Crossword Genius

Dried an excellent colour (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

aired

'dried' is the definition.
(airing is a kind of drying)

'an excellent colour' is the wordplay.
'an excellent' becomes 'ai' (resembles 'A1', old-fashioned term for excellent).
'colour' becomes 'red' (red is a kind of colour).
'ai'+'red'='AIRED'

(Other definitions for aired that I've seen before include "Ventilated, or hung out to dry" , "Raised" , "Put to dry; said publicly" , "Broadcast; dried" , "Expressed publicly" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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