Crossword Genius

Amateur in prison making way up (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stair

'way up' is the definition.
(way to get upstairs)

'amateur in prison' is the wordplay.
'amateur' becomes 'a'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'prison' becomes 'stir' (informal term for prison).
'a' going into 'stir' is 'STAIR'.

'making' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for stair that I've seen before include "section of flight" , "One step of a flight" , "means to go down" , "Bit of a flight!" , "One of a flight of steps" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.