The Times 28320

[TioMateo]

4Dn :- Cow pat? (4) N?A?. It looks like NEAT, but I can't reconcile with "pat".
16Dn :- American battle against tea that's thrown over? (8) ?N?I???M
25Ac :- Support Garment (3) ??E

[Toorak]

4 pat = neat and neat is a cow
25 tie

[scorpiojo]

16 Anti (against) etam (Mate, tea, reversed)

[Toorak]

25 tee rather than tie

[TioMateo]

Thanks, scorpiojo and Toorak. But, Toorak, when I say I can't reconcile Neat with "pat", it doesn't really help a lot for you just to say "pat" = NEAT. I realise it has to equal NEAT, but I don't understand how/why it does. Similarly, just saying TIE for the clue "Support garment" and then changing it to TEE, without any explanation, doesn't really help either. I had thought of both TIE and TEE, but couldn't feel fully convinced by either. TEE is definitely a support, but it's not a garment on its own - to be a garment, it would seem to need the addition of another word to give TEE SHIRT, but TEE on its own surely isn't enough to be a garment?

It's not that I don't appreciate your trying to help, because I really do. But a little more justification of the parsing would be very welcome.

[goodgoalie]

Pat meaning 'simple', as to have something 'off pat'.

[elliemay1]

25 bra?

[Neveracrossword]

TioMateo, Chambers doesn't agree with you about the Tee. That's got its own entry in Chambers, then defined as a tee shirt.

[elliemay1]

Tio what gave you the E in 25Ac?

[TioMateo]

Many thanks, Neveracrossword. Mea maxima culpa. I didn't actually check TEE in Chambers just the once, I checked it TWICE!!, and still managed not to notice the very clear words "(inf) a tee shirt". I still don't understand how I did that, but it definitely calls for a double dose of sackcloth and ashes. Thank you.

[Neveracrossword]

Thanks, TioMateo. I have been caught out myself with dictionary checking - seeing a big, long entry but failing to spot the shorter one underneath.

[TioMateo]

Hi elliemay1, and thanks for joining in. The E in 25Ac was the 5th letter of TRICEPS (18Dn) for which the clue was : "Muscle aches regularly introduced by stumbles" (7), which is definitely correct. BRA would otherwise have been a perfectly valid (if a little simplistic) answer. However, you will now have seen that I have been (rightly) put in my place by Neveracrossword, and am munching my way through the humble pie.

[elliemay1]

Thanks for answering Tio, no need for humble pie!

[Neveracrossword]

TioMateo, no eating of humble pie is necessary. Yours was a mere oversight(literally!).