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Hi loobyloo
8d is plural, so not just a monarch
16d it's "twice briefly" i.e. each word is abbreviated

Hi Loubyloo,
Kin is part of the definition and gives the plural ending.
Twice is there because ’briefly’ needs to apply to both parts of the answer.

Thanks both -I thought it was meant to be Monarch and King and that
the twice referred to Charles.

Proof that yes , I am getting worse (sad face if I knew how to include an emoji)

The hardest one for ages. No idea about
12a
11d
4a.
I think I’ll have a rest and come back to it.
It often amuses me how different we are. The ones that puzzle me are easy for others and vice-versa, but perhaps less so today.

loubylou, I doubt you’re getting worse, there seems to be general agreement here that this was harder than most Everymans. It’s worth remembering 5 because it does come up fairly often in cryptics. 4 was my LOI, probably wouldn’t have got it without the crossing letters.

Hi Nicola,

12a and 11d are both double definitions. For 12a think how difficult children might be described.
The first 5 letters of 4a are a homophone for a word that means 'brings on cargo' and the last 3 letters are another word for bitumen. The definition is something that assists sailors when out at sea (not a person, as I originally thought)

Can anyone help me parse 6d? I largely biffed it, after realising that the second word was part of a rhyming pair, but have no idea what El Salvador has to do with it, or anything else in the clue really!

6d parses 7 (train), 1 (Dutch), 5 (boarders, as in those that board, less one letter for time), 2 El Salvador (IVR)

A curates egg making this one trickier than usual - wrote in NW, slowed slightly for SW, held up for a while in the NE and ground to a halt for ages in SE. LOI was 16.

Ah, thanks Jono. I did get the train bit, but then I was fixated on 'boarders' meaning the D and H of Dutch, so couldn't figure out the rest of it at all.

I agree it was an enjoyable challenge today. I did get stuck on 16D for ages but this meant I discovered this word is a ridiculous acronym. It's always good to learn something new.

I have to disagree with some on here, I think 5D works fine for how cockneys would say both words alluded to in the clue.