Crossword Genius

Judged tea to be spilt in the road (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rated

'judged' is the definition.
(rating is a kind of judging)

'tea to be spilt in the road' is the wordplay.
'to be spilt' is an anagram indicator.
'in the' is an insertion indicator.
'road' becomes 'rd' (abbreviation).
'tea' with letters rearranged gives 'ate'.
'ate' put into 'rd' is 'RATED'.

(Other definitions for rated that I've seen before include "esteemed" , "Stormed" , "given a dressing-down" , "Graded, ranked" , "Adjudged" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.
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