Devilish spore-bearer in the thick of misshapen nail (8)
I believe the answer is:
infernal
'devilish' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'spore-bearer in the thick of misshapen nail' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'in' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for infernal that I've seen before include "evil here" , "Of hell, or tiresome like a nuisance" , "awful" , "Irritating and tiresome or relating to hell" , "Hellish - damned" .)