Crossword Genius

Extremely warlike and wicked pest (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

weevil

'pest' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'extremely warlike and wicked' is the wordplay.
'extremely' means to remove the middle letters.
'and' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'wicked' becomes 'evil' (synonyms).
'warlike' with its centre removed is 'we'.
'we'+'evil'='WEEVIL'

(Other definitions for weevil that I've seen before include "Small beetle, pest of crops" , "Small kind of 15 down" , "Insect that feeds on plant products" , "Evil we find strangely in a beetle" , "Small beetle, crop pest" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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