Crossword Genius

Basis for dressing a boy covered in dirt (5,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

salad oil

'basis for dressing' is the definition.

'a boy covered in dirt' is the wordplay.
'boy' becomes 'lad' (lad is a kind of boy).
'covered in' is an insertion indicator.
'dirt' becomes 'soil' ('soil' can be a synonym of 'dirt'**).
'a'+'lad'='alad'
'alad' placed into 'soil' is 'SALAD OIL'.

(Another definition for salad oil that I've seen is " dressing".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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