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To pant (verb) is to ‘long for’...

I shall add ‘Peg’ to my list of cocktails only cruciverbalists drink. (Gin and It being no1 on that list)

Another one where I have the answer but don't quite see the derivation, another Araucaria.
Curse redundant if conditions could cook (7)
The answer is TINKERS, where a tinkers curse isn't worth anything as too prevalent, but I don't get the "conditions could cook" element?

Think about "ifs and ands"...although the whole thing doesn't stand up to close scrutiny.

BTW, I think the intended CAPRI PANTS parsing is CAPRI (=isle, with "Say, I'll say" indicating a homophone for "I'll") plus PANTS ('longs'), the definition being "longs for a female" - Chambers gives 'longs' as meaning 'long trousers'.

A "peg" is actually a measurement for alcohol. In 17th/18th centuries drinking vessels (tankards) made of wood had pegs at intervals, measuring about 60 ml (or 2 fl oz in those days). This would be for any spirit, especially gin in the early 18th century I suppose.
I came across this word reading stories of the British Raj, where people seemed to refer to pegs, or chota pegs (chota being Hindustani for small) quite often. Chota wrt drinks came to mean half measure.
Chota hazri was a pre-breakfast breakfast, also small!

V interesting Rosalind,
I see also Chambers has a lovely expression “a peg too low” meaning tipsy

In his book 'The Competition Wallah' (1864), Sir George Trevelyan wrote:

"The native name for soda water is Belattee Pawnee, which, being interpreted, means, 'English Water'. The charms of brandy and belattee pawnee, a beverage which goes by the name of a 'peg' (according to the favourite derivation, because each draught is a 'peg' in your coffin), are far too seductive and insidious for a climate which in itself finds more than sufficient work for the nerves."

Now that homophone explanation resolves it nicely!

Ifs and ands and pots and pans points back to the tinker again, so I can be satisfied with the logic in here...