Yes. It takes some muscle. I love it, though, so it’s worth the effort. My father used to be responsible for peeling it and cutting it up. I think he did it the hard way, peeling it section by one-inch section with a knife. That means cutting through the shell a lot of times. My family always had it at Thanksgiving, and at other times it was a special treat. Now I scrape off a couple of layers of the shell with a vegetable peeler and then slice through sections of it with brute force. I also make them thicker, about 1½”, so there aren’t so many. Then I cut the slices into largeish chunks. I’ve never made soup with it. I boil the chunks until tender, then mash them up like potatoes, adding some butter and a little salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. It’s a fine side dish with roast turkey and also goes with anything you’d serve with yams.