Nah, OSMOSIS (soundalike Oz + Mo + sez)
+++++
Call me Abe’s firstborn. (7)
Ishmael
++++
Stepping back, I was not pelted by the particles in the vacuum (7)
Right answer, but I’m pretty sure it’s Oz + Moses. (i.e. Moses Malone).
Ah. I WAS wondering who Mo Malone was.
Now I’m wondering who Moses Malone is.
Correct The “says” part is a homophone indicator.
As long as the answer is right, it doesn’t really matter how it was determined. I’ve done this many times in cryptics. I figured out the answer because of the letters from intercepting answers.
(That’s a very good one, btw)
LEPTONS (backwards container)
+++++
What was the reaction to the chaotic, destructive attack? Not laughs. (9)
ONSLAUGHT (“not laughs” anagram)
No initial butchery results in merriment. (8)
LAUGHTER (SLAUGHTER - S)
In Oh, God!, Young Frankenstein and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Ms. Garr showed she had the rite stuff. (4)
TERI (anagram of “rite”)
Off topic: Moses Malone was an NBA Hall of Fame center voted league MVP 3 times in his career.
+++++
One candle lit in a cool place? (7)
ICELAND (anagram 1 + candle, with the “I” standing in for the “1”)
+++++
Rock and roll down to his office with that rent check. (8)
LANDLORD (“and roll” anagram + d)
Yawn, base 2 system loses initial characteristic after Gerald loses his first. (8)
Ordinary (anagram (binary - b) + (Ford - F))
++++
Sycophant awkwardly confirms no scanning electron microscope. (3,3)
YES MAN (anagram of “Nay, SEM”?)
+++++
Best selling book: Egg Fear: a Ben Nelson novel. (4, 2, 5, 6)
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (anagram of “Egg Fear: a Ben Nelson”)
++++
Liberals seem upset by society’s work on injustice.(3,10)
LES MISERABLES (anagram of LIBERALS SEEM)
This sore rubs my insole (6).
LESION (insole anagram)
Take the cap off Italian spice and send it back to that wild ass. (6)
Take the cap off Italian spice and send it back to that wild ass.
ONAGER (oregano-o anagram)
+++++
Author Uris’ detergent spilled (8, 5)
GERTRUDE STEIN (anagram of Uris detergent)
+++++
Too bad he’s unintelligible, or he could fill the tenor niche in my hastily-assembled opera company. (10)
INCOHERENT (“tenor nice” anagram)
Tennessee team includes Zeus’s parents. (6)
TITANS (double meaning)
++++
Abandoned mine taken over by single Indian.(8)