Definitely at the easier end of the Beelzebub spectrum. I fairly raced through this, and it might have been an unaided, single-sitting finish had I not had to check a couple in Chambers.
34 across looked like it could have been WAEGER and 8 down could plausibly have been GODBRO, though a quick glance at the book of course confirms that neither of those actually exist.
There are some particularly nice surface readings today too: Stop tucking into chocolates
at 13 across, and 3 down’s Caught short in toilet, went – stock potty after this?
particular amused me.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ATTLEE – ATT + EEL<. Clement, of course. |
| 5 | BAGGIT – (G + G) in BAIT. |
| 10 | COPPER NOSE – PERNO[d] in COPSE. |
| 11 | BUNCHY – (N + CH) in BUY. |
| 13 | ECHO – [th]E CHO[colates]. A soft-toned organ stop, in fact. |
| 14 | OSIER-BED – BIO-REEDS*. |
| 16 | SHEW – SHE + W. |
| 17 | CARTE – R in CATE. A delicacy in the food sense. |
| 19 | SPLENETIC – TENE< in SPLIC[e]. |
| 22 | EXCITEDLY – (X + CITED) in ELY. |
| 24 | REEDY – [g]REEDY. I suspect I wasn’t the only one trying to find something to remove a P from here. |
| 26 | RHEA – [ove]RHEA[d]. I think this is a reference to a rhea’s lack of flying ability, implying it won’t be overhead. |
| 27 | ACCORAGE – COR in A CAGE. |
| 30 | BUST – S in BUT. |
| 31 | ZEALOT – Z[on]E + A LOT. |
| 32 | SELF-BOUNTY – (LEFT BONUS)* + [need]Y. |
| 34 | JAEGER – (EG + E) in JAR. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ABBESS – BES[t] in ABS. |
| 2 | TOUCH-PIECE – (PIE + C[lass]) in TOUCHÉ. |
| 3 | LOCOWEED – (C in LOO) + WEED. |
| 4 | EPHOR – (H in ROPE)<. |
| 5 | BEFITTING – IF< in BETTING. |
| 6 | ARLE – R in ALE. |
| 7 | GNAR – [do]G + RAN<. |
| 8 | GOMBRO – GOM + BRO. |
| 9 | TENDER – two definitions: one looking after/part of steam engine. |
| 12 | NETTLESOME – ETTLES in NOME. |
| 15 | SPECTATOR – (A SPORT ETC)* and &lit. |
| 18 | ACERBATE – R in (ACE + BAT + E). |
| 20 | WRASSE – W[ilde]R + SEAS*. |
| 21 | FECULA – F + CLUE* + A[larmed]. In the clue “mother” is used in its somewhat rarer sense, meaning “dregs” or similar. |
| 23 | YATTER – from [m]ATTER, with Y in place of the M. |
| 25 | VEENA – VEE + AN<. |
| 28 | OAFS – A F[arm] in SO<. |
| 29 | RUBE – from [t]UBE, with R in place of the T. |
I just couldn’t parse 24ac, but I see it was staring me in the face, thanks.
A couple detained me in the end, including 8dn, which I had to search Chambers for.