Parsing Assistance Please.

[retrocop]

Maintain study will do the job. (8) The answer is conserve. I can see that to serve is 'do the job' and to Maintain is to conserve. Could anyone please explain how Con comes into the clue. Thank you.

[Jackdaw33]

Con is another word for study

[Mamyalynne]

Study and Con are synonymous

[Mamyalynne]

con4
/kɒn/
verbARCHAIC
verb: con; 3rd person present: cons; past tense: conned; past participle: conned; gerund or present participle: conning
study attentively or learn by heart (a piece of writing).
"the children conned their pages with a great show of industry"

[Buenchico]

. . . as in a submarine's conning tower, from where the sea is conned/studied.

[JJ109]

Con
to study attentively or learn (esp in the phrase con by rote)

[retrocop]

Fantastic. Thank you all so much. My wife and I were competing and I had it in my mind that con was synonamous with study but not sure. When I finished before her she capitulated and then asked me to parse the answer. I could parse the serve part but was not totally sure about Con. Thanks again all for confirming my suspicion.

BTW. She is mightily impressed with AB and the rapid response to this query at this time of night. I explained that this is the time the wise owls abound. :-)

[Buenchico]

^^^ Is 'wise' synonymous with 'drunken' then?

;-)

[Mamyalynne]

Behave you ;-)

[retrocop]

Hoot for yourself Chris. Have been teetotal since January. :-(