Put Ends of Alphabet into Tears (5) Cryptic Crosswords

I can't stand cryptic crosswords. They seem to require an arcane vocabulary, elderly knowledge, and a twisted mind.

For example, there's this clue: "Is concerned about small pet (6)". I start off by listing all the synonyms of "concerned" that I can think of: worried, afraid, anxious, nervous, mindful. Then I started listing examples of small pets: turtle, gerbil, kitten. I tried to keep them within 6 letters, because, surely, the answer would be a definition of one of those two things, right?

WRONG! The answer is "caress", which is explained as "cares + S". Apparently "is concerned about" was the "cares" part, and "small" was S. Damn abbreviations. As if I'm thinking about shirt sizes when I solve a puzzle. And "caress" was "pet", even though the clue clearly was using the word as a noun.

Now, where in that clue does it indicate that the answer is supposed to be a verb? My knowledge of English grammar tells me that the object of a prepositional phrase is definitely a noun, not a verb. This is exactly the sort of twisted, illiterate thinking someone would need to solve these puzzles.

Then there's "confuse composer of 'Bolero' (5)". I knew the composer of Bolero was Ravel, but I was cautious at this point. I knew there had to be something involving "confuse". But writing it backwards, scrambling the letters, writing it upside-down, putting a strikethrough through it, and taking letters from "Bolero" and mixing them with "Ravel" did nothing, so I looked at the answer.

The answer was Ravel; Ravel apparently is an English word meaning "to become tangled or confused". But where and when in the world did you ever hear "ravel" being used? In order to solve it, you either have to be a foolish, fearless person who ignores things that don't make sense, or you have an encyclopedic knowledge. No wonder the Britannics enjoy these puzzles.

Then there's "Cereal contains origin of wondrous strength (5)". I'm just confused about where to start with this one. What kind of cereal? Would this be a name-brand cereal like Life or Kix, or a scientific cereal like oats or corn? "Origin" is a sign that I'll need to take the first letter of a word; would that be "wondrous" or "strength"? Liwfe? Csorn? I gave up and looked at the answer.

Brawn. Bran + w. If anyone told me that at a party, I'd clobber them. Are people supposed to take this endless barrage of puns without even twitching?

I'll stick to Paint by Numbers.