Thanks once again for the useful and much appreciated replies, folks.
My wife was just able to check in online, though we have to pick up her boarding pass at the airport tomorrow night. We'll leave early just in case that process takes some time.
If anyone thinks we should nevertheless try to change her AA/ticket name to be fully consistent with her passport at this point, or advice on anything else (such as what to expect in transit in Hong Kong), please weigh in. But my inclination is to not muck with this any further and to harmonize the names after we get back.
Ironically, I'm getting a message at CX's site that it can't find my ticket number, even though I confirmed it by phone with a CX rep just a couple of days ago.
Anyway, I hope I'll sort out that latest issue fairly easily.
And I'll post down the line about how things go at the airport and in transit in Hong Kong.