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Thanks, darla. I just now have the obvious (but unparseable - for me) 17A (Oh, now I see it - hmm) and the mysterious 20A remaining. Brain fog probably.

I don't think that just including a word 2x within all the text of the clues constitutes a clue to the theme - I guess you just have to be of a sartorial bent when you see a few of them turn up. Oh well.

I can wait for the 20A, just like the few I couldn't get last week, in 225.

jenna, 20 is an obscure one.
Definition is "A", parses as 3 ("mountain", obvious) + 2 ("area in Europe", a measure perhaps not well known outside Europe).

The plot thickens.
On the Guardian crossword site, in discussion following Carpathian's Cryptic 29,190, someone posted a Boatman tweet that possibly implied the absence of special instructions is deliberate. Note the date.

https://twitter.com/BoatmanCryptics/status/1707022902577574178

The smoking gun.

Oh my! I was virtually certain it was an oversight by either the editor or Boatman - looks like I was wrong!

From something I saw today this looks increasingly like editorial error. The plot thickens…

Geeker, not out tailgating at the MetLife with the Swifties? 😉😂

'Fraid not, Brendan. Didn't even know of the event! I'm proud of being out of touch with popular culture, and Swiftism is yet one more phenomenon that passed me by.

Weirdly, I have heard many of her tunes. I live in a rural area and like to listen to radio while driving. In my immediate neighborhood there are practically no stations, but the one with best reception (easiest to tune in) plays Ms. Swift with amazing frequency.

Thanks all for gently aiding my puzzlement with this one.

I found it okay, with a couple of otherwise-easy clues missing a definition, to figure out that it was themed; but I was dismayed to find no special instruction at all had been given.

I wondered later whether the 15a clue was the de facto instruction — but that asterisks perhaps (‘stars’) should have marked the missing definitions? This seems like the sort of ‘cleanup’ an overzealous editor might do.

I don’t recall many themed crosswords having no hint at all of the theme. Hiding it in two clues is pushing it a bit. I think it’s just a classic Grauniad mistake, along with ‘I together!’ in 25ac.