Polymath 474

[alanogden]

5D A stiffening for a doublet. (8)
S?E?T?U?
Everyone seems to be having trouble with this one. Has anyone cracked it yet?

[Lie-in King]

Hi alan - as per this...

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Quizzes-and-Puz zles/Question654614.html

...still no reply, so I'll try & chase it up today, but I don't hold out much hope!

[aeronut]

Check your OED.
Stentour is defined as stiffening for a doublet.
1502 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 289 For iij elne cammes to be stentouris and patrownis to him.

[Mamyalynne]

OOh aeronut well done you, had everyone going did that!

[aeronut]

Thanks :))

[Lie-in King]

Hah! Rofl! Well done, aeronut! :-)))

My OED access was down due to "renovation" of the site (Oh, joy...) Having discovered the new, improved (NOT!) way in & found the answer, I rushed back...too late!

I'm glad I was on the right lines with 'Stenting', though...

...And there's never anyone on the desk at the FT anyway!

[foxwall]

Well, well, hail to aeronut, a new one on me, perhaps a professor of mediaeval history? And thanks to lie-in-king for drawing my attention to it.

[comeragh]

Thanks aeronut for the definition. Great to have a closure. Thanks also Lie-in King for where to find the information. I can rest easy now! I new word for my vocabulary.

[alanogden]

That is a rare word - thanks for discovering it!