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Finding this very difficult. Cannot get the wordplay for 3a, 13a, 45a and 35d, and I only seem to have 9 misprints, missing O and A, I think. As for the highlighting I haven't a clue.

Hi, xij:
3a: PEA is an obsolete term for peafowl (“bird dropped”) + T for “tons”. You need to change the last letter before entry to give an item of food.
13a: “rout” can mean “herd”, so “leaderless herds” gives OUTS; “deep” can mean “most still”, so “most still going west” gives PEED.
45a: I struggled to make sense of this until I noticed that the second, third and fifth letters (the ones in “prime locations” as in prime numbers) of “holes”, when rearranged (“bothered”, give SLO + W (“wife”). You need to change the third letter before entry to give an item of food.
35d: “Spent” contains a misprinted letter, and should read “scent”. An obsolete meaning of “train” is “to allure”, so “mostly to allure, not now though” gives TRAI + L for “ladies at first”.

Thanks wintonian, I don't think I would ever have worked out the wordplay. I still cannot find the last misprinted A. I have 40a and 24d. And what alternative ingredient am I looking for? I can see the cheese and pastry but that's about it.

Hi xij,
The other A comes from 1D
The alternative is 5 letters. If you have already identified the definition of the phrase (also 5 letters), this will help you because as is often the case, there is a certain symmetry involved in the highlighting.

I have found many clues exceptionally obscure. There are still 4 where I think I know the answer but can't parse them. They are 29 and 38 across, and 25 and 39 down. I have 9 misprints but can't find any words remotely connected with food using an arrangement of those letters plus any other letter[s). Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Escuan,

29a. IN (hot/fashionable) around O (of). Def is part of the loaf, as in head/skull
38a. FIT(attractive) around RE (on) AN (one)
25d. INP (NIP, smart, with N(orth) moved, UTTER=say
39d. NUNS = Hebrew letters and nuns in religious order

29a and 39d have a clash/misprint

Thank you very much, PKD

Thanks meursault. A well hidden misprint. Although I didn't actually need it, it's nice to tidy things up. Having got the anagram though, I'm beginning to wonder; it sounds disgusting. I discounted the alternative ingredient because I always spell it with an E at the end. Anyway, thanks again.

escuan, if you have the first five "items of food" and read the replacement letters as they appear in each row, you'll have five letters that sound like a tool for tightening 39d. Look this up in the BRB and that will give you all the misprints.

I can't fully parse 20d and am missing 36a, which I assume has a misprint as the first letter. Can someone give me a nudge please? Finding this puzzle a bit disjointed.