Crossword Genius

Pert beast disturbed soil (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

bespatter

'soil' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'pert beast disturbed' is the wordplay.
'disturbed' indicates anagramming the letters (the order of letters is disturbed).
'pert'+'beast'='pertbeast'
'pertbeast' anagrammed gives 'BESPATTER'.

(Other definitions for bespatter that I've seen before include "Spray with droplets" , "Make mess of" , "Defame" , "Dirty" .)

I've seen this clue in The Mirror.
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