Diversity (Solution No. 3,368)

With Bolivians, Irish dancers, and even a green thing, there’s never been a doubt that the annual Fourth of July parade in Glenside represents the glorious diversity of America.  But this year, the cause brotherhood and harmony of took another great step forward: the motorcycle drill team included a Honda and a BMW as well as the usual collection of Harleys (video below).

A few grumbles about the puzzle, though I didn’t find it difficult.

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/puzzle-no-3368/

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

Agility factor: light to moderate

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	RUBBER DUCK	RUBBER (“masseuse”) + DUCK (“to avoid”)
6a	*OPUS	*SOUP (anagram indicated by “prepare”)
10a	<_PLATO_<	<t_OTAL P_anic< (reversal indicated by “retreats”, hidden word indicated by “in”)
11a, 12a	*COMMANDER IN CHIEF	*INFORMED MECHANIC (anagram indicated by “in criis”)
13a	OFF ICES	OFF (†) + ICES (“frozen sweets”)
14a	BOOS*TER CABLE	BOOS (“complains loudly”) + *BRACELET (anagram indicated by “broken”)
19a	IN(V_E)STIGATOR	INSTIGATOR (“troublemaker”) containing (“on both sides of”) ^V^enic^E^ (first and last letters indicated by “borders”)
22a	§BARRAGE	§BAR RAGE
24a	<SLEEP IN<	<NIP (“bite”) + EELS< (“fish,” reversal of the whole thing indicated by “after turning over”)
25a	BITTE R END	BITTE (“please [in] German”) + REND (“tear”)
26a	AL IKE	AL (“Albert” [Einstein]) + IKE (“Isaac” [Newton}) Both were physicists, which would distinguish them from some other random Als and Ikes.  Fun clue.
27a	_TYPE_	nas_TY PE_rson (hidden word indicated by “at heart”)
28a	*PLURALIZED	*A DULL PRIZE (anagram indicated by “shockingly”)

Down

1d	REP AIR	REP (“member of Congress”) + AIR (“appearance”)
2d	B RANCH	B (“second rate”) + RANCH (“farm”)
3d	*EMOTICONS	*COMES INTO (anagram indicated by “play”)
4d	<DECAF<	<FACED< (“braved,” reversal indicated by “getting up”)
5d	COMMON ER A	^A^ristocracy (first letter indicated by “leader”) following (“goes after”) COMMONER (“peasant”)
7d	*PEDICABS	*SPACE BID (anagram indicated by “exploded”)
8d	<STRESSED<	<DESSERTS< (“cakes,” reversal indicated by “upside-down”)
9d	CALF	Double definition
15d	SPI(K_E HE)EL	^K^afkaesqu^E^ (first and last letters indicated by “superficially”) + HE (“man”) contained in (“captivated by”) SPIEL (“sales pitch”)
16d	CLOSE CALL	Double definition
17d	BIT BY BIT	^B^atter^Y^ (first and last letters indicated by “terminals”) contained in (“into”) BIT BIT (“a quarter” [two bits]) The only real challenge to work out in this one.
18d	*OVERST EP	*VOTERS (anagram indicated by “messing up”) + EP (“record”) Can we retire “EP”?  It’s not been seen outside of crosswords in decades.
20d	SP(R)ITZ	R (“runs”) contained in (“into”) SPITZ (“Olympic swimmer”) Mark Spitz won seven gold medals in Munich in 1972.  How many solvers of any age would have remembered that?
21d	*UNRE AD	*RUNE (anagram indicated by “mysterious”) + AD (cross-ref to 5d: “common era”)
23d	APE X	APE (“primate”) + X (“times”) I thought the “at” in the clue violates Ximenean principles.
24d	_SEDER_	sudane_SE DER_vish (hidden word indicated by “maintained by”)