Crossword Genius

Coloured after copping arrowhead on the nose (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tainted

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

'coloured' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?

'copping arrowhead on the nose' is the wordplay.
'copping' means one lot of letters goes inside another (copping can mean receiving or accepting).
'arrowhead' becomes 'a' (head letter of 'arrow').
'on' indicates putting letters inside (as in clothing 'on' a person).
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'nose' becomes 'tined' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
't' put inside 'tined' is 'tinted'.
'a' put inside 'tinted' is 'TAINTED'.

'after' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tainted that I've seen before include "corrupt" , "Contaminated, polluted" , "Flawed, contaminated" , "Corrupted, sullied" , "I attend to spoiled condition" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app