Crossword Genius

Howled at tree, even seed (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bayed

'howled' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'at tree even seed' is the wordplay.
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'tree' becomes 'bay' (bay is a kind of tree).
'even' indicates alternate letters (even-numbered letters are used).
The alternate letters of 'seed' are 'ed'.
'bay' put next to 'ed' is 'BAYED'.

(Other definitions for bayed that I've seen before include "Made a lot of noise" , "Made sound like hunting hounds" , "Gave deep cry of a large hunting dog" , "(Of a dog) howled loudly" , "yielded bark" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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.