  3C 223 is a radio loud, Type 2 quasar at $z=0.1365$ with an intriguing
XMM-Newton spectrum that implicated it as a rare, Compton-thick ($N_{\rm H}
\gtrsim 1.25 \times 10^{24}$ cm$^{-2}$) active galactic nucleus (AGN). We
obtained contemporaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectra to fit the broad-band
X-ray spectrum with the physically-motivated MYTorus and borus02 models. We
confirm earlier results that the obscuring gas is patchy with both high (though
not Compton-thick) levels of obscuration ($N_{\rm H} > 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$) and
gas clouds with column densities up to an order of magnitude lower. The
spectral fitting results indicate additional physical processes beyond those
modeled in the spectral grids of MYTorus and borus02 impact the emergent
spectrum: the Compton-scattering region may be extended beyond the putative
torus; a ring of heavy Compton-thick material blocks most X-ray emission along
the line of sight; or the radio jet is beamed, boosting the production of Fe
K$\alpha$ line photons in the global medium compared with what is observed
along the line of sight. We revisit a recent claim that no radio loud
Compton-thick AGN have yet been conclusively shown to exist, finding three
reported cases of radio loud AGN with global average (but not line-of-sight)
column densities that are Compton-thick. Now that it is possible to separately
determine line-of-sight and global column densities, inhomogeneity in the
obscuring medium has consequences for how we interpet the spectrum and classify
an AGN as "Compton-thick."
