Saturday, October 13, 2012 - Easy as 1-2-3

Introduction

Today's puzzle from Cox and Rathvon starts out slow and methodical, but after breakfast builds to a frenzy.

Solution to Today's Puzzle

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

Across

9a   HEROIN|E — HEROIN (smack) + E (English)

10a   CHI|ANTI — CHI (Taoist force) + ANTI (opposed to)

11a   {ONE THING AT A TIME}* — anagram (ordered) of A THAI MIGNONETTE

"The patient" refers to those who demonstrate patience and not a client of a doctor — although the two may often be synonymous.

12a   MYSTIQUES~ — sounds like (by the sound of it) MISS (don't get) + TEAK'S (tropical wood's)

14a   A + SSET< — reversal (going back) of TESS following (after) A (†)

Tess Harper^[7] is an American actress [seemingly of no great distinction].

15a   {TWO EGGS OVER EASY}* — anagram (at sea) of VOYAGES GET WORSE

18a   BAT(C)H — BATH (tub) containing (†) C (cold)

20a   M(ON)ASTERY — MASTERY (domination) containing (keeps ... in) ON (†)

22a   {THREE-RING CIRCUS}* — anagram (stranger) of CHERS RECRUITING

24a   {NIAGA|R|A}< — reversal (goes west) of {A (†) + R (river) + AGAIN (repeatedly)}

25a   RE|CLINE — RE (about) + CLINE (Patsy who sang "Crazy")

Patsy Cline^[7] (1932 – 1963), born Virginia Patterson Hensley, was an American country music singer as part of the early 1960s Nashville sound who successfully "crossed over" to pop music. At age 30, she died at the height of her career in the crash of a private plane. She was one of the most influential, successful and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.

Down

1d   PHLOEM* — anagram (reorganizing) of HELP MO

2d   BRIE_ — BRIE[F] (short) with the final letter deleted (cut short)

This explanation supposes that the setters have inverted the sentence structure, a conjecture that would be supported by the comma found in the clue. One might possibly argue that the wordplay is BRIE[F] (cut short) with the final letter deleted (short), although I much prefer the former explanation.

3d   RIGHTING~ — sounds like (in recitation) WRITING (prose or poetry)

4d   REIN|CURS — REIN (means of controlling) + CURS (mutts)

5d   SCRAPS — double definition; "fights" & "leftovers"

6d   PIN|AT|A — PIN (stick; e.g., one marking a golf hole) + AT (near) + A (†)

7d   S(NAIL'S) PACE — SPACE (room) containing (full of) NAILS (studs)

One might expect the numeration to be (5'1,4) but apostrophes are not always shown in the numeration.

8d   SIL(ENT*)LY — SILLY (goofy) containing (eats) an anagram (nuts) of TEN

13d   SHORTBREAD* — anagram (dancing) of BROTHERS AD

15d   TI(BE)TANS — BE (live) contained in (surrounded by) TITANS (giants)

16d   VINEGARY* — anagram (blended) of A GIN VERY

17d   REST|ITCH — ITCH (urge) following (after) REST (break)

The clue uses an inverted sentence structure.

19d   H(YEN)AS — YEN (yearning) contained in (inside) HAS (possesses)

20d   MAI TAI — sounds like (for audition) MY TIE (neckwear I have)

21d   YE(S)-MEN — YEMEN (Arab country) containing (inhabited by) S (small)

23d   CA(I)N — I ([Roman numeral for] one) contained in (put in) CAN (jail)

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