Crossword Genius

Brown in charge after stigma ends? Diabolical (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

satanic

'diabolical' is the definition.
('satanic' can be a synonym of 'diabolical')

'brown in charge after stigma ends?' is the wordplay.
'brown' becomes 'tan' (tan is a kind of brown).
'in charge' becomes 'ic'.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'ends?' says to hollow out the word (remove centre letters) (I've seen 'ends' mean this).
'stigma' with its middle taken out is 'sa'.
'tan'+'ic'='tanic'
'tanic' after 'sa' is 'SATANIC'.

(Other definitions for satanic that I've seen before include "Bad" , "Relating to the devil" , "Like the Devil" , "Hellish" , "Nick's" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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