No 12989, Thursday 16 Jul 2020, Arden

Solution to 17D has been deliberately left unsolved and is to be answered only by a non-regular/novice commenter, with proper annotation. Those who have answered earlier in the week, please give others a chance.

ACROSS
1   Do cut cost, it’s normally done (8) PRACTICE {PR{ACT}ICE}
5   Fool’s errand, finally I’m stuck with detail (6) DIMWIT {e...nD}{I'M}{WITh}
10 Writer’s game to be in front of the enclosure (7) PLAYPEN {PEN}<=>{PLAY}
11 A short encounter took place, one lost a member (7) AMPUTEE {A}{M{PUT}EEt}
12 One group of politicians take interest in our country (5) INDIA {1}{ND{I}A}
13 Terrified since vehicle will run over us (9) AWESTRUCK {A{WE}S}{TRUCK}
14 Things happen too fast for him to be called (4,8)  JACK ROBINSON [GK]
18 Perhaps can bargain, it comes from Cambridge (12) CANTABRIGIAN*
21 Open insulation, it’s partly jutting out (9) PENINSULA [T]
23 Bird takes insect head to toe (5) OUSEL (-l)OUSE(+l)L

24 Sing praises, add wax to it (7) LYRICAL [CD]
25 Hard copy over a wind pipe (7) TRACHEA {TRAC{H}E}{A}
26 Much to be gleaned from a good lesson (6) OODLES [T]
27 Thought and inclination of a principled person (8) IDEALIST {IDEA}{LIST}

DOWN
1   Pay a visit, carry length of material (6) POPLIN {POP{L}IN}
2   Prizes for adults and children (6) AWARDS {A}{WARDS}
3   Boss to disallow parking inside — one follows another (3,6) TOP BANANA {TO}{P}{BAN}{AN}{A}
4   In a bad mood — lousy work carrying tin vessel (14) CANTANKEROUSLY {LOUSY}* under {CAN}{TANKER}
6   Signal Russian leader to get home first (5) INPUT (+in)INPUT(-in)
7   She turns out in small dress, provides nourishment (3-5) WET-NURSE {WE{TURNS*}E}
8   Grabbing — grabbing wife, not if making finer adjustments (8) TWEAKING {T{WifE}AKING}
9   Engineer of rank targeted — assume that (4,3,7) TAKE FOR GRANTED*
15 Love capitalist upsurge in Airlines union (9) INAMORATA {I{ROMAN<=}ATA}
16 Bill and Paul managed business in Mexico (8) ACAPULCO {AC}{PAUL*}{CO}
17 Catch, finally caught (8) ?N?N?R?D (Addendum - ENSNARED {SNARE} {in the END} - See comments))
19 Bands played “It’s him” (6) ISTHMI*
20 Current stops, works — it’s flexible (6) PLIANT {PL{I}ANT}
22 Indian Church in northeast corner (5) NICHE {N{I}{CH}E}

Reference List
Interest = I, Hard = H, Length = L, Adult = A, Parking = P, Home = IN, Wife = W, Bill = AC, Business = CO, Current = I, Indian = I, Church = CH, Northeast = NE

Dr RKE's TalePiece

The pomp and splendor of the annual film AWARDS ceremony is sure to leave you AWESTRUCK. This extravaganza has carved a NICHE for itself in the annals of the film industry.  Notwithstanding the OODLES of glitter and show, the awards are dogged by controversy year-after-year. The PRACTICE is to nominate the 3 contenders for every category, based on the INPUT from a jury. It is TAKEn FOR GRANTED that the jury is PLIANT and that the organizers do some TWEAKING of the list, to please the sponsors. That is how some real DIMWIT movies make it to the list of the TOP BANANAs. 

How else do we explain the exclusion of the film “WET NURSE” from INDIA that was billed by the film critics as the most LYRICAL telling of a tale on celluloid? Or that a run-of-the-mill gangsta movie like “ACAPULCO” that bombed at the box-office gets nominated? You need not be a CANTABRIGIAN scholar to guess that the jury has been ENSNARED with offers that they cannot refuse. Such glaring anomalies have caused many IDEALIST directors to behave CANTANKEROUSLY on the awards night.

This year JACK ROBINSON, the Australian director of an internationally acclaimed movie on saving the OUSELs in the Tasman PENINSULA, was ignored for the ‘Green film’ award. He shouted from his grating TRACHEA, “go, give the award to some bloody blue film instead”, gesticulating wildly with his hand.   Exactly at that time, the bimbo who was announcing the awards (in an off-shoulder POPLIN evening gown), had what is euphemistically called a “wardrobe malfunction”.  The TV cameras captured the momentous occasion and this combination of indignation and indignity gathered a million views on YouTube.