Crossword Genius

Famous person, judge, to paint the town red (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

celebrate

'paint the town red' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'famous person judge' is the wordplay.
'famous person' becomes 'celeb' (I've seen this before).
'judge' becomes 'rate' (rating is a kind of judging).
'celeb'+'rate'='CELEBRATE'

'to' is the link.

(Other definitions for celebrate that I've seen before include "Stage a special festivity" , "have a good time" , "Rejoice or commemorate" , "Have festivity for special day or occasion" , "Be festive" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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