 | Donald, say, kills time with special midget (5) | S[C]RUMP | C | TRUMP (Donald, say) ¬ T(ime) after S(pecial) |
| 12 | Promoting health, mix gin and ice with a bit of yogurt (7) | [H]YGIENIC | H | [GIN ICE Y(oghurt)]* |
| 13 | Conservative in India to advance occasionally in a stately manner (4) | INC[E]D[E] | E | C(onservative) in IND(ia) |
| 15 | Tip off client to dance Scottish reel (5) | [W]INTLE | W | [(c)LIENT]* |
| 16 | Energy I showed in broadcast on-air ad (8) | RADIA[T]ION | T | I in [ON-AIR AD]* |
| 18 | Staff from the east support short dictator in Italy (6) | CUDGEL | LEG (support) DUC(e) (Italian dictator) all< | |
| 19 | Spa in Tralee sacked attractive woman from Australia (10, 2 words) | [H]EALT[H] RESORT | H | [TRALEE]* SORT (attractive woman, Aust) |
| 21 | Like Bill’s camel, in books called “bristly” (10) | ORANG[E]-TAWNY | E | RANG (called) in OT (books) AWNY (bristly) |
| 23 | Sandra O’Neill keeps container for shipping liquids (6) | DRA[C]ONE | C | (San)DRA O’NE(ill) |
| 28 | Small body’s chancellor not showing children off (8) | N[U]CLEOLAR | U | [CHANCELLOR ¬ CH(ildren)]* |
| 29 | Unusual in the past, brief u-turn about newspaper in retrospect (5) | UNUSE[D] | D | UE(y) (U-turn) around SUN< (newspaper) |
| 30 | Save misguided goddess (4) | VES[T]A | T | [SAVE]* |
| 31 | Fencer’s old tape around top of sword to riposte initially (7) | INCL[O]SER | O | INCLE (tape, obs) around S(word) R(iposte) |
| 32 | Acquire formula to bottle revolutionary unnatural radioactive element (5) | FER[M]IU[M] | M | (acq)UIRE F(ormula)< |
| 33 | Department orderly put forward coloured textiles (5) | TI[E]-DY[E]D | E | D(epartment) after TIDY (orderly) |
| 34 | Colouring substance scoundrel swallows, nearly double everyday allowance for starters (7) | CUDBEAR | CUR (scoundrel) around DB(l) (double) E(veryday) A(llowance) | |
| Down | No. | Clue | Answer | x | Wordplay |
| 1 | Ask Inland Revenue to interrupt newsmen regularly (5) | [D]ESIRE | D | IR (Inland Revenue) in (n)E(w)S(m)E(n) |
| 2 | Indian city nurse with seaweed (7) | SR[I]NAGAR | I | SRN (nurse) AGAR (seaweed) |
| 3 | Ship’s cabin is muddy, with marks purged by cold water (5) | CUDDY | MUDDY with C(old water) for M(arks) | |
| 4 | At college, start to study atmosphere on the second floor perhaps (6) | UPS[T]AIR | T | UP (at college) S(tudy) AIR (atmosphere) |
| 5 | Like well-behaved children hosting sound records from the floor in South Dakota (10, 4 words) | [A]S GOOD [A]S GOLD | A | GOOD (sound) LOGS<(records) in SD (South Dakota) |
| 7 | Substance used to change the properties of an unread novel (8) | DENA[T]URAN[T] | T | [AN UNREAD]* |
| 8 | Moderate political party, not short of heart, in credit (4) | C[E]NTR[E] | E | N(o)T in CR(edit) |
| 9 | Armoured plate wrongfully placed in uniform, either side of epaulette (5) | [T]UILLE | T | ILL (wrongfully) in U(niform) E (epaulette, first or last letter) |
| 10 | Last of the three learners trapped by hostile sucker (7) {two words} |
ICE L[O]LLY | O | (th)E LLL (learner ×3) in ICY (hostile) |
| 14 | Town in France badly needed to change date for Catholic set of Christian principles (10, 2 words) | NICENE C[R]EED | R | NICE (town in France) [NEEDED]* with C(atholic) for D(ate) {not sure a Niçois would be happy with “town”} |
| 17 | Sons aboard right, then wrong lorry – so turned back (8) | R[E]TRORS[E]LY | E | S(ons) in RT (right) [LORRY]* |
| 19 | He printed this to censor about ninety for all to see (7) | EXCUDIT | EDIT (censor) around XC (ninety) U (for all to see) | |
| 20 | Fancy music Nat composed on the continent (7) | [F]ANTASIA | F | [NAT]* ASIA (continent) |
| 22 | Fume about propping alien up, which is productive (6) | TEEMFU[L] | L | [FUME]* after ET< (alien) |
| 24 | Familiar name for Nancy’s man rising in Norway (5) | RONNI[E] | E | IN NOR(way) all< {ref. R.Reagan} |
| 25 | Unit of land around the French tree (5) | ALER[C]E | C | ARE (unit of land) around LE (the, Fr) |
| 26 | Irish animal in Costa Rica ran after urchins primarily (5) | CRA[T]UR | T | CR (Costa Rica) around R(an) A(fter) U(rchins) |
| 27 | Ceausescu deliberately hiding Russian missile (4) | SCUD | (Ceause)SCU D(eliberately) | |
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