Criminal eats King Edward, initially cooked thus? (5)
I believe the answer is:
baked
'cooked thus?' is the definition.
'baked' can be an answer for 'cooked' (baking is a kind of cooking). I'm not certain of the 'thus?' bit.
'criminal eats king edward initially' is the wordplay.
'criminal' becomes 'bad'.
'eats' indicates putting letters inside.
'king' becomes 'k' (**).
'initially' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letter of 'edward' is 'e'.
'k'+'e'='ke'
'bad' enclosing 'ke' is 'BAKED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for baked that I've seen before include "Got very hot in jacket" , "Dried" , "cold before 8 [STATE]..." , "Cooked in an oven" , "Cooked (bread/cakes)" .)