Crossword Genius

Criticise adopting student's scheme (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

plan

'scheme' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'criticise adopting student's' is the wordplay.
'criticise' becomes 'pan' (informal term meaning to criticise heavily).
'adopting' indicates putting letters inside.
'student' becomes 'l'.
'pan' going around 'l' is 'PLAN'.

(Other definitions for plan that I've seen before include "Scale drawing of a structure" , "Design; map" , "Project" , "Stratagem" , "Devise a strategy" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.