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The length of the answer.

After hours of fighting I have managed to slay the beast. Definitely one of the hardest crosswords I have encountered. I wonder how long Twin spent compiling it.

Just what I was thinking, s1or1. I admit to seeking help but I have already dubbed this beastie POTY so far.

My tentative answer to the clue beginning 'Mongrel' (fifth clue in column 2) is in Collins, but not in Chambers, but there is no preamble alert.

Also, the second clue in that column lacks a necessary obsolete indicator.

In a puzzle as hard as this it's unacceptable that standard rules are broken.

After having cold solved 3/4 of the clues with none entered I was toying with the idea of calling it a day. My usual ploy in alphabeticals, of picking one answer, in this case one of the 3 letter ones, and putting it in all available 3 letter spaces then trying to build around it has always served me well in the past but in this puzzle,, due to the double letter cells, it isn't working. However, after reading the largely positive reviews, I've been encouraged to carry on:-)

I'm in a similar position to you brendan and, like you, I'm struggling on. I feel the key might be that central 9-letter entry, but the ones I have so far don't work.
Could someone give me a nudge with 'Drug needles...' and 'He won't attend...' please?
It would also be good to know which part of 'Florid gold vests...' is the definition too. I cannot see a way into that one.

Since there are seven clues with enumeration (9) and only one entry with 9 spaces, the enumerations are for the clue answers not the entries. So 6 of those 9-letter answers must have cells with 2 letters.

'drug needles' - definition is the last five words
'he won't attend' - def is first 3 words; 'lessons' should probably have something added to indicated Scottish.
'Florid...' - def is last word

UK - you’re correct to focus on that nine-letter candidate; all of the other five will need shortening to fit. Last word is definition; a slang usage of a well known word, but definitely in Chambers.

Murky - hi - whilst the word isn’t in Chambers, many well known plurals are not either. ‘Kidneys’ isn’t there; it’s certainly possible to have two of them.

Surely pluralisation in the respective language is fair game?

Are you replying to me buzzb? If so I understand that. I'm looking for the one 9-letter answer that doesn't have a double cell and the ones I have so far don't work because of the two seven-letter entries going down from it