Inquisitor 1638

[Ripper]

12 down" Humourless king astride horse dispatching lower athletic beast (9, 2 words) PO?AR?EA? (? polar bear, but why?)
Now to the 'three adjacent squares' I was thinking of 'SHE' after singing the song, but I can't get that to work, there is another thread on this but it didn't help me. I assume when I've exchanged the letters that the six letter word should be an anagram of the 'squiffy' person????
Basically (as usual) I'm stuck!!
All help gratefully received!

[dannyk13]

po (humourless) Ar(a)b (horse) inside lear(king)

[Neveracrossword]

Ripper, you have the first letter of the 'three adjacent squares' right, but that's all. I got it when I worked out the 'shows when the trouble might have started' part. That bit leads to a common phrase, when people often think it's an OK time to have a drink -' when the....'

[Ripper]

Thank you dannyk13 & Neveracrossword. Can't wait for that ' OK time' tonight!

[Neveracrossword]

Ripper, I'm glad I helped - I was worried that my hint might have been more of a hindrance!