Riddle Me This (Puzzle No. 3244)

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/168359/puzzle-no-3244

Hozom’s comment: “Keeping it Inside” http://www.thenation.com/blog/168412/keeping-it-inside  A primer on containers (in which we learn that the Brits call these “sandwich clues”—like that??)

Themework: About as much as they could get away with (see "Loosening Up"). 

I’ll call these types of clues “riddles.” They work by making the clue material into the answer to a riddle, where the actual wordplay is in the question.

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): hard

Political content: I suppose “reactionary” is an all-purpose epithet among The Nation subscribers, of whom Neil Young might be one (a subscriber, not a reactionary), given some of his songs.

solution and comments below the fold

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters

Across

1a	PRO-PAGAN | DA	Pun on “PRO-PAGAN” (supporter of pagans) DA (“prosecutor”) “Who supports” could be mistaken for a position indicator, but in an across clue that would be against the rules.
6a	SOFT	nexuS OF Temple (container indicated by “situated in”)
10a	E | VENT	E (short for “electronic”) + VENT (“opening”)
11a	IN SIN | U | ATE	“living IN SIN” + beaU (last letter indicated by “finally” + ATE (“put away”)
12a	*CRESC (END) O	END (football position) contained in (“involved in”) *SOCCER (anagram indicated by “foul”)
13a	MEAN | T	MEAN (“average”) + T (“temperature”)
14a	*INSET	*STEIN (anagram indicated by “broken”)
16a	~LIE IN WAIT	Homonym (indicated by “to announce”) of “LION WEIGHT” (riddle answered by “four pounds for a cub”)
18a	*GRAND JURY	*JUG RAN DRY (anagram indicated by “surprisingly”)
20a	<CAS< | ThE	<SAC< (“pouch”, reversal indicated by “returned”) + ThE (first and last letters indicated by “outside of”)
22a	<MOR (O) N<	O (“nothing”) contained in (“in”) <NORM< (“standard, reversal indicated by “reactionary”)
23a	D (RIPPING) S	D’S (short for “Democrats”) containing (“swallowing”) RIPPING (“excellent”, such as “a ripping tale”)
26a	LOOSE *LEAF	*FLEA anagrams (“loose”) LEAF
27a	*CLEAR	*LE CAR (anagram indicated by “”totaled” [wrecked]) “Le Car” was a cheap Renault economy car imported to the USA in the 70s.
28a	HAL | O	HAL (the computer character in Stanley Kubrick's "2001") + O ("circle").
29a	*ASTRONOMER	*MOON STARER (anagram indicated by “possibly”) Who hasn’t heard of this anagram or *ASTRONOMERS = *NO MORE STARS

Down

1d	PRE-ACHING	Pun on PRE (“in advance”) + ACHING (“pain”)
2d	sOME | LETS	LET’S (“why don’t we”) before (lit.) sOME (omission indicated by “trim the front off”)
3d	ATTIC	Double definition: Attica is the peninsula of Greece where Athens is located.
4d	<A | LIEN<	<NEIL young + A (“one”)< (reversal indicated by “raised”) Neil Young is a Canadian-born singer and songwriter
5d	DISCO | VERY	Pun on DISCO (“nightclub”) + VERY (“mighty”)
7d	O | (CA) | NADA	CA (“California”) contained in (“tied”) O (“zero”) + NADA (“zero”)
8d	~?TWEET	~? TREAT (“free meal”), homonym indicated by “report” and lisping alteration indicated by “to Elmer Fudd”
9d	M (<NEMO | NI<) C	MC (“host”) containing (“holding”) <IN (“Indiana”) + OMEN (“sign”)< (reversal indicated by “up”) “HOMES” is the initials of the five Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior), though not in geographic order.
15d	*TV (D) INNER	*VINTNER (anagram indicated by “drunken”) contains (“takes”) D_isgusting (initial indicated by “bite of”)
16d	LA (*UNDRE) SS	LASS (“girl”) containing (“going around”) *UNDER (anagram indicated by “all over”)
17d	*TREA | SURER	*RATE (anagram indicated by “variable”) + SURER (“more secure”)
19d	<rAIRF< | OIL	<FRIAr< (reversal indicated by “rises”, omission indicated by “mostly”) | OIL (“lubricate”)
21d	SU *(NBEA) M	SUM (“tot”, to add up) containing (“clutching”) *BEAN (anagram indicated by “jumping”)
22d	MU (L) CH	MUCH (“plenty”) containing (“surrounds”) L (“large”)
24d	IN}F}ER	}F}INER (“better”, relocation indicated by “head in the middle”)
25d	PECAN	hoPE CANdy (container indicated by “includes”)