Crossword Genius

Harshly criticise second strike (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

slam

'harshly criticise' is the definition.

'second strike' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'strike' becomes 'lam' (to 'lam' means to hit hard).
's'+'lam'='SLAM'

(Other definitions for slam that I've seen before include "what needs a lot of tricks to succeed" , "Shut loudly and forcibly" , "Criticise - attack" , "Crash (door closed)" , "ambitious bid" .)

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