Crossword Genius

Mike cuts Roman flower in wood (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

timber

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

'wood' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'mike cuts roman flower' is the wordplay.
'mike' becomes 'm' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'cuts' means one lot of letters goes inside another (some letters cut their way into other letters).
'roman flower' becomes 'tiber' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'roman' bit.**).
'm' put within 'tiber' is 'TIMBER'.

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for timber that I've seen before include "22 [BEAM]" , "Wood that's been cut and prepared" , "board" , "Watch out for falling tree!" , "Mind the falling tree!" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app