Crossword Genius

Even at the end, was bound to (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tied

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

'even' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'the end was bound to' is the wordplay.
'the' becomes 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects).
'end' suggests removing the centre (I've seen 'ends' mean this).
'was' becomes 'existed' (past tense of to be - to exist).
'bound' indicates putting letters inside.
'to' becomes 'i' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'existed' with its centre removed is 'ed'.
't'+'ed'='ted'
'ted' going around 'i' is 'TIED'.

'at' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tied that I've seen before include "Made bow" , "Bound; placed equal" , "Knotted" , "Bonded" , "have equal scores" .)

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.