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' indicates putting letters inside (some letters cut their way into a word).
'funding' becomes 'aid'.
'from the west' is a reversal indicator.
'i see' becomes 'ah' (exclamation used to indicate understanding).
'liberal' becomes 'l' (abbreviation).
'aid' back-to-front is 'dia'.
'ah'+'l'='ahl'
'dia' enclosing 'ahl' is 'DAHLIA'.

'making' is the 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.
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