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What the .....!!? My head is still spinning 🤪

This offering by Enigmatist is one of the most difficult, impenetrable crosswords I've ever done.

Although I've finished it, there are still several clues I've yet to fully parse, but I'll carry on looking and hopefully the penny (or pennies!) will drop

I know I'm notoriously bad at gauging difficulty, and of course it's possible I was just not on the Enigmatist's wavelength, but I foresee many furrowed brows among our merry band of Saturday Prize solvers.

My COD was going to be a toss-up between 16a and 21a - mainly because they're among the few clues who's parsing I'm sure of, but in the end I've opted for 1,15d.

Please feel free to leave a comment - I'm eager to see if it was an uphill struggle for everyone or just me!

Thanks to Enigmatist.

Take care:-)

I now have everything parsed except for 4d and 6d.

In 6d the answer is clear, but in 4d, despite having 3 of the 5 letters, and a limited number of words with that letter pattern, I'm still not convinced which is the right answer!

6d finally parsed - that just leaves the baffling 4d!!

4d Eureka! Where there's a will there's a way:-)

Hi Brendan, well like you I found that extremely tough. Was off to a flying start with many of the long clues, 1/15d, 9a, 22a, but then hit a wall. 24a was LOI as many words fit there but I think I have it now. 20d was new to me as was the 18a but guessable. Had the last letter of 15a wrong to begin with.

Like you I’m struggling to parse 4d and 6d. That’s if I have 4d correct. Also the middle bit of 11a is baffling me at the moment.

Hi Jono,

It looks like we had a similar experience with this, only I definitely didn't get off to a flying start:-(

4d is a double definition so if you don't get it there's no real way to piece it together.

6d is a 4 letter abbreviation of a 10 letter word meaning "section" followed by the obvious last letter.

11a is a 2 letter word for "what" + 4 letter word for "spaces" both reversed/left + 2 letter abbr. for "dry" followed by "I"

Thanks Brendan, I think I’m there. I hadn’t appreciated the nautical usage of 4d before. Should have seen 11a! Cheers

Yes, a tough puzzle. 6d was easy for me. But I’m yet to get the correct 4d, though I have all the crossers right.

Hi Mathi,

4d both definitions are in Chambers but you have to scroll down really far.

Thanks, got it. Defined as clothes and beddings issued to seamen!