Crossword Genius

Made personal changes to MBE (nothing added) and departed (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

embodied

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'made personal' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are past participle verbs, I don't understand how they can define each other.

'changes to mbe nothing added and departed' is the wordplay.
'changes to' indicates an anagram (I've seen 'change to' mean this).
'nothing' becomes 'O' (O resembles 0).
'added' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'departed' becomes 'died' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'mbe' with letters rearranged gives 'emb'.
'emb'+'o'+'died'='EMBODIED'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for embodied that I've seen before include "Incorporated" , "Expressed" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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.