Crossword Genius

Decorating trouble — call to engage handyman in the end (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

adorning

'decorating' is the definition.
('adorn' can be a synonym of 'decorate')

'trouble call to engage handyman in the end' is the wordplay.
'trouble' becomes 'ado' (both can mean bother or commotion).
'call' becomes 'ring' (telephone call).
'to engage' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters get engaged in others).
'in the end' says to take the final letters.
The final letter of 'handyman' is 'n'.
'ring' enclosing 'n' is 'rning'.
'ado'+'rning'='ADORNING'

(Other definitions for adorning that I've seen before include "decking" , "Decorating, embellishing" , "Decorating with ornaments" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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