Crossword Genius

A part of a poem is deliberately wicked (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

perverse

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a poem is deliberately wicked' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'a part' is the wordplay.
'a' becomes 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day').
'part' becomes 'verse' (I have seen 'Part of hymn ' mean 'verse' so perhaps 'part' could also mean 'verse').
'per'+'verse'='PERVERSE'

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for perverse that I've seen before include "Preserve in order to be contrary or intractable" , "'Wayward, peevish (8)'" , "It's wrong" , "Deliberately difficult" , "'Unreasonable, awkward (8)'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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