I took a lot of time because of the first set.  I was sure that YACHT and RIPS were the 1st and 3rd words but I didn't understand why  "Clue for 2nd word: A word used to describe the opening before a grand opening" = SOFT.
It was later that I realized that Google existed, and found out that 'Soft Opening' is a term. 
The other anagrams came easier for me.  Once I found 1 or 2 words, I only had to rearrange the remaining letters to find the other word.