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Ah! Thank you, crates, for shedding light on "patron" and clearing up my misunderstanding.

Wow I’m an idiot. I must have read 37 a dozen times. And each time, concluded that the final word was not needed for the wordplay. Somehow slipped my tiny brain that clues are supposed to have definitions too.

Anyway thanks all, and for clearing up 1 down also

I have a couple of parsing queries if someone can nudge me. I can’t figure out the wordplay for 20 “Many revise allotment’s opening to noon”, and I can’t identify the patch in 34 (“El Paso mealmaker cut nicotine patch”) though I have the definition and know which word is omitted.

For 20 change the first letter of a word for allotment to n for noon. I don't remember what I did for 34. Sorry.

Mooncow, in 34, 'patch' is a word for 'local area', as in the TV series 'Minder', perhaps.

Thanks mprs, 20 seems so obvious now, as is often the way! Thanks matrom — I should have looked up a word I’d dismissed: this was a sense I was not aware of but does fit the clue. Thank you both.