Welcome back to our ongoing battle with PG Wodehouse's cryptic clues. The 1956 novel Something Fishy repeatedly confronts Lord Uffenham with Times clues that he is unable to solve; regrettably, and unusually for Wodehouse, there is no manservant on hand to furnish the answers.

We've solved "Naked without a penny has the actor become"; we think we've cracked "So the subordinate professional on trial gets wages in advance not without demur" and we're not sure about "No see here, it's a sort of church with a chapter".

Happily, we have another win: "Spasmodic as a busy tailor" yielded as FITFUL. CHOPPY, IN STITCHES and SARTORIAL were plausible, but FITFUL fits the most elegantly. FITFULLY falls because the clue doesn't appear to be asking for an adverb and FITTING doesn't justify the "busy", so FITFUL fits the most fittingly.

On to the penultimate clue and, as is so often the case, Lord Uffenham is in trouble following a prank. Chapter eight begins:

The coming of a new day found George, sixth Viscount Uffenham, who on the previous night had sown the wind, reaping the whirlwind.

Wary of being implicated by his niece Jane, Uffenham tries to change the topic to the crossword clues that are bothering him. They include:

The ointment in short has no point.

There it is: seven words, without a letter count. A glance suggests many ways to parse the clue, but not a solution. But I suspect that your combined efforts will have this phrase disclosing its secrets …

Rules

• One piece of wordplay or suggested definition at a time.

• No leaping ahead to the other clues in the story.

• Wild speculation is as welcome as precision.

• Explanations of any out-of-date abbreviations, people or vocabulary very welcome.

• Alternate answers that fit the definition and wordplay very welcome, even if obviously inaccurate.

So, one piece at a time: what might "The ointment in short has no point" mean?