Most serene maiden imprisoned in castle wickedly (7)
I believe the answer is:
calmest
'most serene' is the definition.
('calm' can be a synonym of 'serene')
'maiden imprisoned in castle wickedly' is the wordplay.
'maiden' becomes 'm' (cricket abbreviation).
'imprisoned in' indicates putting letters inside.
'wickedly' indicates anagramming the letters.
'castle' is an anagram of 'calest'.
'm' placed into 'calest' is 'CALMEST'.
(Another definition for calmest that I've seen is " Most serene".)
I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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