Running in circles (Solution No. 3,370)

Call me Dopey if you like: I didn't spot the theme of this one until I got around to the bottom, though that came about because it was a smooth solve.  Usually I like to work in a circle around the puzzle rather than jumping ahead to fill in the easy answers first.  If I have to do the latter, it's a sign of a hard puzzle.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/puzzle-no-3370/

Degree of difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): easy

Agility factor: moderate

Themework: The across clues incorporated the names of the Seven Dwarfs from the tale of Snow White.

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

Across

1a	*REDUC E	*CURED (anagram indicated by “prepare”) + ^E^el (first letter indicated by “head”)
4a	~APACHE	~A PATCHY (“a scrappy,” homophone indicated by “give a hearing to”)
10a	*PHY(SIC)IAN	SIC (“that’s what it says here”) contained in (“is involved in”) *ANY HIP (anagram indicated by “replacement”)
11a	MIMI C	MIMI (“lead soprano in a Puccini opera [La Boheme] + C (“about”)
12a	*BURMA	*RUMBA (anagram indicated by “dancing”)
13a	~STUPEFIED	~STOOP (“bend down”) + ~IF I’D (†, homophone indicated by sounded”) “Dopey” makes a good misdirection
14a	_IN GO OD S*PIR(I)TS	_r_INGO (“drummer [Starr],” omission of first letter indicated by “loses head”) + ODS (“takes an excessive amount of drugs”) + *TRIPS (anagram indicated by “out”) containing (“when eating”) p^I^e (middle letter indicated by “filling”)
18a	SHORT (TEMPE)RED	SHORT (“brusque”) + RED (“embarrassed’) containing (“about”) TEMPE (“Arizona city”)
24a	*DIFFIDENT	*I FIND DEFT (anagram indicated by “alien”)
25a	PUP I L	PUP (“small dog”) + I (“one”) + L (“large”)
27a	A L I B I	t^A^b^L^o^I^d ^B^a^I^t (alternate letters indicated by “ignoring the odds”)
28a	SO MNO LENT	SO (“consequently”) + MNO (“a set of letters associated with 6” [on a telephone) + LENT (“days of penitence”)
29a	DIG _EST	DIG (“appreciate”) + _j_EST (“joke,” omission of J (“Jack”) indicated by “leaves”)
30a	*SNEEZY	*YES ZEN (anagram indicated by “paradoxically”) I was kind of oblivious on this one: didn’t realize it was a themed puzzle until I got around to this clue.

Down

1d	REP*UBL(I)C	REP (“name”) + *CLUB (anagram indicated by “exotic”) containing (“outside”) ^I^talian (first letter indicated by “capital”)
2d	D(RYE)R	DR (“10” [cross-ref to 10a: physician]) containing (“eating”) RYE (“bread”)
3d	CHIC AGO	CHIC (“stylish”) + AGO (“past”)
5d	POMP E II	POMP (“ceremonial display”) + E II (“Edward the Second”)
6d	*COM(MISS)AR	*CAROM (anagram indicated by “wildly”) containing (“captivating”) MISS (“young female”)
7d	*EN(CO)DE	CO (“company”) contained in (“in”) *NEED (anagram indicated by “desparate”)
8d	RI(N)SES	RISES (“gets up”) containing (“to embrace”) ^N^atural (first letter indicated by “beginning of”)
9d	_INCUBI_	certa_IN CUBI_st (hidden word indicated by “has`”)
15d	G(AS IF YIN)G	AS IF (“it’s not likely”) + YIN (“the female principle”) contained in (“separating”) GG (“thousands”)
16d, 26d	PET (<PEEV<)E	PETE (“Rose” [baseball player]) containing (“accepts”) <VEEP< (“Biden,” reversal indicated by “ascent”)
17d	IDO(LA)TRY	I DO TRY (“I really make an effort”) containing (“to limit”) LA (“western city”)
19d	O*RIGINS	O (“ring”) + *RING IS (anagram indicated by “wrong”)
20d	THE(IS)Y	THEY (“that group”) containing (“clothing”) IS (†). Definition cross reference to 17d: idolatry
21d	ENTOM}B}	}B}EN TOM (“Benjamin and Thomas,” relocation of B indicated by “with the former’s head at the latter’s foot”)
22d	P(*OPC)ORN	PORN (“film erotica”) containing (“enthralling”) *COP (anagram indicated by “crooked”)  I must not have been reading this clue carefully when I first saw it: I was looking for “accomplishment” or something else besides “accompaniment.”
23d	*ID CA RD	*ACID (anagram indicated by “mixing”) + RD (“road”)
26d		See 16d