Crossword Genius

Pence in Wild West got the brush? (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

swept

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

'got the brush?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both related to competing as well as being past participle verbs.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?

'pence in wild west' is the wordplay.
'pence' becomes 'p'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'wild' indicates anagramming the letters.
'west' anagrammed gives 'swet'.
'p' put within 'swet' is 'SWEPT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for swept that I've seen before include "Quickly passed" , "Cleaned by brushing" , "what daily did" , "Removed by brushing" , "Searched; cleaned" .)

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