Thank god, I thought it was just me. Even with the answers I still cannot work out how they arrive at most clues. I used to really enjoy doing this xword but cheesed off with it now.
Thank you everyone. I wholly agree with your comments about the awful clues given. My friend is also in despair and does not bother attempting it these days. Someone should inform the Express that this is not the standard of crosswords we need. Best wishes to everyone.