Crossword Genius

Lame cooking with ordinary recipe, ultimately humdrum grub (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mealworm

'grub' is the definition.
(mealworm is a type of insect larva or grub)

'lame cooking with ordinary recipe ultimately humdrum' is the wordplay.
'cooking' indicates anagramming the letters (cook can mean to falsify or distort).
'with' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'ordinary' becomes 'O' (abbreviation e.g. O-Levels).
'recipe' becomes 'r' (abbreviation in medical prescriptions).
'ultimately' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'humdrum' is 'm'.
'lame' is an anagram of 'meal'.
'meal'+'w'+'o'+'r'+'m'='MEALWORM'

(Other definitions for mealworm that I've seen before include "Beetle larva" , "larva disliked by millers" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.