hi! the as if clues reference a traditional clue whose answer you can acquire by rearranging the letters of the answer to the traditional clue.
e.g. 7A’s clue is traditional - “coffee temperature specification” - and the answer is ICED. 3D’s clue, “it’s as if 7A’s tail is now its head”, instructs the solver to put ICED’s tail on its head, i.e. put the D from the end in the beginning of the word to get 3D’s answer, DICE.