Apologies for the 2 truncated clues. I didn't know what the character limit was.

Anyone who solves this is a better man or woman than myself and Chris and we take our hats off to them. That said, I seem to have set a very tough grid today. We got the discover/penalised answer and a couple of others but that was about it.

I do agree with all of your synonyms; notably lynx and puma. These are quite separate species of wildcat. Cougar, mountain lion and even panther I can accept as a synonym for puma; but not lynx.

Is there a competition going on at the moment to see who can set the most ludicrously difficult grid with the aim that no-one can complete it?

No fun at all, practically impossible to complete!!

Forget french fries, that's fried my brain. Even if you crack some of the connections, impossible to complete in 3 minutes.

Possibly the worst, unachievable grid so far. Sorry but they ought to be possible.

Methinks you do jest with me; I am gridlocked!

I only dimly grasped a few of these but it was an interesting few minutes. Thanks.

What the actual f**k was this? Horrible

What the puck?