Crossword Genius

Abracadabra, HP and couscous! Horrible! (5-5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

hocus-pocus

'abracadabra' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'hp and couscous horrible' is the wordplay.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'horrible' indicates anagramming the letters.
'hp' after 'couscous' is 'couscoushp'.
'couscoushp' anagrammed gives 'HOCUS-POCUS'.

(Other definitions for hocus-pocus that I've seen before include "Conjurer's incantation" , "Mumbo-jumbo" , "Conjuror's incantation" .)

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