8 is difficult. Definition "challenging", wordplay fairly straightforward but depends on a usage of "cat" I'd never seen before and had to guess. There are hints upthread.
I'm with Chrise on Qaos - not enjoyable.
Didn't get the theme until I came here: might have livened it up a bit for us.
Find the parsing too obtuse and frustrating, ah me!
FOI 5
LOI 16
COD pfffft apart from the theme :-)
Mixed bag of a puzzle for me. About 2/3 to 3/4 of it was nicely clued and fun. But there were several labo(u)red/forced parsings that lowered the overall rating. I had trouble with the UK GK, but that's par for the course. Props to Qaos for the theme.