Water Clock? (Puzzle No. 3246)

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/168814/puzzle-no-3246

Hozom’s comment: “Theme Variations” http://www.thenation.com/blog/168859/theme-variations  If you hadn’t recognized some of the themes in previous editions, you get them now, plus a little background.  We also learn that themework is a good way for constructors to challenge themselves once they’ve become adept at a given type of work.  

Solvers can be the same way: challenging themselves to solve a crossword in one pass through (see “crossword golf”) or to solve a sudoku without making any notes in the grid.  Want to share your own challenges?  Comments are open below.

Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle):  Average to start, hard to finish (unless you have the worlds’ greatest vocabulary)

Political content: Shout-outs to Katha Pollitt and Gary Younge, left-wing columnists, and one to the editors

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	S | WORDS | WALLOWING	S (S_how_, initial indicated by “start”) + WORDS (“argument”) + WALLOWING (“rolling around”) “Wallowing” is a good word to use when scolding children.
9a	NOTABLE	Pun on “NO TABLE”
10a	F (*UCHS) IA_t_	FIA_t_ (omission indicated by “mostly”) containing (“maintains”) *SUCH (anagram indicated by “realignment”) Easy solution for a starter, but if you mis-spell it, the downs crossing it are going to frustrate you!
11a	LIMB | O	LIMB (“arm or leg”) + O_ver (first letter: “head” of “over”)
12a	E | GO T | RIPS	charli_E (last letter indicated by “at last”) + GOT (“understood”) + RIPS (“tears”)
14a	~SINES	~SIGNS (“silently communicates,” homonym indicated by “aloud”)
15a	*CLEPSYDRA	*DRY PLACES (anagram indicated by “altered”) You say you’ve never seen a clepsydra?  Go out and get one to put in your collection next to your orrery.  I happen to see an orrery when I go over to the Penn library. http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/pennhistory/orrery/orrery.html
17a	*ESSA (Y) ISTS	*SASSIEST (anagram indicated by “shockingly”) containing (“around”) jul_Y (“fourth [letter] of July” Katha Pollitt and Gary Younge are left-wing columnists who have been published in The Nation
19a	M_a_OIST	MaOIST (Chinese Communist) minus A (last letter of “umbrella” indicated by “ultimately)
21a	D (E) AD | PANS	DAD (“father”) + PANS (“criticizes”) contains (“concealing”) E_motion (initial indicated by “a hint of”) Note that Hot and Trazom put the container part of the clue after “PANS” rather than after “DAD” where the letter actually goes.  It’s misdirecting, but it’s perfectly fair: there is no associative law (remember your elementary school math) in crosswords.
24a	CAME | O	†CAME + O (“nought”)
26a	HI | <BAC< | HI	HI (“Hawaii”) + <CAB< (reversal indicated by “returning”) + HI (“Hawaii”) A hibachi would be kind of small for a traditional Hawai’ian luau with a roast pig
27a	*SALERNO	*ORLEANS (anagram indicated by “new”) Now there’s efficient cluing!
28a	INTER | NATION | ALLY	INTER (“bury”) + NATION ALLY (friend of [this] magazine) Always nice to recognize the people who sign your paycheck.

Down

1d	SUNG | LASSES	SUNG (“serenaded”) + LASSES (“young women”)
2d	OTTO | MAN	OTTO (“holy roman emperor”) + †MAN Otto the Great (913-973), founder of the Holy Roman Empire
3d	DUB | IOU | SLY	DUB (“label”) + IOU (“debt”) + SLY (“sneaky”) Could easily be mistaken for an anagram
4d	WHERE	Riddle: Question WHERE?  Answer w_HERE
5d	L (EFT) OVERS	EFT (“newt”) contained in (“swallowed by”) LOVERS (“Romeo et al.”)
6d	OC | CUR	OC (initials of “Orange County”, a region of California) + CUR (“dog”)
7d	<IN | SI | PID<	Reversal (“send it back”) of DIP (“guacamole e.g.”) + †IS + NI_l (“nothing,” omitted last letter indicated by “practically”)
8d	<GNAT<	<TANG< (“bite,” reversal indicated by “on the way up”)
13	G | ASTRONOMY	G (evenin_G, last letter indicated by “end”) + ASTRONOMY (“stargazing”)
15d	COSTA R | *ICA	CO-STAR (“fellow actor”) + *CIA (anagram indicated by “sabotaged”)
16d	S (*EMIC) OLON	SOLON (“wise lawmaker”) containing (“eats”) *MICE (anagram indicated by “stewed”)
18d	S (HERB) ET	HERB (“oregano”) contained in (“stuffing”) SET (“prescribed”)
20d	IMM | ORAL	jIMMy (center letters indicated by “stripped”) + ORAL (“Roberts”) Oral Roberts (1918-2009) was a charismatic Methodist pastor known for his ministry via television and in large in-person “crusades” held around the world.
22d	DECOR	Hidden letters in: “hiDE CORporate”, (container indicated by “assets”, i.e. property)
23d	SUSHI	Hidden letters in: “offerS US His”, (container indicated by “innards”)
25d	~THAI	~TIE (“connect”, homonym indicated by “on the phone”)