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I agree that the 'three-d' and 'demote' clues were of questionable precision, although I think they were unusual in that regard and that Mephisto mostly parses pretty decently. Not so the other Sunday Times crossword where the setters seem to be more concerned with being witty than being accurate.

I just keep doing them both because there's no postage involved in submitting them online. Since the start of the first lockdown in March of last year I've won 3 runner-up prizes of £20 from Mephisto and a Cross ballpoint pen as a runner-up prize from the Crossword. I'll keep on doing the latter in the hope of replacing the Parker pen I won from The Times Saturday crossword in 1991!

9 down: Parrot-like Irish object of education (8) Answer: Yoketoed
Help with parsing please. Thanks in advance. My first Mephisto, and certainly my last. I prefer witty clues to ones using words that are largely unknown. More checking of the crosswords needed. Pleased others found it unsatisfactory

Good Evening, rogerjw.

YOKE (Irish word for object) + to=for + ed(abbreviation)

I'm hoping that the sloppiness this week was a hiccup. Mephisto is normally tough but fair, with lots of obscure words. Paul McKenna is the toughest setter I think, with Don Manley being quite a lot gentler. Tim Moorey is somewhere in between.

A nice run of success Will37. Long may it continue. I can't remember when I last won a prize because I am not very good at Ancient History. The latest batch is ready for sending in but I won't submit EV as I needed help to get over the line.

I just hope that you aren't alone in that attitude, alwayspuzzled. I only submit the Times weekend cryptics and normally finish under my own steam. I don't submit The Listener. It's too much bother, although I do understand the reasons for postal entries being John Green's wish.

I agree with you, bobbycollins. I won't submit a puzzle if the solution isn't all my own work - well, with a bit of help from Chambers and Bradford's - and I only come here after I have completed them. I realise that there are others who use every crib that they can find but - with the recent Olympics in mind - just because one is aware that some others aren't playing clean, it doesn't mean one has to walk away from the competition.

Since I started to look seriously at The Listener earlier this year, I've managed to finish about three under my own steam and have sent them off; but the infrequency of my entries means that my chances of winning Brewer's Dictionary are probably vanishingly small!