ATHENS (at HENS)
+±++
Guarantee alternative nutrition (6)
ENSURE (double meaning)
Ear hurts painfully, like these ducts. (8)
Eccles tone, actually - but fair enough! I think Eccles is (just about) in Lancashire.
URETHRAS (ear hurts*)
+++++
Russian leader cheerleads Russian leader (8)
Rasputin (razz Putin)
+++++
Hollywood slang for when ten used car salesmen each unload a car (10)
Hint: An alternate version could be: Hollywood slang for when 10 salesmen sell a municipality.
Was thinking Tinseltown but wasn’t sure how to parse it.
Likewise with “Intercut.”
This is correct. Meant to be a sound alike. The initial clue was intended to evoke “Ten sell ten” as the homophone, which I later thought was a bit of a stretch. So the revised version was “Ten sell town”.
Playing off TINSELTOWN
+++++
The shell company started in Namibia, then moved on to Utah and Illinois in the US.(8)
NAUTILUS (NA + UT + IL + US)
+++++
Guide to pronouns (5)
Usher (is + her)
+++++
Her menu cites mishmash, requires biblical interpretation. (12)
That’s gotta be hermeneutics. (Her menu cites anagram)
The classical piano lesson? They changed it. It’s at Carl Mozart’s place. (9)
Snotheels (THE LESSON anagram and maybe Carl Mozart’s nickname)
That’s not it. There is an anagram though.
Was thinking Salzburg but that’s one letter too few
SCARLATTI (anagram)
++++
I’m not coming back for the Athenian.(5)
TIMON (I’m not*)
+++++
Game with 3 cards with composer, for composer (10)
Monteverdi (3 Card Monte + (Philippe de) Monte + (Giuseppe) Verdi)
++++
That sound means your toilet will kick the bucket today (7)
Ok, how about:
That sound means your men’s room toilet will kick the bucket during the day, day after day (7)
DIURNAL (die + urinal)
I heard Bundy and the Unbreakable Schmidt are getting into protoscience. (7)