Couple of spivs oddly supporting root's consumption (12)

I haven't cracked this one yet — but the brilliant team at Fifteensquared have:

Odd-numbered letters from C [o] U [p] L [e] O [f] S [p] I [v] S , after (below, in a down clue = supporting) TUBER (root = swollen underground part of a plant, such as a potato). Consumption = old name for tuberculosis, from the days when nobody really knew what caused it and sufferers would just “waste away”.