Crossword Genius

Failure a king put on instrument (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bombardon

'instrument' is the definition.
(bombardon is a kind of instrument)

'failure a king put on' is the wordplay.
'failure' becomes 'bomb' (bomb is a kind of failure).
'king' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for rex, king in Latin).
'put on' becomes 'don' (as in donning or putting on an item of clothing).
'bomb'+'a'+'r'+'don'='BOMBARDON'

(Other definitions for bombardon that I've seen before include "Stop" , "instrument" .)

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