Crossword Genius

A number went into extremes of torpidity (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

twenty

'a number' is the definition.
(twenty is a kind of number)

'went into extremes of torpidity' is the wordplay.
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'extremes of' means to remove the middle letters.
'torpidity' with its middle taken out is 'ty'.
'went' inserted inside 'ty' is 'TWENTY'.

(Other definitions for twenty that I've seen before include "Cardinal" , "John B Keane wrote about many young men of this age" , "Dozen plus eight" , "made by Q on a light blue square" , "One score" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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.