Spectator # 2528

[Matakari]

Good morning, I’m not sure I’ve got this all solved. I seek confirmation for the following, thank you.
34 (a) Young deer caught in grip of headless cuttlefish; they live in wet ground (8):
EPIFAUNA ?
36 (a) It’s great when newspaper replaces advert with expertise (6): DEFTLY ?

And this one is still puzzling me. Some hints, please!
30 (d) Petty Officer leaves waste for animal food (6) : ?IL?GI

[dannyk13]

Epifauna- faun(young deer) inside (s)epia (cuttlefish)
Ft (nespaper) inside de(ad)ly
S(PO)ilage

[Neveracrossword]

Matakari, sorry you're still finding parsing so difficult.
I'd have given the hint you requested for 30 D, but it's too late.

[dannyk13]

Sorry NAC, I should have paid more attention to the OP.

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Danny. I try - but don't always succeed - to follow the OP. It probably wouldn't matter here as our hints aren't always effective for Matakari!

[Matakari]

Thanks, Dannyk13 and NACW ! A careless spelling error for 42(a) - third letter "i" instead of "e" -threw me off for 30(D).

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, Matakari - your ?IL?GI looked so unlikely in the first place, that should have made you suspicious!