Crossword Genius

Fired up in fight, produces a knife (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stiletto

'a knife' is the definition.
(stiletto is a kind of knife)

'fired up in fight' is the wordplay.
'fired' becomes 'lit' (set on fire).
'up' shows that the letters should be reversed in order (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'fight' becomes 'setto' (set-to is a kind of fight**).
'lit' reversed gives 'til'.
'til' put inside 'setto' is 'STILETTO'.

'produces' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for stiletto that I've seen before include "Kind of heel" , "Item of footwear" , "Thin blade" , "One may have a stab" , "part of boot?" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app