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Insert an apostrophe between the 1st 2 letters...

No, I've got all that Geeker and can see it's a contraction, that's not the problem - I just can't see how ?'? equates to "your tormentor".

Setters refer to themselves in various ways.

Ahhhh! I get it now - well played Geeker:-)

A rather apropos phrase this week!

Oh my god! I finished it. Quite the challenge, even by Paul standards. Of course it didn’t help, that like my countryman geeker, I was unfamiliar with the thematic items. Despite the “torment” I endured, there were some clues I really liked. I have 13 as my COD, but agree with you gentlemen that 9 was a worthy contender.

Hi MPRS,

Yes, a real challenge this week from Paul.

13a - took me an age to unpack and, in retrospect, is a worthy COD contender and definitely has the smoothest surface reading.

13, along with 5 and 20 were all just a hair below 9 in my COD ranking. All stellar clues. I found the misdirection aspect of 20 particularly funny.

20d - I wondered if, as Americans, you guys might struggle with this - I should have known better 😂

At the tag end of a horrid solving week, I took significant solace in figuring out all the non-artist thematics. Had to confirm some via Google, but not ashamed of that. Chapeau to those who can parse the Egyptian spirit clue without consulting a reference. 😉