Improve the look of a rugged road north (5)
I believe the answer is:
adorn
'improve the look of a rugged' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'road north' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'road' is 'ador' which is within the answer.
'north' could be 'n' (abbreviation) and 'n' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for adorn that I've seen before include "Bedeck" , "get dressed!" , "Make more attractive" , "Improve appearance" , "Embellish, decorate" .)