Crossword Genius

Feigning madness, he does succeed to these (4,4,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

dead mens shoes

'succeed to these' is the definition.
(as in waiting to succeed to 'dead men's shoes')

'feigning madness he does' is the wordplay.
'feigning' is an anagram indicator (a feigned or fake ordering of the letters).
'madness'+'he'+'does'='madnesshedoes'
'madnesshedoes' is an anagram of 'DEAD MENS SHOES'.

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.