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I quite agree, Malone. If I was an editor, I think I’d only let about 20% through. I know Dean Mayer isn’t everyone’s favourite compiler, but his clues very seldom exceed ten words, and I think brevity usually marks out a good setter. So while I seldom admire Bharat’s clues, I do find them a challenge, in spite of, or perhaps because of, their shortcomings

Thanks, Quisling. I initially didn't like Dean Mayer and his clues, but that was because his way of thinking didn't match mine! Once I'd worked out how to tackle him, I got much more successful - and sometimes enjoy some of his clues.

Some of Bharat's clues are fine, some have been awful and I think there's only a few that could say I 'admired'. Because of their shortcomings, the clues often get very little of my time. I'd like everyone to experience the wider world of crosswords, the fun there can be, the elegance, the slight trickery at times. The Clue A Day clues are too texttbook (and often simply dull) for me !

Please help me in parsing / solving this cryptic clue -
"Plan end of forum with a bit of thought (6)"

It's a sneaky one. The definition is plan. You are easily misled into thinking that end of forum is m. In fact it has two ends. One or the other, then a and single letter bit of thought.

Thanks quisling for the help. I had the word earlier, but could not parse it the way you had done. I thought with Forum in the clue, Format canno t be the answer. I was thinking of M???AT and could not find a suitable word. F or M is really a tricky one and only experienced solvers like you can spot it easily.

Thanks for the dialogue between you and malone in the group. It was quite interesting and educative.

Happy to help. First I tried to make MANDAT work, using “and” for “with”, as that is a fairly standard crossword equivalence. But I couldn’t find the word anywhere, so I had to rethink. Normally the first or last letter would be clued as “either end of”, not just “end of”, which is why I said it was sneaky.

And I agree that an answer sharing the same four letters as a key part of the wordplay is odd. I would have used “freedom”

Quisling, at last - another reasonably good clue! It gets 'reasonably' rather than 'good' as I know some puzzles, some setters, don't approve of 'a bit of...' indicating just one letter.

Bharat, the clues that are poor are not down to you - but I sometimes feel you deserve better! I'm pleased to say that today's clue did not make me shudder or squirm, it was reasonably real!

Actually, for the classically-minded, mando is a Latin verb meaning to command, and mandat is the third person present singular, meaning he (or she) commands. But it's a touch obscure for A Clue A Day, and doesn't quite fit the definition. A rabbit hole.

Quisling, yes, I felt the For(u)m was a little odd - I thought the setter was maybe too happy to see F Or M, end of forum.