Introduction
A rather enjoyable puzzle today, and fairly typical in terms of degree of difficulty. I did finish with unanswered questions concerning a couple of clues, for which I eagerly turned to Gazza's review to have answered.
Today's Glossary
Some possibly unfamiliar abbreviations, people, places, words and expressions used in today's puzzle
blighter - noun Brit. informal a person regarded with contempt, irritation, or pity
bloke - noun Brit. informal a man
bod - noun informal 2
Lancelot "Capability" Brown - 18th century English landscape architect
CO - abbreviation 3 Commanding Officer
Sir. W.S. Gilbert - English librettist who, together with composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, wrote fourteen comic operas
Mons - city in Belgium, site of the Battle of Mons, the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force in World War I
OM - abbreviation Brit (Member of the) Order of Merit
S2 - abbreviation 2 Saint
waffle2 [Collins English Dictionary] - verb Informal chiefly Brit. to speak or write in a vague and wordy manner; he waffled on for hours [note: in North America, waffle is generally used in the sense of "To speak, write, or act evasively"].
Today's Links
Gazza's review of today's puzzle may be found at Big Dave's Telegraph Crossword Blog [DT 26019].
Commentary on Today's Puzzle
11a This person is indifferent and is trapped (2-3-2)
Having arrived at the solution to this clue more through intuition than analysis, I only realized that I had overlooked the wordplay involving "indifferent" meaning so-so when I read Gazza's review.
23a Humorous writer, awkward blighter, hard to shake off (7)
This is yet another case where I got a bit sloppy in my solving technique. Not realizing that I had unknowingly dropped the "h" in forming the anagram, I was then puzzled by the "hard to shake off" part of the wordplay. How easy it is to overlook the obvious sometimes!
27a Unimportant happenings given no individual broadcasts (3-6)
One can also arrive at the same destination as Gazza ("NONE (no individual)") via a slightly less direct route:
N (no) ONE (individual)
3d Capability, perhaps shown by naughty lap dancers (10)
Perhaps due to being distracted by the lap dancers, I searched in vain for an explanation of why "Capability" might mean landscaper. Thankfully, the answer is revealed by Gazza.
Although this might, on first blush, seem to be one of the most obscure references I have ever encountered in a puzzle, it would actually have been remarkably easy to find the explanation for the wordplay. If one goes to the "Capability" article in Wikipedia, there (under the heading "See also") one will find an entry "Capability Brown, an English landscape artist" (although, from this entry, one could be forgiven if they got the impresssion that he was a painter rather than a landscape architect).
7d Island's city house, no outstandingly impressive thing (8)
Perhaps the apostrophe is misplaced and the clue should have read "Islands' city". Honolulu, the capital of the state of Hawaii, is located on the island of Oahu, one of several islands in the Hawaiian archipelago that make up the state of Hawaii. According to Wikipedia, Honolulu (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu) is the only incorporated city in the state of Hawaii (and therefore on the Hawaiian Islands).
15d A fellow keeping partner outside home is detested (10)
I discovered from Gazza's review that I wasn't the only one to be visited by visions of nesting Russian dolls upon deciphering this clue.
Signing off for today - Falcon
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