Crossword Genius

Cutting funding from the west, I see Liberal making bloomer (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dahlia

'bloomer' is the definition.
(dahlia is a kind of flowering plant)

'cutting funding from the west i see liberal' is the wordplay.
'cutting' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cut their way into a word).
'funding' becomes 'aid'.
'from the west' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'i see' becomes 'ah' ('ah' can be used to express understanding).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'aid' back-to-front is 'dia'.
'ah'+'l'='ahl'
'dia' placed around 'ahl' is 'DAHLIA'.

'making' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for dahlia that I've seen before include "Lia had a showy flower" , "Brightly coloured garden flower with tuberous roots" , "Tuberous plant with showy flowers" , "Had Lia this peculiar flower?" , "Garden plant with large brightly-coloured flowers" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.