Saturday, March 10, 2012 - Easy as 1-2-3

Introduction

You shouldn't find today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon to be very difficult - at least the theme is easy to spot.













Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue

Across

8a   {ONE-CELLED ANIMAL}* - anagram (engineer) of CLONED ALIEN MALE

10a   CA(PA)BLE - CABLE (telegram) containing (about) PA (Dad)

11a   VA|GRANT - VA ([first] couple of [letters in] VAmpires) + GRANT (admit)

12a   NO|NET - NO (†) + NET (catch)

13a   {TAIL|PIECE}~ - sounds like (heard) {TALE (story) + (with) PEACE (quiet)}

15a   {TWO-HANDED VOLLEY}* - anagram (smashed) of THE LADY DOWN LOVE

18a   {START OVER}* - anagram (abstract) of ART TROVES

21a   AN|GEL - AN (one) + GEL (set)

23a   P(ITCH)ER - ITCH (desire) contained in (within) PER (each)

25a   S(WALL)OW - SOW (pig) contains (goes around) WALL (partition)

26a   TH(REE-L|EGGED) RACE - {REEL (country dance) + EGGED (urged)} contained in (in) THRACE (part of the Balkans)

Down

1d   TOUCAN* - anagram (mistakenly) COUNT A

2d   LEA|P INTO - LEA (field) + (by) PINTO (horse)

3d   {MELBA TOAST}* - anagram (broken) of STABLE ATOM

4d   CLI(E)NT - CLINT ([American actor Clint] Eastwood^[7]) containing (admitting) E (error; baseball term)

5d   SNUG< - reversal (pointed the wrong way) of GUNS (weapons)

6d   IMP|ALE - IMP ALE {bar drink (ale) of a rascal (imp)}

7d   F(LATTE)RY - LATTE (coffee) contained in (consumed by) FRY (cook)

9d   DI(V|VI)ED - DIED (stopped) containing (accepting) {V + VI ([Roman numerals for] 5 and 6)}

14d   PRO|PAGAN|DA - PRO (supporting) + PAGAN (irreligious) + DA (U.S. prosecutor; District Attorney)

15d   TOS<|SPOTS - reversal (returning) of SOT (drunk) + SPOTS (catches sight of)

16d   DI|VERSE - DI (of Italian; Italian word meaning 'of') + VERSE (poems)

17d   LEG|AL P|AD - LEG (support) + ALP (peak) + AD (commercial)

19d   A|STERN - A (†) + STERN (firm)

20d   RE(S)IGN - REIGN (rule) containing (about) S (small)

22d   LA(W)YER - W (President [George W.] Bush) contained in (in) LAYER (bed)

24d   _HE|EL_ - hidden in (in) tHE ELevator

Key to Reference Sources: 

^[1]   - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
^[2]   - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
^[3]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
^[4]   - TheFreeDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
^[5]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford Dictionary of English)
^[6]   - Oxford Dictionaries (Oxford American Dictionary)
^[7]   - Wikipedia
^[8]   - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
^[9]   - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
^[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)

Signing off for today - Falcon