Crossword Genius

One showing a desire for essentially deadly sadism acts (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

addict

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

'one showing a desire' is the definition.
(someone with an addiction)

'essentially deadly sadism acts' is the wordplay.
'essentially' indicates the central letters.
'sadism acts' becomes 'dict' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
The middle of 'deadly' is 'ad'.
'ad'+'dict'='ADDICT'

'for' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for addict that I've seen before include "One hooked on drugs" , "Person compulsively given to taking drugs" , "Overly-dependent person" , "Someone who's hooked?" , "One unable to kick habit" .)

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