Crossword Genius

Hard work and energy, with erratic bowler's age (5-6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

elbow grease

'hard work' is the definition.
(synonyms)

'energy with erratic bowler's age' is the wordplay.
'energy' becomes 'e' (physics symbol as in E=mc2).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'erratic' indicates an anagram.
'bowlers'+'age'='bowlersage'
'bowlersage' anagrammed gives 'lbowgrease'.
'e'+'lbowgrease'='ELBOW-GREASE'

'and' acts as a link.

(Other definitions for elbow grease that I've seen before include "Hard physical effort" , "Vigorous physical effort" , "Vigorous physical labour involving hard rubbing" , "Hard rubbing (colloq.)" , "Hard physical work (informal)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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.