Smug observation, not involving me, to take place (10)

I believe the answer is:

complacent

'smug' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'observation not involving me to take place' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'not' could be 'nt' (synonyms) and 'nt' is located in the answer.
'place' could be 'pl' (abbreviation used in postal addresses) and 'pl' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

(Another definition for complacent that I've seen is " Smug, uncritically self-satisfied".)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.

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