Able to weather difficult conditions (“Channel Firing”)

Once upon a time, in a quaint little village on the coast of England, there lived a man named Thomas Hardy. Thomas was a skilled sailor, and he spent most of his life navigating the rough seas of the English Channel. He had seen it all – fierce storms, treacherous tides, and raging waves, but he had always managed to come out victorious.

One day, Thomas was sitting at the local pub, enjoying a pint of ale when he overheard some sailors discussing an upcoming voyage. They were worried about the weather conditions, and Thomas couldn’t help but interject. “You lads need to be hardy,” he said. “If you want to make it through those waters, you’ll need to be tough and resilient.”

The sailors were curious, “What do you mean by hardy?” they asked.

“Well,” Thomas replied, “Being hardy means being able to weather difficult conditions. It means being tough, strong, and resilient in the face of adversity.”

From that day forward, Thomas Hardy became known as the man who was hardy. And whenever the sailors faced a difficult journey, they would remember his words and strive to be as hardy as he was.

Years went by, and Thomas passed away, but his legacy lived on. The word “hardy” became synonymous with resilience, strength, and toughness. And so, whenever someone encountered a difficult crossword clue that asked for a word meaning “able to weather difficult conditions,” they knew the answer was “hardy.”