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I can't speak on K's behalf, but as a fellow Answerbank user I can certainly speak up for him a bit. He certainly doesn't get all his answers from AB: he's one of that forum's most consistent and longstanding givers of hints, advice, encouragement and solutions. And when he makes a mistake, he readily apologises, in my experience.

With respect, you're missing the point here. It's not that Paul McKenna's puzzles are too hard, it's that many of the clues are so obscure and, on occasion, poorly constructed, that they frustrate even advanced solvers.

They haven't always been like this - up to a few months ago, I'd get through one of P McK's offerings with an acceptable and usually enjoyable level of mental gymnastics.

Now, I can hardly be bothered. I don't have two days to spare, and I hate completing any puzzle with the nagging doubt that I've construed a clue incorrectly or that I've arrived at a solution without certainty as to how I got there.

To use a golfing analogy, it's rather like players hitting their tee shots on a par 3 to within feet of the pin, only to find their ball rolling back down the lightning-fast green into a lake.

There are fair tests of ability, and blatantly unfair ones.

Bathtub, I should like to support wholeheartedly everything you say. You have described the problems with PMcK's puzzles succinctly and fairly.
Trevor - I wonder if you are a regular solver of Mephisto, because if not, you are missing the point completely. It has always been for me, and seemingly a lot of us here, one of Sunday's highspots, knowing it would be a happy mental tussle. Now, with P's name at the top, it is greeted with a grimace.
I think, also that you are so unfair aboutK. Since he started contributing to this forum I have seen that he gives help and advice at every level of difficulty,, and as a reasonably experienced solver myself I recognise him as an expert.

Thank you Bathtub for your opening remarks and for the clear and concise manner you articulated the feelings of many solvers of Paul McKenna's crosswords.
Trevor
To answer your individual points-
1)The clues are not too hard for me.I have been completing the Mephisto for 20 years and it is by no means the most difficult crossword I do on a regular basis. Bathtub has made the point about the obscurity and poor construction of PMcK's clueing far better than I could.
2)I do not want the 'bastard' sacked. I felt, as did others, that the crossword editor at the Sunday Times should be made aware of the disquiet among many dedicated fans of the Mephisto puzzle.
3) you may be correct that I am a serious person, but I do enjoy banter in appropriate circumstances.
4)I do not get most of my answers from Answerbank as in many cases I have provided the answers in the first place. I have contributed over 25000 answers there, a good many on Mephisto and other barred crosswords, and I believe my contribution
is appreciated there.
5)I probably should have continued to make my side of the argument with MISTLEY. We had a disagreement about the use of indirect anagrams and anagram indicators but I felt we were at a stalemate and there was no point to further debate.I will go back and add a comment to that thread.

I have followed the thread from AnswerBank and read with great interest all of the comments previous to my input. I have always found K an inspiration when I get stuck he never condescends even though he is a far better solver than most of us. As for P McK I thought it was just me. I miss Chris Feetenby who was my favourite Mephisto compiler. I learnt to speak Scottish thanks to him!

Over on Answerbank K has reported that the members of this site have got up a "protest petition" and sent it in. However,when reading through this thread it appears that in reality this means that ONE person has said they have sent a complaining e-mail. Talk about handling the truth carelessly.

Fred I think that K meant was that the Sunday Times editor had been sent a link to this page from which he could see the level of dissatisfaction.
Possibly not a petition as such, but an illustration of the negativity towards the crosswords set by Paul McKenna.
Today seems to be Anti K day!

It's all very well making excuses for K but the fact remains that he clearly spoke about a "protest petition" and that is at best a gross distortion of the truth and at worst a downright lie.

This is what happened:- A couple of weeks ago I got so annoed with the obscure and misdirected clues in the crosswords set by PMcK that I sent an email to the crossword editor of the Sunday Times to explain how I felt, and I was speaking jut for myself. The straw that broke the camel's back was the definition of "ink-sac" as a means of escape

I received an email in reply from PMcK implying that he was surprised at my complaint, as he had many emails from solvers saying that they were pleased with the more difficult puzzles.
This last Sunday, wit another obscure crossword, and this forum with yet more dissatisfaction, I decided to send another email to PMcK with a link to this thread, to show that I wasn't a lone voice. I also pointed out that the barometer of opinion must show in the number of correct entries for each puzzle.

That is exactly what happened - no collaboration with anyone else.

ergo. no protest petition from this site?

As for Anti K day,it is something like 4 to 5 in favour of K on this page alone. That is if Fred is anti k. I'm not.

sorry, i meant 5 to 1 in favour of K (if Fred was anti)