Crossword Genius

Don't water wild aster found around Mid-Devon (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

starve

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'don't water' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I cannot understand how they can define each other.

'wild aster found around mid-devon' is the wordplay.
'wild' indicates an anagram.
'found around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'mid' indicates the central letters.
The central letter of 'devon' is 'v'.
'aster' anagrammed gives 'stare'.
'stare' placed around 'v' is 'STARVE'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for starve that I've seen before include "Suffer from want of food" , "Die from lack of food" , "Vaster (anag)" , "Suffer from lack of food" , "Fail to take in" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish 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.