*Does dirt badly cake end of bolt when given a spanner? (9)
I believe the answer is:
distorted
'given a spanner?' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to change as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'does dirt badly cake end of bolt' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'cake' could be 'torte' (torte is a kind of cake) and 'torte' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'when' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for distorted that I've seen before include "Pulled out of shape" , "Deformed" , "Twisted" .)