Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

I know these things are very subjective and I've been out of step before when trying to assess the difficulty of puzzles, and in the past have thought a particular puzzle was difficult, only for the vast majority of solvers to comment how easy they found it.

That said, I thought this really was a very difficult Everyman. The most difficult for a long time,

20d. caused most problems, not being familiar with that version of the Bible, but, once I got the crossers, the definition was clear and then it was just a matter of trial and error.

Also, 11a caused some problems, even when the answer became clear. I parsed the last 2 letters fairly quickly but can only get the first three to work if used as an acronym, and not even a familiar one - at least not one I've come across.

I'll be very interested to hear the thoughts of others, so please feel free to leave your comments. Is it just me or is it the most difficult for a while?

I've just checked in Chambers (which I as always forget), and the acronym referred to in 11a is there, so fair enough.

You're so right, it is subjective - suffering from 11 and experiencing 20 for many years I found those two simple.

A decent puzzle with some challenge, a good starter to the day.

Brendan I concur. Toughest Everyman for a while.

Curiously I've found this one fairly easy going (so far.... about 4 left to finish....)

And 19a made me laugh - best clue for ages!

Is the second letter of 24 C?

bigmacsub - Yes

Thanks jazzgirl, in which case I don't get it, assuming I have it right from a very limited field

Certainly trickier than the last few weeks, and it took me ages to parse 11A, too (a bit of help in the clue that we were looking for an abbreviation would have been nice). Still, the one that caused me most trouble was 5D. If I've parsed it correctly, the 'organ' part of the clue is tenuous, at best. Or maybe I'm misreading it? Any pointers?

The def. is competitive. 6 letters for the clergyman