Crossword Genius

Clever, but coming to a grisly end (3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sly

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

'clever' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'coming to a grisly end' is the wordplay.
'coming to' becomes 'sl' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'end' suggests the final letters.
The last letter of 'grisly' is 'y'.
'sl'+'y'='SLY'

'but' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for sly that I've seen before include "Crafty, devious" , "'Cunning, wily (3)'" , "Cunning, deceitful" , "Cunning; surreptitious" , "Devious and furtive" .)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app