Acted over appalling red tape (8)
I believe the answer is:
operated
'acted' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to bodily activities as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'over appalling red tape' is the wordplay.
'over' becomes 'o' (cricket abbreviation).
'appalling' is an anagram indicator (an appalling spelling).
'red'+'tape'='redtape'
'redtape' anagrammed gives 'perated'.
'o'+'perated'='OPERATED'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for operated that I've seen before include "Adore pet (anag.)" , "'Directed or controlled, machinery say (8)'" , "ran" , "Performed surgery or worked a machine" , "Functioned" .)
