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A hint for anyone who hasn't got there yet.
I tried to find out what "lute" has to do with tooth repair.
O googled "lute", wickipedia'd it, disambiguated it, all to no avail.
I then googled "lute tooth repair" and good old Amazon offered to sell me some.
I must have led a sheltered existence as I have never heard of this!

Magpie, one definition of 'lute' (in Chambers) is 'material used as a protective covering, a waterproof seal'. Would that work? You didn't give the whole clue.

Yellowish teeth may be repaired with this kind of lead

Lutescent - Yellowish

Lute - a type of dental cement/fixative
Scent - a lead (in an investigation eg)

Hi Malone,
I didn't give the clue or number on the assumption that any one interested would find it eventually.
I did look in Chambers but no mention of teeth!
I always thought that Chambers was THE source of reference for Time and Sunday Times crosswords

Magpie, there are loads of helpful solvers on the Forum, but they don't get all the papers - giving the clue widens the chance of help.

The crossword editor of the Times said - a few months ago, I think - that there isn't a definitive dictionary for solving. The setters use Chambers and the SOED, words from Collins also appear sometimes.

Hi Malone,
For once I wasn't looking for help; I was offering it.
The help was of use only to those doing the crossword so I didn't see the point in saying any more than I did!
I have in the past, while seeking help, been very particular in giving full information of crossword, clue number, clue length and known letters.

Sorry, magpie, I didn't realise your first post was offering help.

I like getting the clues as there's quite a few crosswords I don't see - the Guardian and Telegraph, say, and it means I get to tackle the odd clue here and there. Clues such as your 'lute...' one throw up some interesting pieces of info!

Thanks magpie (and others) - that makes 3 new words for me arising from this crossword.

The other two?

- the answer to 11d Cryptograms confused a posh gangster (13) ... it was one of the few I was completely stumped by, and an anagram solver site revealed the answer

- a word (you'll see) in the clue for 17a Still square and homosocial essentially. I have the answer, but not the parse.

So, once again, a learning opportunity for me!

"
- a word (you'll see) in the clue for 17a Still square and homosocial essentially. I have the answer, but not the parse."

Is it 'even so' or 'ever so'?

Even - Still