Crossword Genius

A sauce spoon needs treatment - such as washing-up liquid? (11)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

saponaceous

'such as washing-up liquid?' is the definition.
(saponaceous means soapy)

'a sauce spoon needs treatment' is the wordplay.
'needs treatment' is an anagram indicator (letters must be processed or treated).
'a'+'sauce'+'spoon'='asaucespoon'
'asaucespoon' anagrammed gives 'SAPONACEOUS'.

(Another definition for saponaceous that I've seen is " using soap".)

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