Speccie 2587

[LancastrianOik]

I've filled in the grid and I think I've twigged as to the "mispronounced praise" in the unclued 32/12d (it would appear to be a phrase from a well-known TV programme). So maybe 12D could be a mispronounced version of a word associated with the title.

I have an anagram ('derived from the letters of...') for 10/39 which is a place name, but now I'm stuck.

I'm looking for hints only, please.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Neveracrossword]

Yes, the 12D is from the tv programme. The 'place name' is more than just a place - it ties in with the title+the properly pronounced word. T2 D and 34 D was one I found easy to deduce, not quite so much anagramming involved there.

Hope this is of some use. I'm trying to stick with hints...

[LancastrianOik]

Thanks... I'll cudgel my brains a little more.

[Helveticus]

Like you, I found 32/12D and 10/39 (incl. anagram), but there are just too many unchecked letters in the remaining unclued lights. I slogged through all the possibilities for 3/34 with Chambers Word Wizard, but could not find the anagram, which suggests that it is two words and/or a proper noun. Not one of Pabulum's best.

[hypotheses]

Exactly where I’m at. Going to put it aside now and see if a stiff G&T helps.

[ProfessorMaisie]

3 ends with 'k' 34 starts with 't'

[ProfessorMaisie]

There's a song of the same name.

[neversaydie]

I think 34 can also start with s

[novalis]

I found this quite tricky. Likewise I have 34 down starting with S rather than T. It will be interesting to see what the consensus is on that.

[ProfessorMaisie]

's' would work just as well.

[ProfessorMaisie]

...but I think that's taken away all of the possibilities I left for the unchecked letter.

[novalis]

I went for S simply because it is a more common word than the one beginning T.

[ProfessorMaisie]

The 's' word doesn't have its own entry in Chambers - the 't' word has three of them.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Sorry, it does - but it's more obscure than the 't' word. Those ****** Scottish words!

[Llanfair]

You are kidding, aren't you, ProfessorMaisie? Pabulum himself is an 'S' and every crossword has an 'S'. Not Scottish, not obscure in the slightest.

[ProfessorMaisie]

I'm referring to the entry in Chambers under that headword, llanfair ''(chiefly Scot and N England dialect) vt to trea with a seton of setterwort root. n a flow so produced in cattle [perh from MLGer]...

That's pretty obscure to me and I still haven't got a clue what it actually means.
I picked the 't' option because it left more alternatives for the unchecked letter (for those not wanting the answer spelled out).
By the way, there's a similar ambiguity in the entry for 45a.

[ProfessorMaisie]

...sorry, 'to treat with a...'

[novalis]

My first thought for 34 down was canine related.

[hypotheses]

Canine works for me.

[ProfessorMaisie]

I don't think anyone is trying to say there's a single, definitive, correct answer here (at least I hope not). Spectator puzzles often have these ambiguities - it doesn't rea.lly matter what we plump for, the puzzle is flawed

[novalis]

Doubly flawed unfortunately ProfessorMaisie. As you say there is no definitive answer.