Crossword Genius

In quarrel notice piercing tool (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bradawl

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

'in quarrel notice' is the wordplay.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'quarrel' becomes 'brawl' (brawling is a kind of quarrelling).
'notice' becomes 'ad' (both can mean an advertisement).
'brawl' going around 'ad' is 'BRADAWL'.

(Other definitions for bradawl that I've seen before include "Boring article" , "it has a point" , "Hole-making tool" , "one that bores" , "One may be boring" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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.