Crossword Genius

Article in stark surroundings foundered (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sank

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'foundered' is the definition.
(sinking is a kind of foundering)

'article in stark surroundings' is the wordplay.
'article' becomes 'an' (English indefinite article).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'stark surroundings' becomes 'sk' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'an' inserted within 'sk' is 'SANK'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sank that I've seen before include "Fell to the bottom" , "Subsided" , "(Of ship) went down" , "Foundered" , "Scuttled" .)

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