Crossword Genius

Air-con worked, covering opening of rancid meat (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

carrion

'meat' is the definition.
(carrion is a kind of meat)

'air-con worked covering opening of rancid' is the wordplay.
'worked' indicates anagramming the letters.
'covering' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'opening of' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'rancid' is 'r'.
'air'+'con'='aircon'
'aircon' anagrammed gives 'carion'.
'carion' going around 'r' is 'CARRION'.

(Other definitions for carrion that I've seen before include "Cor! Rain! (anag.)" , "rotten" , "Dead meat as food" , "Decaying animal flesh" , "Rotting dead body of an animal" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app