Solution and annotation (Solution No. 3,350)

The solution and annotation to puzzle no. 3,350 is below the fold.

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, “‡” Spoonerism

Across

1a	P HARM ACE UTICA LS	P (“quietly”) + HARM (“damage”) + ACE (“expert”) + UTICA (“New York city”) ^L^imit^S^ (first and last letters indicated by “both east ad west”)
9a	*AMPLIFIER	*A FIRM PILE (anagram indicated by “dislodged”)
10a	_INDEX	_w_INDEX (“cleaning product,” omission of W (“George Bush”) indicated by “is out”)
11a	_GLEAM_	sin_GLE AM_ethyst
12a	DI(STAN)CE	STAN (“Laurel”) contained in (“interrupts”) DICE (“game of chance”)
14a	OFF ENDER	OFF (“to kill”) + ENDER (“terminator”)
16a	*DESIGN	*SINGED (anagram indicated by “badly”)
18a	NOT ION	Pun
20a	FLAMING O	FLAMING (“on fire”) + O (“disc”)
23a	DE LE GATE	DE LE (“from the French”) + GATE (“door”)
24a	D(R)OVE	DOVE (“peacenik”) containing (“to accept”) wa^R^ (last letter indicated by “end of”)
27a	¶EVITA	¶E-VITA
28a	THE POLICE	Double reference: both the crime-fighting tactic and the rock band
29a	AN(GER MAN AGE MEN)T	ANT (“soldier, possibly”) containing (“capturing”) GERMAN (“European”) + AGE (“era”) + MEN (“soldiers”)

Down

1d	~PLAYGROUND	~PLAGUE (“infestation,” homophone indicated by “said”) followed by (“to cover”) ROUND (“circular”) Definition is a cross-reference to 4d: CHILDREN
2d	<_APPLE_<	<h_ELP PA_ss< (reversal indicated by “on the way back,” hidden word indicated by “around”)
3d	~MAILMAN	~MALE MAN (redundant words, homophone indicated by “sounding”)
4d	CHIL_<DREN<	CHIL_e_(“South American country,” omission of last letter indicated by “largely”) + <NERD< (“geek,” reversal indicated by “misdirected”)
5d	U PROSE	^U^ncensored (first letter indicated by “a bit of”) + PROSE (“writing”)
6d	I M(IT)ATE	I (“first”) + MATE (“companion”) containing (“hiding”) IT (“that thing”)
7d	ADDI(C)TION	ADDITION (“a mathematical operation”) containing (“getting”) C (“an average grade”)
8d	SEXT	Double definition. Sext is the Latin name for the prayers offered at mid-day (i.e. six hours after sunrise) in the Daily Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours).  See also terce and none.
13d	*INCOHE RENT	*OH NICE (anagram indicated by “broadcast”) followed by (“before”) RENT (“musical”)
15d	FATHER_ING	FAT HER_r_ING (“plump fish,” omission of ^R^oe (first letter indicated by “to begin with”) indicated by “losing”)
17d	A(LO(E) VER)A	LOVER (“paramour”) containing (“takes”) E (“ecstacy”) and contained in (“while in”) AA (“a rehab program”)
19d	*OPEN AIR	*OPERA IN (anagram indicated by “bizarre”)
21d	MA DRONE	DRONE (“bee”) following (“beneath”) MA (“mother”)
22d	MANTRA_	MAN TRA_p_ (“a way to catch someone,” omission of last letter indicated by “almost”)
25d	O LIVE	^O^rchids (first letter indicated by “at first”) + LIVE (“are”)
26d	HER A	HER (“that woman”) + A (†)